This book is a beautiful tribute to twenty-five Chicana activists from different eras and epochs who have made a difference, made history, and changed the world. It is a powerful celebration of their accomplishments, joys, and sorrows as they made strides in political and social arenas. This book is about women leaders who could be our mothers, aunts, sisters, and cousins. From these life stories, the authors respectfully culled the deepest private and public emotions that these women endured as they fought against discrimination and injustices. A must-read for anyone interested in the power of women, politics, and social change. -- Irasema Coronado, University of Texas, El Paso; coauthor, Fronteras No Mas: Toward Social Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border With today's rapid ascendancy of Mexicanas/Chicanas and Latinas as major leaders in both interest group and electoral politics, Chicanas in Charge represents a very important contribution to the study of political leadership within Chicano/Latino politics. This unique book documents the leadership contributions of twenty-five Chicanas who, from 1964 to the present, were outstanding leaders in the myriad struggles for change that impacted both their respective communities and the Texas political arena...It affirms the vital and indispensable leadership role Chicanas played then and continue to play today as 'policy change agents.'" -- Armando Navarro, University of California, Riverside; author, Mexicano Political Experience in Occupied Aztlan, and La Raza Unida Party
