Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress

by Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Gwendolyn Mink

Overview

2023 Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women's and/or Gender History Winner

The first biography of trailblazing legislator Patsy Takemoto Mink, best known as the legislative champion of Title IX

“Every girl in Little League, every woman playing college sports, and every parent—including Michelle and myself—who watches their daughter on a field or in the classroom is forever grateful to the late Patsy Takemoto Mink.”—President Barack Obama, on posthumously awarding Mink the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014

Patsy Takemoto Mink was the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman elected to Congress. Fierce and Fearless is the first biography of this remarkable woman, who first won election to Congress in 1964 and went on to serve in the House for twenty-four years, her final term ending with her death in 2002. Mink was an advocate for girls and women, best known for her work shepherding and defending Title IX, the legislation that changed the face of education in America, making it possible for girls and women to participate in school sports, and in education more broadly, at the same level as boys and men.

Mink’s life is wonderfully chronicled by eminent historian Judy Tzu-Chun Wu and Gwendolyn Mink, Patsy’s daughter, a noted political science scholar and first-hand witness to the many political struggles that her mother had to overcome. Featuring family anecdotes, vignettes, and photographs, Fierce and Fearless offers new insight into who Mink was, and the progressive principles that fueled her mission. Wu and Mink provide readers with an up-close understanding of her life as a third-generation Japanese American from Hawaii—from her childhood on Maui to her decades-long career in the House, working with noted legislators like Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug, and Nancy Pelosi. They follow the evolution of her politics, including her advocacy for race, gender, and class equality and her work to promote peace and environmental justice.

Fierce and Fearless provides vivid details of how Patsy Takemoto Mink changed the future of American politics. Celebrating the life and legacy of a woman, activist, and politician ahead of her time, this book illuminates the life of a trailblazing icon who made history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479831920
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Pages:	456
Sales rank:	323,913
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Judy Tzu-Chun Wu (Author)
Judy Tzu-Chun Wu is Professor of Asian American Studies and Director of the Humanities Center at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author of Doctor Mom Chung of the Fair-Haired Bastards: The Life of a Wartime Celebrity and Radicals on the Road: Internationalism, Orientalism, and Feminism during the Vietnam Era.

Gwendolyn Mink (Author)
Gwendolyn Mink was Professor of Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Smith College. She is the author and editor of many books, most recently coauthor of Ensuring Poverty: Welfare Reform in Feminist Perspective.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

A Note on the Text ix

Introduction: Speaking Truth to Power 1

Part I The Party of the People 9

The Tateyamas of Waikamoi 13

1 Plantation Society 20

"Pink Mink" 47

2 A Democratic Revolution 53

Part II A Great Society at War 83

"I See You Have Appointment with Vietcong" 91

3 A Dove among Hawks 100

"You Must Be a Women's Libber" 123

4 A Feminist Legislator 130

Mauch Chunk 163

5 A Pacific Environmentalist 168

Part III Oceans and Islands 195

Violated 201

6 A Progressive Political Vision 207

Back Home in Waipahu 233

7 Practicing "We" Politics 237

Part IV A National Reckoning 257

"Nobody around Here Is Interested" 261

8 The Third Wave 270

Welfare Is a Women's Issue 289

9 Battling Poverty 297

"No, Where Are You Really From?" 321

10 The Cost of Belonging 327

"Stay Safe, Patsy" 349

Epilogue: Ripples 355

Acknowledgments 361

Notes 367

Selected Bibliography 411

Index 419

About the Authors 439

Editorial Reviews

"Fierce and Fearless plants Patsy Mink firmly within the panoply of feminist history and makes clear her unique brand of lawmaking, one that combined her many identities as a woman of color and pioneer of intersectional legislative feminism. In this regard, the book is a must-read for scholars of intersectionality and will make an excellent addition to syllabi in a range of courses."

Sara Sadhwani

"Any scholar of politics, social justice, feminism, or Hawai‘i history will benefit from a close reading of Fierce and Fearless. Students, in particular, will find the book’s clear overview of civil rights struggles from the unique perspective of a pioneering politician to be enlightening. This splendid and moving biography deserves a wide audience—if nothing else, to remind us that real change requires the guts and tenacity that Patsy Mink demonstrated throughout her career."

The Hawaiian Journal of History

"Wu and Mink celebrate the incredible life of this feminist advocate from Hawai’i, showing us why Congress renamed Title IX the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002. This thoroughly researched and beautifully crafted narrative highlights Mink’s environmental, civil rights, peace, and anti-poverty work, how she bridged electoral politics and grassroots advocacy, and how she challenged the establishment from within to widen the arc of social justice."

Eileen Boris

"Challenging myths of equal opportunity and equal treatment, Fierce and Fearless chronicles Patsy Takemoto Mink’s transformative leadership as she fought for ethnic, racial, gender, and environmental justice—and an end to war—even as she encountered systemic discrimination, physical and psychological abuse, and betrayal by her party. This gripping narrative illuminates the extraordinary policy accomplishments and the astounding personal costs of a principled and pathbreaking life in U.S. politics."

Mary Hawkesworth

"Mink’s imprint on so many important moments—supporting the 1965 Voting Rights Act, ending the Vietnam War, introducing Title IX—have been overlooked for far too long. We need to return to her example of intersectional legislative feminism to better bridge grassroots concerns and political action today."

author of Battling Bella: The Protest Politics Leandra Ruth Zarnow

"This is an exquisite biography of Patsy T. Mink, an extraordinary woman, legislator, and the force behind the passage of Title IX. The collaboration between Judy Tzu-Chun Wu and Patsy Mink’s daughter, Gwendolyn Mink, is rich, productive, and compelling. They produce a subtly textured blend of personal anecdotes and memories, biography, and post-WWII historical change. Fierce and Fearless demonstrates that Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink is a singular example of politics and policy driven by vision, ethics, and values. This inside look into the Mink family is a powerful read into the fierce, egalitarian values of Patsy T. Mink. Beautifully written, inspiring, and poignant."

Dana Y. Takagi