Ruth is smart and thoughtful and it makes me angry to hear about some of the things she has been through. If she had had the same open doors during her life as others did because of their gender and skin color, she could have easily been a legislator or the CEO of a big company. But Ruth was denied opportunity after opportunity because of racism. After passing her civil service exams, she interviewed 13 times for Alameda County jobs without even a single offer; once an interviewer just looked at her, laughed, and didn’t do the interview because of her skin color.
Through it all, Ruth persevered, determined to succeed in her goals and career. She realized early on that anger and hate take too much energy, so she instead focused on how to help others. However, she never let instances of racism slide and spoke up despite the societal pressures that tried to stifle the rights of a Black woman to do so.
I recently had a chance to connect with Ruth and learn about her life. Her generous spirit and absolute strength shine in the memories she shares.