Work Cited

Work Cited

College, Sophia Smith Collection Smith, and Ma Northampton. ELIZABETH (BETITA)  

MARTINEZ (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Freedman, Estelle B. No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women. New

York: Ballantine, 2002. Print.

Martínez, Elizabeth Sutherland. De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-colored

Century. Cambridge, MA: South End, 1998. Print.

Martínez, S. (2013). Go-go betita. Social Justice, 39(2), 107-112. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.fhda.edu:2048/login?url=http://ezproxy.fhda.edu:2061/docview/1465511683?accountid=38235

Martinez. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2004. Web.

"World People's Blog." » Blog Archive » Elizabeth Betita Martinez – USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 02

June 2016.

“liberation has similar meanings for all people of color engaged in struggle. It means and end to racist oppression, the birth of collective self-respect and genuine hope of the social justice that we sometimes call equality.” - Betita Martinez

"Little Known Facts"

What many people don’t know about Betita Martinez is that she was raised my a Mexican father and an Scotch-Irish mother. During this time there was a lot of racism going on, which was followed by the civil rights movement. Although Betita wasn’t considered black nor white she still experienced some segregation. She says ‘…the schools I went to were all- white, starting in kindergarten, and through high school, and even through college. And people would sort of look at me. I remember in elementary school: Are you Hawaiian or something? “No, I’m Mexican.” Well, what’s that? “Well —” So it was like being a zero. And the little girl next door whose family was white, she was not allowed to play with me because my father was Mexican.’(Voices of Feminism Oral History Project, p.2). I believe the fact that Betita grew up in an environment like this has actually shaped her way of thinking about her society. I think think in a way it has inspired her to be a part of the many activist organizations and movements. 

Books

De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1998.

500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures/ 500 Anos del Pueblo Chicano, Albuquerque, N. M.: Southwest Organizing Project, Second Edition 1991. (Forms the basis of the video, Viva La Causa! that she co-

directed)

Letters from Mississippi, Editor, New York: McGraw Hill, 1965 (re-issued in 2002).

Contributions

    She was all for the Civil Rights Movement and since she wanted to do something about it she decided to start an Institue for Multi-Racial Justice. “I combined colonialism together with racism and decided that I wanted to do something about it. So the rest of my life in many ways has been devoted to combating racism. One of the ways to do that, I thought, was through building alliances between different peoples of color. That’s why, in 1997, I started the Institute for MultiRacial Justice with my friend Phil Hutchings, an African American man who was chairman of the Student” (CHICANA SPECTATORS AND MEDIAMAKERS, p27-28). Not only was she a part of this movement she was also able to contribute to many magazines to publish journals on those current events and social issues. People sometimes don't see this as an action of activism, but it is because she is able to educate many people with her readings.

Timeline

December 12, 1925: Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez was born in Washington, D.C

1946: The first latina/student of color to graduate from Swarthmore College (received a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in History and Literature)

1948-53: Betita sought her first job out of college at the United Nations in hopes of helping end the horrors of war. As a researcher in the Secretariat

1965: The first book Betita wrote was called Letters from Mississippi, in which she edited letters that were written to family and friends by the seven hundred volunteers who went to Mississippi in the summer of 1964 to help register black voters.

1968-73: She co-founded and edited the bilingual movement newspaper El Grito del Norte

1991: Published book 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures Second Edition

1997: Cofounded and currently directs the Institute for Multiracial Justice in San Fransisco (“aims to strengthen the struggle against white supremacy by serving as a resource center to help build alliances among peoples of color and combat divisions”)

1998: Published her book De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Cultural Century

May 2000: Awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws

2006: Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

The Trigger

Betita Martinez is well known of the activism she was involved in throughout her life. She became involved in activism when she was in school attending Swarthmore College around the 1940's. In an interview Betita describes at what point she was triggered participate in activist events. “The activist organizer goes back to my first job when I got out of college. I wanted to work with the United Nations because I was horrified by wars and wanted to help bring about world peace. So I did get a job working in the UN as a researcher for five years. 



I learned a lot about colonialism, about how people colonize their bodies and their minds all over this planet.” (CHICANA SPECTATORS AND MEDIAMAKERS, 27). Since then, Betita has been involved in many organizations that contributed to the civil rights movement, women empowerment,  and chicano/a movement.