Chicanas in Charge: Texas Women in the Public Arena

(Paperback)

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No state has a greater density of Chicano community leaders and politicians than does Texas. This study examines the lives and politics of a distinguished group of Chicana women who have risen to positions of power. The authors profile women who serve in various public capacitiesfederal judges, candidates for Lieutenant Governor, a statewide chair of a political party, and members of school boards and city and county governments. The diverse careers of these women offer rare glimpses of the kinds of struggles they face, both as women and as members of the Chicano community. Chicans in Charge will be of great value to those interested in gender studies, political science, local government, public policy, oral history, biography, and Chicano studies.

Reviews

This book is a beautiful tribute to twenty-five Chicana activists from different eras and epochs who have made a difference, made history, and changed the world. It is a powerful celebration of their accomplishments, joys, and sorrows as they made strides in political and social arenas. This book is about women leaders who could be our mothers, aunts, sisters, and cousins. From these life stories, the authors respectfully culled the deepest private and public emotions that these women endured as they fought against discrimination and injustices. A must-read for anyone interested in the power of women, politics, and social change. -- Irasema Coronado, University of Texas, El Paso; coauthor, Fronteras No Mas: Toward Social Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border
With today's rapid ascendancy of Mexicanas/Chicanas and Latinas as major leaders in both interest group and electoral politics, Chicanas in Charge represents a very important contribution to the study of political leadership within Chicano/Latino politics. This unique book documents the leadership contributions of twenty-five Chicanas who, from 1964 to the present, were outstanding leaders in the myriad struggles for change that impacted both their respective communities and the Texas political arena...It affirms the vital and indispensable leadership role Chicanas played then and continue to play today as 'policy change agents.'" -- Armando Navarro, University of California, Riverside; author of Mexicano Political Experience in Occupied Aztlan and La Ruza Unida Party

Author Bio

JosZ Angel GutiZrrez is professor of political science and founder of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington. Michelle MelZndez is community services director at St. Joseph Community Health in Albuquerque. Sonia Adriana Noyola is an AP/dual-credit government teacher at Moody High School in Corpus Christi, Texas.