YWCA Honors Four Activist Women at Racial Justice Breakfast Wednesday

Four remarkable activist women were honored Wednesday morning at the 22nd Annual Young Women’s Christian Association Glendale & Pasadena Women for Racial Justice Breakfast fundraising event that drew hundreds to Noor’s Sofia Ballroom in downtown Pasadena.

Heavenly Hughes, Executive Director, My TRIBE Rise; Debra Ward, Executive Director, Young Women’s Christian Association San Gabriel Valley; Helen Iris Torres, Chief Executive Officer, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE); and Christy Zamani, Executive Director, Day One, were each honored by the organization.

Introduced by Congresswoman Judy Chu, who thanked the organization for its “remarkable” work, honoree Debra Ward talked about growing up in California and visiting her family home of Jackson, Mississippi, and witnessing firsthand the pervasiveness of racism in the American South in the 1960s.

Ward recalled that her mother never allowed her to sit in movie theater balconies because in the South, Blacks were “only” allowed in balconies in movie theaters.

“I find myself always going back to that situation,” said Ward, “because back then in the sixties, you had segregated areas and that was the societal and cultural practice. And I was from California and I had a different kind of practice. It’s also, when you think of a movie theater, it was structural racism because there was a policy that was unfair and unjust. And when you look at the work that we do as social justice warriors and racial justice warriors, we’re always trying to dismantle unfair and unjust systems. And I have found that that situation has always encouraged me to go against the grain.”

Among the attendees to the packed event were U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu, State Senator Anthony Portantino, Mayor Victor Gordo, City Manager Miguel Márquez, Councilmember Tyron Hampton, and Councilmember Jess Rivas.

The Young Women’s Christian Association itself is the oldest and largest women’s movement in the United States, providing services for women and their families. Their local programs and services nationwide have furthered the Young Women’s Christian Association vision of peace, justice, freedom, and dignity since 1926. Over the past 98 years, according to their website, programs have evolved and have included shelter for women, health education and wellness classes for women, youth development programs, community dialogue groups to discuss race relations, children’s programs, emergency shelter, and services for survivors of domestic violence.

Nationally, Young Women’s Christian Association advocacy issues include lobbying for pay equity and hate crimes legislation, increased funding for Head Start and passing the Violence Against Women Act.

“Young Women’s Christian Association Glendale and Pasadena provides accessible and culturally responsive resources to survivors of domestic violence and their families, girls, and communities to build healthy relationships, achieve self-sufficiency, and live free from violence,” the website notes.