March 8 is International Women’s Day. It’s an internationally recognized holiday that is not without controversy. When it was first observed more than a hundred years ago, it was often synonymous with socialist causes (one of those so-called socialist causes was suffrage … advocating for women’s right to vote). And up until perhaps 60 years ago, the event was associated with far left causes.
That changed in 1975, when the United Nations codified the event. It has since become an institution in almost all countries. To be sure, it’s not celebrated in the same fashion from one country to the next. Women in many countries – rightly so – use the day to protest gender inequality or violence toward women. In our Valley, women sometimes get together in local parks to hear and support each other. It’s not protest or celebration as much as recognition.
In this issue of Desert Magazine, we pay tribute to some of the extraordinary women who created Palm Springs and helped grow it into the nine-city Valley we know today. These women were true pioneers; they lived at a time when they’d just been granted the right to vote, but it was 50 years before the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (passed in 1974) allowed them to own credit cards in their own names. These women faced extraordinary challenges and were certainly daunted by some of the obstacles in their way, but they were never deterred.
I think of my own mother, Connie Niva, and the challenges and achievements of her life. It would take far more than this column to detail my mother’s life, but I will mention a few accomplishments that inspire me every day. In her early years, she gave lectures about microbiology to medical students and trained Palestinian nurses in East Jerusalem for two years. Even while raising four children, she continued to globetrot and teach. Later, when she returned to Washington and settled with her family in Everett, she went back to school and obtained a master’s degree in public policy.
Her commitment to local government was evident as she served on the City Council (where she was chairperson) for many years and was elected Port of Everett Commissioner. Following that, she was appointed by the governor to two six-year terms on the Board of Regents for Washington State University. After moving to Seattle, she was appointed to the Puget Sound Water Quality Control Board. She served as president of a program called Housing Hope (which addressed homelessness), was commissioner of the Washington State Department of Transportation, and was chair of the Seattle chapter of the Center for Women and Democracy, for which she traveled to countries such as Cuba, Vietnam, and Jordan. She received countless awards for her work, including the 2003 Henry M. Jackson Award (named for the former senator) for her civic service in the greater Puget Sound region.
And my mother battled leukemia during the last 35 years, as she accomplished all of this and raised a family. She wasn’t supposed to survive past 50 years old, and she’s now 85. I cannot begin to count all the lessons she has taught me by example: courage, fortitude, resilience, and leadership. She is my inspiration, every day of my life.
On this International Women’s Day, I’ll think of my mother, Connie. She is a reason to celebrate.
