James Watt (5/27)
As President Ronald Reagan’s first Interior secretary, Watt "tilted environmental policies sharply toward commercial exploitation, touching off a national debate over the development or preservation of America’s public lands and resources." (Source.) After taking office in 1981, Watt was asked at a hearing of the House Interior Committee if he favored preserving wilderness areas for future generations. The born-again Christian replied, “I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the Lord returns.” He soon transferred control of many of the nation's resources to private industry, and opened most of the Outer Continental Shelf — nearly all of America’s coastal waters — to drilling leases by oil and gas companies. He widened access to coal on federal lands, eased restrictions on strip-mining, and increased industry access to wilderness areas for drilling, mining and lumbering, among other "reforms." Environmental groups called for his dismissal and some secretly lamented when he resigned because having him in office helped with their fundraising efforts.
Tina Turner (5/25)
"We don't need another hero, we need more heroines like you," said Oprah Winfrey at the 2005 ceremony featuring Queen Latifah, Melissa Etheridge and Beyoncé bestowing Turner with a Kennedy Center Honor. The singing and dancing powerhouse and Queen of Rock and Roll survived a physically abusive relationship with her husband and musical partner Ike Turner before escaping with 36 cents in her pocket and divorcing him in 1978. She gave up all the couple's assets in her divorce settlement so that she could continue to use her stage name launched a solo career. A series of 1980s monster hits like the empowering "Better Be Good to Me" followed, along with a film career and a lucrative modeling contract for Hanes pantyhose after a poll revealed she had the most-admired legs in the US. Like her fellow dancing/singing phenomenon Josephine Baker, Turner was wildly popular in Europe and expatriated to France, then Switzerland. A devout Buddhist, Tina the Acid Queen believed she was the reincarnation of the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, who was associated with Seshat, Goddess of Knowledge and Cannabis. Her biography I, Tina says that although the Ikettes were known to sneak an occasional joint, she only tried weed once, but let Ike give her Benzedrine to get through lengthy recording sessions, and they recorded a song called "Contact High." This performance (above) was recorded in 2009, the year she turned 70. We can't wait for her next incarnation.
Kathryn Jones Harrison (5/21)
Harrison was one of five Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon tribal members who testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 18, 1983, in support of restoring the tribe to federal recognition, which had been terminated 29 years earlier in 1954. After the tribe was restored, she served on Tribal Council from 1984 to 2001, becoming the first woman to serve as tribal chair, all while raising 10 children. Harrison received honorary degrees from Portland State University, the University of Portland, and Willamette University. Her name, which honored her her great-great-aunt Molalla Kate, is inscribed on the Wall of Honor at the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and grade school in Corvallis, Oregon was named for her in 2022. She walked on at the age of 99. Source.
Gloria Molina (5/14)
The oldest of 10 children, Molina became a breadwinner to her family after her father died, working as a legal secretary while in college, where she became involved in politics. Shortly after, as chair of the Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional, she sat next to a tearful Dolores Madrigal at a news conference in 1975 announcing a class-action lawsuit alleging that L.A. County-USC Medical Center had coerced Mexican American women into sterilizations (pictured). She also headed Latino outreach in California for former President Carter, and joined his administration’s Office of Presidential Personnel, tasked with diversifying the ranks of thousands of commission seats. In 1982, Molina became the first Latina elected to the California state assembly. In 1986, she was the first Latina to be elected to the L.A. City Council. And in 1991, she was the first Latina to become an L.A. County Supervisor who served the people of East L.A., Pico-Union and the San Gabriel Valley for 23 years. In that capacity, she voted in favor of allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in LA County in 2006. Molina also quilted, founding the East L.A. Stitchers and frequently knitting with the group until her announcement of terminal cancer three years before her death. Source.
Bumbry, a "barrier-shattering mezzo-soprano whose vast vocal range and transcendent stage presence made her a towering figure in opera and one of its first, and biggest, Black stars." Source. Growing up in St. Louis in an era of segregation, Bumbry came of age at a time when "African American singers were a rare sight on the opera stage, despite breakthroughs by luminaries like Leontyne Price and Marian Anderson." She performed in Verdi’s “Aida” at the Paris Opera in 1960 when she was at 23, and was acclaimed as "The Black Venus" when she portrayed Venus in a modernized version of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” at the storied Bayreuth Festival the following year. Here she performs as Carmen.
Gordon Lightfoot (5/1)
Canadian singer/songwriter Lightfoot saw US acts like Judy Collins and Peter, Paul and Mary make hits with songs he wrote like "Early Mornin' Rain" until he got airplay himself with his haunting "If You Could Read My Mind." His song "Sundown" was inspired by his then-girlfriend Cathy Smith, also the inspiration for The Band's song "The Weight." She sings backup on this song, titled "High and Dry."
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