Photo by Regina Zamarripa/Las Fotos Project.
Women have made Los Angeles one of the nation’s most progressive cities, fighting for their own rights as well as those of children, laborers, immigrants, and other underrepresented groups since well before they gained the right to vote over 100 years ago. The city, which has the lowest gender pay gap of any American metropolis, has been a leader in creating policies designed to create wealth for working-class women in particular, from passing legislation to create the country’s first public bank to raising the minimum wage. But women in Los Angeles—particularly lower-income and Black and brown women—still face a number of challenges, including health disparities, housing struggles, and human trafficking. What battles are the women of Los Angeles fighting today, and what are the plans to win them?
California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo, artist and Social and Public Art Resource Center co-founder Judy Baca, Social Venture Partners Los Angeles executive director Christine Margiotta, and civil rights activist and lawyer Connie Rice, co-director of the Advancement Project, visit Zócalo to discuss what all the women of Los Angeles need to truly thrive.
One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, Zócalo and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County present When Women Vote, a four-event series.
The Takeaway
Can Women ‘Turn Protest Into Power’?
L.A.’s Women Are Rising, but Too Many Communities Are Being Left Behind
Last month, Kamala Harris made U.S. history, becoming the first woman to be elected vice president. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the November elections resulted in the first all-women Board of …
Past Events in this Series
From Cleopatra to Clinton, Politics Is Never Out of Style
Fashion Is a Powerful Tool of Communication—And One Ripe for Leverage
Back in 2008, Michelle Obama was scheduled to be a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno right after campaign finance reports revealed that Sarah Palin’s new wardrobe, priced …
Women’s Movements Can Save the World—by Learning From Each Other
After Many Years of Tilling the Soil, Transnational Feminist Movements Have Growing Momentum
Can transnational women’s movements save the world? That was the title question posed, on International Women’s Day, to two Arizona State University experts on women’s leadership at a Zócalo/ASU Center …
In the Crisis of COVID, a Moment of Awakening for Women
The Pandemic Has Pulled Back the Curtain on Gender Inequity in the U.S.—In Politics and Beyond
The image of California state Assemblymember Buffy Wicks holding her 4-week-old baby on the legislative floor earlier this month after her request to vote by proxy was denied loomed over …
The Enduring Power of Women’s Protests
Women-Led Movements Have Found Strength in Solidarity Across Centuries and Borders
Whether it’s the mothers and grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, whose work helped delegitimize the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983, or the ongoing weekly rallies …