On Episode 5: The Woman Who Built the Movement from the Fields Up.
Monica Ramirez is the daughter and granddaughter of migrant farmworkers from Fremont, Ohio, where she still lives. She became a civil rights attorney, founded Justice for Migrant Women, co-founded Alianza Nacional de Campesinas and Poderistas, and, at 25, created the first legal project in this country focused on sexual harassment against farmworker women. In November of 2017, she wrote a letter on behalf of 700,000 farmworker women to the women of Hollywood, a letter Time Magazine published, a letter that helped ignite the Time’s Up movement. And while the world watched that movement grow louder and louder, the women who wrote the original letter stayed in the fields. Monica has spent the years since making sure their names, their lives, and their dignity stay in the conversation. And now, at 49, she is pursuing her PhD.
In this episode, Ana and Cristy sit down with one of the most powerful, grounded, and generous women in the Latina movement to talk about what it means to carry both a calling and a wound, to fight for justice while still learning to give yourself grace. Monica shares the deeply personal story behind her life’s work: her sister, her own experience as a survivor, and how she learned to never forget where she came from. She talks about the Dolores Huerta revelation, what it felt like to witness a hero and an amiga she has loved since she was 20 finally break her silence, and the immense pain and responsibility she felt in that moment. She talks about what winning actually looks like to her, and why crossing the finish line alone is something she’d never call a win.
This conversation is for every woman who has held more than anyone knew. Those who have fought for others fearlessly. The Sabias who are finally learning in midlife that they deserve what they give.
Favorite Moments:
00:00 - 01:45 Intro
01:45 - 04:55 Growing up in a farmworker family
04:55 - 09:05 “Almost as if I wasn’t really a lawyer”: being young and Latina
09:05 - 10:58 “This work is not work. It is my mission.”
10:58 - 15:20 The story behind the Dear Sisters letter
15:20 - 17:25 Farmworker women helped women in Hollywood
17:25 - 23:35 The Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez case
27:33 - 30:33 The grandfather and the grandson in first grade
35:25 - 39:32 The women who hold her up
39:32 - 42:42 A PhD at 49: thinking about legacy
42:42 - 44:35 “Entre Sabias”: Rapid-fire questions
44:35 Closing: Winning is not winning alone
About Monica Ramirez
About Justice for Migrant Women
About Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
About Poderistas
Our podcast is bilingual, so episodes will be in English, Spanish, or Spanglish depending on our guests. You’ll find them labeled in our feed, or you can use YouTube’s dubbing feature to listen your way.
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Gracias por escucharnos.
Ana + Cristy
Episode Credits
Her Wisdom Era is hosted by Ana Flores and Cristy Marrero
Our producer and editorial coach is Laura Ubaté. La gran Lau.
Theme music and sound engineering by Stephen Hermann for Explosion Robinson AKA El Santo.
Social media by Team Belu, the best.
Branding by la diosa Leticia Vidaurri.
Our Executive Producers are Ana Flores and Cristy Marrero.
