REPRESENTATION FOR A CHANGE: WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT AND THE CHICANA/O CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN TEXAS

Abstract

“Representation for a Change: Women in Government and the Chicana/o Civil Rights Movement in Texas,” links Chicana politics to American politics in the twentieth and twenty-first century. The story of Chicanas in the political arena underscores a major feminist fight initiated for “representative justice” in Texas and across the country. In Dionne Espinoza, María E. Cotera, and Maylei Blackwell’s path breaking anthology, Chicana Movidas, they argue that a new type of politics centered on “movidas” created an inclusion for Chicana issues within the Chicano Movement. I borrow the term movidas to showcase how Chicanas fought for representative justice in American politics. Because Chicanas engaged in movidas for political leadership, the women linked activism for representation in government and civil rights activities, which became the heart of the fight for representative justice. As part of a feminist campaign, Chicanas chose to work within electoral politics and diverse political organizations because it allowed them to build political power to combat discrimination and thereby also politicize more Chicanas to engage in civil rights activities beyond the movement era. In short, “Representative for a Change” is an unexpected story – one in which Chicanas are not raging against the machine, but rather one in which they are fighting hard to become part of it.

I argue that the history of Chicanas demanding representative justice during the 1970s set the stage for more Latinas, particularly Chicanas, to band together with other women, organizations, and political parties to wage the fight for representation in government and beyond. As such, Chicanas moved from being voters to becoming politicians. The political labor that Chicanas conducted at the grassroots level had long-term benefits for building power and moving the needle forward for Chicana political leadership in the years to come.