“the white guys used to call us Marias. We didn’t have names. We were Mexicans.”

A staunch advocate for Latino rights, the politician, Gloria Molina, enjoys a series of “firsts” in her active career. In 1974 she became the first president of the Comisión Femenil Mexicana, a Chicana organization concerned with childcare, education and employment. She was the first Chicana appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women and became the group’s spokesperson as plaintiff in the class action suit Madrigal v. Quilligan. The first Latina in the California States Legislature, (1982), the first Latina elected to the Los Angeles City Council (1987), and the first Latina elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, representing the First Supervisory District (1991). Molina was elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, and is recognized as a mentor for numerous Latinas entering into the political arena.

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