Betita Martinez (1925-present) is a living legend who has dedicated her professional life to the promotion of civil rights, equality, peace, feminism, and the birth and growth of the Chicanx movement.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today we’re talking about a living legend who has written, organized, and advocated for change throughout her life. She held a wide variety of jobs -- from UN translator to book editor to reporter -- before dedicating her professional life to the promotion of civil rights, equality, peace, feminism, and the birth and growth of the Chicanx movement. Meet Betita Martinez.
Elizabeth Sutherland Martinez was born on December 12, 1925, in Washington, D.C. Her father immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1917. In some ways, his story exemplified the American dream -- he arrived with little to his name and ended up becoming a professor of Spanish Literature at Georgetown University. In other ways, his story served as a cautionary tale. He faced racism and prejudice and taught Betita to think critically about U.S. policies and structures.
Betita’s American-born mother, whose family had come from Scotland and Ireland, also helped to shape Betita’s perspective. She was a teacher and activist.
Betita grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a suburb of DC where she later wrote she felt like an outsider in what felt like an all-white community. After high school, she left the DC area to attend Swarthmore College and graduated with a degree in history and literature in 1946.
After graduation, Betita decided to go by Liz Sutherland in an attempt to better fit in with elites in the arts and publishing world of New York City. She worked as a translator at the United Nations, before moving into research and administration. Betita studied European and U.S. colonies in Africa and the Pacific Ocean, working to shed light on conditions in places that didn’t have self-sovereignty. She then worked at the Museum of Modern Art before becoming an editor at Simon & Schuster. In 1964, Betita became the Books and Arts editor at The Nation magazine.
Betita had successfully broken into the New York City cultural elite. It was no easy feat. Betita later said that she was a “woman in a world dominated by men.”
Even so, she was adept at moving between worlds -- Betita was equally at ease socializing on Fifth Avenue as at the jaunts frequented by beat poets of the day.
She was a very busy lady. In addition to her day job, Betita found time to research and write for pieces that landed in publications including The National Guardian, Horizon and the New York Times. She also volunteered for political causes she believed in.
Betita wanted more than a successful business career. She was driven to seek, and push for, change in the world. In 1965, Betita left The Nation to work in the Civil Rights movement. She then became the Director of the New York office of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC a major Civil Rights organization. She was one of only two Latina women who worked as a paid employee at SNCC. In that role, Betita raised money, organized events, and did research on the racial climate in the American South. She wrote a book called Letters from Mississippi about her experience working in the movement in Mississippi, and also continued to write for major national publications.
In 1967, Betita left SNCC and turned her focus to feminism before being drawn to the fledgling Chicano Movement. Chicanx refers to people of Mexican descent born in the U.S.
In 1968, Betita left New York City for New Mexico. She returned to going by Betita Martinez, rather than the more Anglican sounding Elizabeth Sutherland.
In New Mexico, Betita joined and propelled forward what became a movement to promote the rights -- and celebrate the culture -- of Chicanx people in the United States. She continued to maximize the power of her pen. She co-founded El Grito del Norte, a Chicanx Movement monthly newspaper.
In 1973, Betita founded the Chiciano Communications Center in Albuquerque, and served as its director until 1976. The Center used arts and media to educate visitors about the culture and struggles of the Chicano community. During her tenure there, Betita also wrote another book, this one called 500 Years of Chicano History.
From New Mexico, Betita moved to San Francisco where she continued to fight for a better future. She served as the program director at Global Options, an organization working on issues relating to labor conditions and social justice. In 1983, Betita ran for Governor of California as a Peace and Freedom Party candidate.
In 1997, Betita founded yet another organization: The Institute for Multiracial Justice. The institute served as the embodiment of her life’s work to break down barriers between people fighting for justice, especially different peoples of color.
The following year, in 1998, Betita wrote a book called, “De Colores Means All of Us.”
Betita has written and taught throughout her long and impressive career in activism. She’s lectured at upwards of 300 higher educational institutions. She has received many, many honors and accolades including as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
Betita is a living example of what it looks like to keep fighting the fight against injustice in our own communities, across the country, and around the world.
All month we’re talking about activists.
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Talk to you tomorrow!