Rebel Girls: The Indian American Essayist Who Championed Social Justice and Feminism

Kartar Dhillon's sense of fairness propelled her towards every equality movement that crossed her path, throughout her entire life. Dhillon’s quest for justice for all working and disadvantaged people literally knew no bounds.

Rebel Girls: The Jewish ‘Red Angel’ Who Withstood Incarceration for Workers’ Rights

For Elaine Black Yoneda, it wasn’t a choice. When authorities informed her that her three-year-old son Tommy would be imprisoned in a concentration camp for the crime of being half-Japanese, Yoneda — a white Jewish woman — insisted on going with him. Her Japanese American husband Karl was already b…

Rebel Girls: The Palestinian Woman Who Built Cultural Bridges

Nabila Mango was a beautiful example of what happens when resistance is also rooted in an overriding sense of unity. Her focus was always on community — local and global. One of her most powerful forms of protest was preserving Palestinian culture for generations to come. (The very act of doing so …

Rebel Girls: The Filipina Activist So Unstoppable, Her Nickname Was ‘Bullet’

In 1982, Filipina activist and community builder Violeta Marasigan was imprisoned under the Marcos regime in Manila. The false charges against her? Bomb-making. Looking back 13 years later, Violeta managed to find humor in the experience. “The only thing explosive about me," she said, "was my mouth…

Rebel Girls: The ‘Rolling Warrior’ Who Demanded Equality for People With Disabilities

Judy Heumann never felt ashamed to use a wheelchair. Rather, what she felt most consistently throughout her life was fury at the many ways she was routinely excluded by a world that treated disabled people as second-class citizens.

Rebel Girls: The Transgender Topless Dancer Who Went to War with Prison Authorities

It never mattered who she was up against, Vicki “Starr” Fernandez was always ready to fight for equal treatment, no matter the venue.

Rebel Girls: The San Francisco Couple Whose Lifelong Love Changed America

It would be a gross understatement to say that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon’s love, and their willingness to speak openly and often about it, impacted America’s view of same-sex unions. The couple spent their whole lives putting themselves in the spotlight — and sometimes grave danger — to raise awa…

Rebel Girls: The Dancer Who Helped Start the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program

In 1968, Ruth Beckford was known around the Bay Area for her exceptional dance skills. One year later, she had helped launch the Black Panther's Free Breakfast program in Oakland. The program soon became mandatory in all Black Panther chapters nationwide.

Rebel Girls: The Pregnant Teen Who Captained a Clipper Ship in 1856

On Nov. 13, 1856, witnesses on San Francisco’s shoreline were astonished by the sight of a pregnant 19-year-old girl guiding a grand, 216-foot-long clipper ship into port. Mary Ann Patten had spent the previous two months leading the crew and cargo of the Neptune’s Car to safety from Chile’s Cape H…

Rebel Girls: The Saloon Owner Beloved by 19th-Century Sailors

Back in the late 18- and early 1900s, however, one woman in San Francisco stood as a shining example of just how successful and beloved a female tavern owner could be. Mother Thompson was the proprietor of Mrs. Thompson's, a saloon on the Embarcadero that sat between Howard and Folsom. The bar was …