[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 17, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E398-E399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING GRACIA MOLINA de PICK UPON THE OCCASION OF HER 80TH 
                                BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 17, 2010

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Gracia 
Molina de Pick, a distinguished activist, feminist, author, and 
educator in the San Diego community, upon her 80th birthday.
  Born into a politically active family in Mexico, Gracia Molina de 
Pick moved to San Diego in 1957, and has maintained her spirit of 
activism through her many years of work and service in our region. 
Along the way, she received her master's degree from San Diego State 
University and participated in doctoral studies at the University of 
California, San Diego and a doctoral fellowship at the University of 
Southern California.
  Gracia Molina de Pick has been fighting for the rights of Latinos and 
Chicanos since she was a teenager. She is the founder of IMPACT, an 
early community grassroots organization that fought for the civil 
rights of Mexican-Americans in San Diego. From 1969 to 1977 she served 
on the National Council of La Raza, the first civil rights advocacy 
group for Hispanic Americans. In 1970, she also founded the first 
national feminist Chicana Association, the Comision Femenil Mexicana 
Nacional, and the following year she served as the Chicana Caucus Chair 
of the National Women's Political Caucus. She is the national organizer 
for Chicana participation at the United Nations World Conferences on 
Women.
  Gracia Molina de Pick has tirelessly persisted in her efforts to 
secure equality for women. She helped to organize and found the Partido 
Popular, a Mexican political party that fought to secure voting rights 
for women. A published author, she has penned numerous articles and co-
authored two books. Her most recent book, Mujeres en la Historia & 
Historias de Mujeres, offers readers biographies of influential women 
in Mexican history.
  Understandably, many prominent organizations have honored Gracia 
Molina de Pick with well-deserved awards and recognition. In 2001, 
Assemblymember Christine Kehoe named Gracia ``Woman of the Year,'' and 
she

[[Page E399]]

was inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame the year after. In 
2004, she received the Jesse de la Cruz Award from the California Rural 
Legal Assistance, Inc., a venerable legal advocacy and economic justice 
organization.
  Gracia continues to work for equality for those who are 
underrepresented and underserved, particularly in the areas of service 
and education. For many years, she served as a professor at Mesa 
College and a lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, 
where she helped found the University's Thurgood Marshall College. She 
served as the Commissioner of the California Post-Secondary Education 
Commission, and recently initiated the Gracia Molina de Pick Endowed 
Fund for Chicano/a Studies at the University of California, San Diego. 
Currently, Gracia is a member of San Diego's Human Relations 
Commission, where she works to ensure that the city upholds the 
protections of basic human and civil rights that she herself has worked 
so hard to establish.
  In keeping with her selfless spirit, Gracia is commemorating her 
birthday with a benefit celebration to raise financial support for the 
Logan Heights Library in San Diego. On this happy occasion, please join 
me in honoring Gracia Molina de Pick and her years of hard work making 
a difference in our community.

                          ____________________