Governor Ronald Reagan signing The Honorable Yvonne Brathwaite Burke’s bill

The Honorable Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

The Honorable Yvonne Brathwait-Burke with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Honorable Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Page

The Honorable Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke with her baby daughter The Honorable Autumn Burke both of whom served in the California State Assembly [Read more…]

SAN FRANCISCO California political trailblazer March Fong Eu, who served as the state’s first female secretary of state and later a U.S. ambassador to Micronesia, died Thursday at the age of 95.

Eu served four terms as a Democratic state assemblywoman representing the Oakland area before becoming California’s chief elections officer in 1975. She held that position until 1994 when President Bill Clinton named her ambassador to the Pacific nation of Micronesia.

“She was a pioneering woman who helped open doors to public service for more women and Asian Americans,” said Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday. “On behalf of all Californians, Anne and I express our deep condolences to March’s family.”

Source: “California political trailblazer March Fong Eu dies at 95” by Janie Har in the Sacramento Bee (12/22/2017)

“From her work at the CIA and on Eleanor Roosevelt’s staff at the first United Nations General Assembly in 1946 to her early support of San Diego’s trolley and downtown redevelopment, she forged her own path in a political world largely dominated by men…

Killea served on the city council for five years and spent 14 years in the state Assembly and Senate, retiring from public service in 1996. She continued working with civic organizations and was known for her decades-long push to improve cross-border relations with Mexico…

Of all the things she lent her drive to, advocating for women was paramount. Killea was one of a handful of women in office in Sacramento when she was first elected, and she deftly navigated the Legislature. And when other women entered office, Killea showed them how to be effective lawmakers in a world dominated by men.”

Source: “Lucy Killea, political trailblazer who was denied Communion for supporting abortion rights, dies at 94” by Lyndsay Winkley and Joshua Stewart in the Los Angeles Times (1/19/2017)