ABSTRACT
Even though I was a child of the Cold War and grew up in a deeply segregated country ruled by white men, I was raised by a social-activist, feminist mother, who took me to an NAACP convention when I was 13, and who worked for the United Auto Workers (UAW). I’d march with her on union picket lines and was inspired by UAW president Walter Reuther’s vision and values. I met Eleanor Roosevelt when I was five in her home in Hyde Park. From then on, I wanted only to be like her.
