This post is one day late. I have no excuse except that Derek had the best hair day of his life yesterday and we decided to celebrate by making fried rice. Seriously, not a hair out of place. AND it was a windy day.
Here we go...
Ann Richards
Second Female Governor of Texas. Straight Shooter. Comedienne.
On being a woman...
"Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards in high heels."
On sexist politics...
"They blame the low income women for ruining the country because they are staying home with their children and not going out to work. They blame the middle income women for ruining the country because they go out to work and do not stay home to take care of their children."
On hair...
"I get a lot of cracks about my hair, mostly from men who don't have any."
Why she is great...
I was a toddler when she was elected and most of what I know about her I learned from coverage of her death when I was in college. It all seemed kind of unreal to me. Texas elected a Democrat? Wait, Texas elected a feminist? And she was committed to helping people of color and women gain more representation in government, creating substance abuse programs in prisons, and increasing funding for education? It gives me hope to think that this state I love so much used to be different. It's getting pretty scary out there and so I hope that Ms. Richards was not the last of her kind.
Fun fact...
She got a motorcycle license for her 60th birthday.
Sandra Cisneros
Author. Poet. Chicana Activist.
On poverty...
"It is no disgrace to be poor - just inconvenient"
On simplicity...
"But I deal with this meditating and by understanding I've been put on the planet to serve humanity. I have to remind myself to live simply and not to overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world."
On feminism...
"My feminism is humanism, with the weakest being those who I represent, and that includes many beings and life forms, including some men."
Why she is great...
This is hard for me to explain unless you have read her books. House on Mango Street rocked my fourteen year old world when I read it as a freshman. Woman Hollering Creek did the same when I was in college. Her shifting perspectives give voice to the many identities that a woman can simultaneously embody.
Fun fact...
We live in the same city! Her house is a famous landmark that I keep meaning to drive by.
Tillie Burgin
Missionary. Visionary. Servant Leader.
I’ll have to break from my traditional format in order to describe this woman and jump straight to why she is great. Tillie Burgin founded Mission Arlington over 20 years ago as a caring community of people who give sacrificially to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the poor in their city. Today Mission Arlington serves over 800 people per day through a variety of programs such as bible studies, after school clubs, crisis counseling, medical care and basic needs assistance.
I met Ms. Tillie when my Acteen group spent a week volunteering at Mission Arlington. Ms. Tillie makes a point of praying with every group that comes through her organization and I just so happened to be standing next to her when we circled up to join hands. I know that it sounds kind of crazy, but I really felt like she was a woman who walked closely with God. She just had so much joy and peace in her and it felt like she had boundless love to give.
Mission Arlington is admittedly not exactly a church or a social work agency. It’s exactly the kind of organization that I would like to be a part of someday. I am just starting out in my career and sometimes I feel overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to get a job like that. But, Ms. Tillie started Mission Arlington after she retired from a long career in foreign missions. It gives me hope that there is time for everything.
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