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Women’s History Month captures story of famous American innovators

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March is Women’s History Month, a celebration of the accomplishments that women have made throughout the nation’s history, from women’s rights pioneers Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Clara Barton of the American Red Cross;  media mogul Clare Boothe Luce; first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton and thousands more who have struggled to gain recognition while improving lives in what was believed through millennia as  “a man’s world.”

“As part of a centuries’-old and ever-evolving movement, countless women have put their shoulder to the wheel of progress—activists who gathered at Seneca Falls and gave expression to a righteous cause, trailblazers who defied convention and shattered glass ceilings; millions who claimed control of their own bodies, voices and lives. Together, they have pushed our nation toward equality, liberation and acceptance of women’s rights—not only to choose their own destinies—but also to shape the futures of peoples and nations,” President Barack Obama said on March 1.

Here are a few local women who have inspired 21st century America:

Sally Ride

She took off 31 years ago like lighting in a bottle and left with thousands of American girls a belief that they could accomplish practically anything they dreamed of. By the time of her early death from pancreatic cancer two years ago this summer, she had cemented her story in American history and, arguably, was responsible for tens of thousands of  girls looking to the heavens and saying to themselves, “I want to be just like Sally Ride.”

Sally Ride (63299)

Though not the first woman rocketed into space (the Russians accomplished that feat in 1963,) Dr. Sally Kristen Ride, a physicist, was one of  America’s most famous and pioneering women. The Los Angeles native joined NASA in 1978 after reading an article in the Stanford University student newspaper seeking applicants for the space program. Prior to her first flight on June 18, 1983 aboard space shuttle Challenger (STS-7), Ride endured innocuous questions from a skeptical press, of which one reporter asked prior to liftoff: “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?,” while another wondered “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?”

Ride blasted off again in 1984 on the Challenger, and by her retirement from NASA in 1987 she had completed 343 hours in space. She was in training for a third flight scheduled for mid-1986 when the ship exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven on board—including engineer Judith Resnik and teacher Christa McAuliffe, the latter, like so many young women then, was inspired by Ride’s indomitable spirit. Following the investigation into the tragedy, Ride led NASA’s first strategic planning effort to return to space, authoring a report entitled “NASA Leadership and America’s Future in Space” and founded the space agency’s Office of Exploration. She also served on the committee that investigated the Columbia tragedy in 2003 which took the lives of mission specialists Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark among the seven-person crew.

While orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour, Ride was the first woman to use the robot arm in space and the first to use it to retrieve a satellite. Since her historic trips, NASA has sent 44 of the world’s 57 women astronauts into space, out of a total of 534 space travelers. Twenty-three of American’s women astronauts gathered at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Tex. in September 2012 to pay an unexpected tribute to Ride, one of which was Carolyn Huntoon, the center’s first female director. Ride remains the nation’s youngest astronaut to travel to space; last year, NASA welcomed Christina Hammock, Nicole Aunapu, Anne C. McClain and Jessica U. Meir into its astronaut candidate class.

When Ride landed at Edwards Airforce Base just after dawn on June 24, 1983, reporters from around the world wanted to see this new breed of hero who would come to represent not only American prowess in space exploration, but would be a role model for girls of all races, creeds and colors. She used her popularity and name to found “Sally Ride Science” which has focused on achieving more representation of girls and young women in the sciences. She wanted middle-school girls to concentrate more in math studies through her STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics) program which, upon its debut, found the United States ranked 23rd in science and 31st in math worldwide in standardized testing. Shortly after her death, the Obama Administration announced the president’s plan to create a national STEM  Master Teacher Corps. “A world class STEM workforce is essential to virtually every goal we have as a nation—whether it’s broadly shared economic prosperity, international competitiveness, a strong national defense, a clean energy future, and longer, healthier lives for all Americans,” Obama said.

Today, Sally Ride’s name is associated with a myriad of science programs at America’s secondary schools. NASA’s GRAIL program (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory—twin probes now orbiting in tandem around the moon) named its lunar landing site after Ride, and in 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted her into the California Hall of Fame at the California Museum in Sacramento. In 2013, the Space Foundation bestowed its General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award on Ride. Also that year, Ride received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the U.S. Navy renamed a research ship in her honor.

The former tennis All-American at Stanford even has two grade schools bearing her name, Sally K. Ride Elementary School in Woodlands, Tex., and another campus in Germantown, Md.

Ride was a very private person who generally shunned commercial notoriety and/or endorsements. It was revealed only during her obituary that she and life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, had been together for 27 years. O’Shaughnessy now chairs Sally Ride Science.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Los Angeles certainly has its share of present-day women trailblazers. This past Sunday, millions around the world watched the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) honor the best and brightest in the film industry and at the helm of the festivities was Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Isaacs has served with AMPAS for 21 years and last summer became the organization’s first African American president and only the third woman to hold the post, following Bettie Davis in 1941 and Fay Kanin in 1979.

Audiences this past year have applauded a new look to Hollywood both in front of and behind the camera over the past year with the critically-acclaimed films “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” and “12 Years A Slave.” When Issacs was named to the post, she commented: “There are a lot of new voices…a lot of new talent. We are committed to showcasing that talent.” Before her latest position, Issacs was Paramount Pictures’ executive vice president of worldwide publicity, orchestrating the marketing campaigns for Best Picture winners Forrest Gump (1994) and Braveheart (1995). Issacs once served as president of CBI enterprises Inc. where she consulted on the films “The King’s Speech” (2010) and “The Artist” (2011), each receiving the Academy Award for “Best Picture.”

Cheryl Boone Isaacs (63298)

Isaacs and practically every Black woman who has dared to step into a “White man’s world” has followed time-honored traditions of character, confidence and poise in applying herself to new responsibilities that, one generation ago, would not have been conceived of. “It’s different being a minority in a majority space,” Isaacs told the Huffington Post last week. “My parent’s favorite phrase was ‘just get above it’ and I must say that I have to put that into practice here…but it doesn’t stop your personal self doubts.”

Because AMPAS has been overseen primarily by White men since its inception 87 years ago, Isaacs has brought about more diversity within the organization and has strived to recognize the film industry contributions of different ethnic groups from around the world. “It’s not like people are walking around going, ‘I don’t want, I don’t want, I don’t want.’ There’s kind of an impression of that and that’s not true. By lifting up and looking around and seeing a lot of new talent and diverse voices in storytelling, by encouraging our members to pay attention to the changing landscape, we’re going to have more and more representation.”

Isaacs wants to increase participation in the academy’s mentoring program, as well its student academy awards and the scientific and technical council, all with an eye on educating and including more minorities. “There are things you can and can’t do,” she said. “You can’t get angry because then you are just an angry Black woman. As women we do have that and then being a minority…there is this extra layer.”

In between handing out Oscars each March, Isaacs is part of a team at AMPAS overseeing construction of the academy’s new $300 million museum project at the old May Co. store at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, now partially occupied by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Opening day is scheduled for the end of 2017.

Paula Madison

From journalist, to sportswoman and now to public service, Paula Madison is a renaissance woman. The former executive with NBC Universal and, until January, chairperson of the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, is now vice president of the Los Angeles Police Commission. As chairperson and CEO of Williams Group Holdings LLC, a Chicago-based investment company owned by her family, she also heads Madison Media Management LLC of Los Angeles which invests primarily in emerging media, entertainment and communications businesses.

That’s a lot of hats. But not for Madison and a new breed of  21st century Black women who daily brave the challenges of corporate America with confidence and high professional standards. And she’s eager to prepare budding Black professionals for the positions they can compete for…but only with first-class preparation. Two years ago Madison chatted with journalism students at Grambling University in Louisiana and pulled no punches when it came to instilling within them a professional attitude that usually carries over from final examinations and term papers, to a resume and cover letter and, ultimately, the first job interview.

“Before getting any job, it is essential to submit resumes and cover letters without any mistakes,” she stressed. “Accidentally mailing something to ‘Paul Madison’ rather than ‘Paula Madison’ can be the quickest way to find your documents in the trash. If you make that mistake, you’ll make more mistakes.” In terms of original work by the reporter? “If you come to work and don’t have your own story, I will fire you.”

Madison occupied a number of leadership roles with NBC Universal, including president and general manager of NBC4 locally, Los Angeles regional general manager for Telemundo TV stations and was vice president and news director of NBC4 New York. In 2007, she was appointed to head and improve diversity for NBC Universal and it was the first time that a company officer assumed a full-time responsibility as the business-lead for diversity. That year, Madison became a company officer for General Electric, at the time the parent company of NBC.

A recipient of a 1996 Peabody Award for NBC4 New York’s investigation, “A License to Kill,” Madison helped the network’s Los Angeles affiliate earn numerous Emmy, Golden Mike and regional Edward R. Murrow awards. Madison has been honored for corporate leadership and community outreach, and in 2005 was listed among the “75 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise magazine.

Madison opted to sell her interest in the Sparks because the league had been financially troubled for several years, but seemed to be on the rebound in 2013. “Our team [had] a tough time from year to year, and we went into this not because we wanted to own a franchise, but because we wanted to support women’s basketball,” she told ESPN in January. Magic Johnson and Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter partnered to buy the Los Angeles Sparks. saving the struggling franchise from relocation or contraction.

Sonia Sotomayor

Rising from the Bronx, New York housing projects to the highest court in the land, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 became the first Latino and only the third woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court.

The daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants, Sotomayor and her brother, Juan, were reared by her widowed mother with a strict attention to education. At an early age, her mother saved enough money to purchase an encyclopedia set and was able to send the two to private Catholic school—not always an easy feat for an immigrant family—with Juan now a successful physician.

Sotomayor, considered a reliable member of the Court’s liberal bloc, once said she conceived of the idea of becoming an attorney while watching an episode of “Perry Mason.” Apparently, Mason’s foe prosecutor Hamilton Burger, commented once that “…serving justice meant losing cases” sometimes when the defendant was innocent. “I took note of that,” Satomayor remembered, “and noticed that Perry Mason was involved in a lot of the same kinds of investigative work that I had been facisnated with reading “Nancy Drew.” So I decided to become a lawyer.”

And what a lawyer. Sotomayor graduated from Princeton University in 1976 and entered Yale Law School a few months later. She quickly made an impact when she published a law review note on the effect of possible Puerto Rican statehood on the island’s mineral and ocean rights. By her second year, Sotomayor became a summer associate with the prominent New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, but didn’t receive an offer for a full-time job. “That was a real kick in the teeth,” she said years ago. Undaunted by the glass ceiling, she filed a formal complaint against the prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Throwbridge for suggesting during a 1978 recruiting dinner that she had been accepted to Yale only because of affirmative action. She refused further interviews with the firm and filed a complaint with a faculty-student tribunal, which ruled in her favor. The firm apologized and the news made headlines in the Washington Post. By 1979 she had received her J.D. from Yale Law School and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1980.

Her early legal career in New York involved many cases connected to the high crime rate—particularly drug offenses—in New York City. She had heavy caseloads and handled everything from shoplifting and prostitution, to robberies, assaults and murders and a number of cases involving police brutality. She helped convict the “Tarzan Murderer” (who in the early ‘80s would climb into high-rise apartments and rob and shoot the residents for no apparent reason). Sotomayor commented then that many so-called “low-level” crimes were the product of socioeconomic environment and poverty, but she drew a strict line at violent crime. “No matter how liberal I am, I’m still outraged by crimes of violence. Regardless of whether I can sympathize with the causes that lead these individuals to do these crimes, the effects are outrageous. The saddest crimes for me were the ones that my own people committed against each other.”

After those years, Sotomayor saw a speedy rise to the U.S. District Court in 1991 (nominated by President George H.W. Bush), appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1998 (nominated by President Bill Clinton), and nomination and appointment by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court in 2009, replacing Associate Justice David Souter.

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