In recognition of Women’s History Month, three very accomplished women provided insight and inspiration at a March 11 seminar on campus.
It was sponsored by the History and Humanities departments, in collaboration with the Dolores Huerta Labor Institute.
Named after the United Farm Workers co-founder, the Dolores Huerta Labor Institute is an educational partnership between the Los Angeles Community College District and founding Los Angeles unions.
The panel consisted of Pierce professor Sheila Williams, LACCD Trustee Angela Reddock and former California State Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg. They spoke about various subjects based on their life struggles and turning points.
Jackie Goldberg started off the seminar speaking about her various activities within the community. As a teacher in Compton, she reassured the audience that Compton is not a bad place to live or teach in.
She said that growing up, she didn’t truly have her own “voice” until she graduated from college.
Growing up in the ’50s wasn’t exactly the best time to express yourself or fight for rights, according to Goldberg, who said that “this is a man’s world with women in it.”
She was always shot down trying anything she wanted to do, but she never gave up. She ran for State Assembly in 2000 and is currently overseeing an internship that will start this summer to provide training in social justice for college sophomores and juniors.
Board Trustee Angela Reddock related to Generations X and Y as an avid participant in many L.A. community groups, such as the L.A Urban League and the A.A. National Institute. She gives full credit to her mother, who gave her hope to succeed.
Reddock graduated from UCLA with a degree in law, mostly focused on employment, labor law, wrongful termination and discrimination. She is amazed at how far the country has come, as for the first time, a woman and a black man are running in the presidential race.
“Michelle Obama doesn’t represent a woman standing by her man,” Reddock said. “She has her own career.”
Sheila Williams, a history instructor at Pierce, stunned the audience by stating that she married her high school teacher shortly after she graduated. Though she gained a rapid interest in history and taught an AP course at Birmingham High, she secured a backup plan by studying law.
“It was a good seminar,” said student Jonathan Hernandez. “I liked it and I learned a lot.”
Women across the world fight hard every day to adjust to the hardships of life. The three women who spoke are prime examples of driven people who have lived lives full of hopes and dreams – and provided hope for the next generation.