“ I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life. ”
ContextThe line that became a flashpoint in Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, on lived experience shaping judgment.Read More: Latinx Voices
Their StoryThe first Latina and third woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, appointed in 2009. She grew up in a Bronx housing project, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child, and has written about both in her memoir.Her memoir 'My Beloved World' is the fullest primary source for her own story.See Their Full Story
ContextFrom the memoir of the first Latina US Supreme Court Justice, on effort outweighing self-doubt.Read More: Latinx Voices
Their StoryThe first Latina and third woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, appointed in 2009. She grew up in a Bronx housing project, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child, and has written about both in her memoir.Her memoir 'My Beloved World' is the fullest primary source for her own story.See Their Full Story
ContextSotomayor clarifying her 'wise Latina' remark during her confirmation hearing.Read More: Latinx Voices
Their StoryThe first Latina and third woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, appointed in 2009. She grew up in a Bronx housing project, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child, and has written about both in her memoir.Her memoir 'My Beloved World' is the fullest primary source for her own story.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextWalker on her early life in poverty, which she never hid as her business grew.
Their StoryBorn Sarah Breedlove to formerly enslaved parents in Louisiana in 1867, she built a line of hair care products for Black women into a business empire, becoming widely regarded as the first self-made female millionaire in America. She employed thousands of Black women as sales agents.Biographies by her great-great-granddaughter A'Lelia Bundles are the fullest primary-adjacent sources.See Their Full Story
Contexthooks on reading as escape and liberation, from a childhood where books were both refuge and rebellion.
Their StoryWriter and scholar (born Gloria Jean Watkins) whose work on love, race, class and feminism reached far beyond academia. She wrote under a lowercase pen name, borrowed from her great-grandmother, to keep the focus on the ideas rather than herself.'All About Love' and 'Teaching to Transgress' are the usual entry points.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextHeumann's rallying line from the documentary on the disability rights movement she helped lead.Read More: Disability Rights
Their StoryA leader of the international disability rights movement, sometimes called its mother. Denied a school place as a child for being a fire hazard, she went on to help drive the 1977 Section 504 sit-in and the shaping of landmark accessibility law.Her memoir 'Being Heumann' is the primary source for her own framing.See Their Full Story
“ As a deaf person living in a world of sound, it's as if I was living in a foreign country, blindly following its rules, customs, behaviors, and norms without ever questioning them. ”
Their StoryDeaf sound artist whose work explores sound as a social and political construct rather than something she lacks access to. She performed an American Sign Language interpretation of the national anthem at Super Bowl LIV in 2020.Her TED talk 'The Enchanting Music of Sign Language' is a good primary-source starting point.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Contexthooks on choosing love as a form of resistance.
Their StoryWriter and scholar (born Gloria Jean Watkins) whose work on love, race, class and feminism reached far beyond academia. She wrote under a lowercase pen name, borrowed from her great-grandmother, to keep the focus on the ideas rather than herself.'All About Love' and 'Teaching to Transgress' are the usual entry points.See Their Full Story
“ It means that we still have much ground to cover in order to have equality. There are laws to be made, culture to be changed and prejudice and stereotypes to be deconstructed. ”
