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I recently took the Women’s History Month self-guided tour of Downtown Los Angeles, designed
by LA Metro. Five stops in about five miles tell the story of some lesser-known women in history
and how they shaped the city of L.A.
I learned about Maria de Lopez who, “in 1911 gave an unprecedented speech in support of women’s
right to vote in Spanish, at the Los Angeles Plaza (just up the hill from present day Union Station). Days
later, California passed a suffrage proposition and women won the right to vote 9 years [before the rest
of the nation] when the 19th Amendment became law.”
I learned about Biddy Mason (first name Bridget), who was born a slave and won her freedom in the
California Courts. “As a free woman, she bought an acre of land in what is now Downtown LA,
became a midwife, and later a philanthropist.” She now has the key moments of her life on
display at the micro-park named after her, Biddy Mason Memorial Park, in Downtown LA.
(https://bikeshare.metro.net/ride-guides/dtla/womens-history-month/)”
And while I was touched to learn about such amazing women and my pride of being a Native
Angeleno and Californian deepened, I also couldn’t help but notice how hushed these women’s
stories were. De Lopez, a pioneer of women’s suffrage, was not mentioned anywhere in Los
Angeles Plaza Park. In fact, the plaza honors King Charles the Third of Spain and Felipe de
Neve, a Spanish soldier who became the 4th Governor of California.
Spain colonized Mexico (which we now call California) centuries ago. How the plaza, which is
deemed an historic L.A. site, can honor colonizers over women pioneers who made our land
more progressive and equitable for all genders is suspect. And L.A. Metro promoting her legacy
without so much as a plaque to honor her is disheartening.
The same can be said for Mason. As honored and awestruck and I was to learn about lesser-
known Black women history makers, and the pride that swelled in my heart, knowing she
obtained freedom, her memorial of a park was tucked away adjacent to a parking structure and
a shabby micro “strip wall” with a few closed restaurants. For such an incredible story, you’d
think she’d get some real estate at Grand Park or near the L.A. Public Library! Or that. at the
very least, her park would be front facing on a major street and not in the cut somewhere half-
a-mile from Grand Central Market.
The whisper of these women’s accomplishments and contributions to justice, combined with
how little noise Women’s History Month has made online, is certainly sending a sordid
message. That still, in the year of our Lord, 2025, women are considered second-rate,
insignificant and not equal in value to men. It’s enraging, disheartening and questionable.
The Center for American Progress reports that as of 2022, women between the ages of 25 and
54 make up 76% of the labor force and as consumers, “are projected to control two-thirds of
discretionary spending by 2028.” That means women make up a super majority of workers and
spenders. We are the backbone of the U.S. economy and our contributions to the world should
certainly be front and center, not tucked away or whispered about during this special month.
Let’s do better next year L.A.!
