February 28, 2018: Inclusive Figures: Ruiz de Burton

[Last week I followed up my Valentine’s Day talk on Exclusion & Inclusion: The Battle to Define America by highlighting exclusionary moments and histories. This week I’ll flip the script and highlight some of the inspiring inclusive figures on whom my book will likewise focus!]

As I wrote in this August 2017 post for the American Writers Museum blog, no single figure resisted and rewrote the exclusion of Mexican Americans in the aftermath of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo better than María Amparo Ruiz de Burton. For that reason, and for all that she still has to say to our 21^st century conversations and debates, she’s an inclusive figure all Americans desperately need to read.

Next inclusive figures tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Other inspiring figures you’d highlight?