Heather Booth facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Heather Booth
Heather Booth in documentary by Lilly Rivlin, 2016.
Born	(1945-12-15) December 15, 1945 (age 79) Brookhaven, Mississippi
Education	University of Chicago (BA, MA)
Known for	Progressive activist, community organizer, political consultant

Heather Booth (born December 15, 1945) is an American activist who has worked for many important causes. She has been involved in the civil rights movement, which fought for equal rights for all people, and feminism, which works for equal rights for women. She has also spent her career helping communities organize and pushing for progressive ideas in politics.

Early life and family

Heather Booth was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, on December 15, 1945. Her family soon moved to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where she went to elementary school. Later, they moved to Long Island, where she attended high school. She has two brothers, David and Jonathan.

Heather grew up in a supportive family. Her parents taught her to recognize unfairness and to act to fix it. They were Jewish and showed her the importance of treating everyone with kindness and respect. From her upbringing, Heather learned that she had a responsibility to help build a better society.

In high school, Heather learned about the challenges women faced from a book called The Feminine Mystique. She also started protesting against the death penalty. In 1960, she joined a group called CORE to protest against unfair rules at a store chain called Woolworth's, which treated Black customers differently in the South.

After high school, in 1963, she went to the University of Chicago. She chose this school because it focused less on sports and social clubs. At college, she quickly became involved in political activism. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1967 and her master's degree in 1970, both from the University of Chicago.

Heather married Paul Booth in July 1967. They met during a protest against the Vietnam War. Later that year, she was arrested during another protest against the war. They had two sons, Eugene and Daniel. Paul Booth was also a well-known activist and helped organize many important movements. He passed away in 2018.

Career

Heather Booth has had a long career fighting for change. She has worked on civil rights, women's rights, and helping communities organize to solve their own problems.

Civil rights

Heather's commitment to fighting unfairness started when she was very young. In elementary school, she defended a Black classmate who was wrongly accused of stealing. This experience made her realize that "you don't do this to people."

In high school, she joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to protest unfair rules at lunch counters in the South. In college, she led a group that supported the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which was a key civil rights organization. She also helped coordinate "Freedom Schools" in Chicago, which were special schools set up to educate Black children during segregation.

In 1964, Heather joined the Freedom Summer project in Mississippi. Volunteers helped Black people register to vote and set up schools and libraries. She was arrested for the first time while holding a sign that said "Freedom Now!" during a peaceful protest. This experience strengthened her dedication to the civil rights movement. She saw the bravery of the Black residents who faced violence every day but continued to work for change. She learned that even small, everyday actions can lead to big changes.

In 1965, Heather was arrested again while protesting against banks that supported the apartheid system in South Africa, which was a harsh system of racial segregation. She later left SNCC when the group decided to focus on Black leadership only. After that, she spent more time on women's rights and the anti-war movement.

Feminism

When Heather started college, she noticed that male students were often treated better than female students. In 1965, she started "consciousness raising" groups. These were small groups where women met to talk about their experiences. They realized that many problems they thought were personal were actually shared by many women. This helped them understand their collective power to make changes.

Heather also helped create a course on women's studies and studied how male and female students were treated differently in classrooms. She founded a group called the Women's Radical Action Program to fight against women being given less important roles in activist organizations. In 1967, she helped form the Chicago West Side Group, which was one of the first women's liberation groups in the country.

Heather also helped women get important medical care. She connected women with a doctor who would help them safely. This led to the creation of the Jane Collective, a secret organization that helped women find medical services and support.

In 1969, Heather and five other women founded the Chicago Women's Liberation Union (CWLU). They believed that having a strong organization was important for the women's movement to reach more people and win real changes that would improve women's lives. The CWLU organized local groups, published newspapers, and even ran a "liberation school."

After she got married and had children, Heather realized how hard it was to find childcare. She joined with friends to try and set up a childcare center. The difficulties they faced led them to create a new group called the Action Committee for Decent Childcare (ACDC). This group worked to remove legal barriers and get more money for childcare centers across Chicago. Within a few years, they helped make it easier to open childcare centers and secured a million-dollar investment for them.

In 1972, Heather was part of a group that published a paper called "Socialist Feminism: A Strategy for the Women's Movement." This is believed to be the first time the term "socialist feminism" was used.

Community organizing

After getting her master's degree in 1970, Heather worked part-time. She noticed her employer treated the office staff unfairly and encouraged them to organize. When they spoke up, the boss agreed to their demands but fired Heather. She sued and won her case in 1972.

With the money she won from the lawsuit, she founded the Midwest Academy in 1973. This organization trained people in "grassroots community organizing" methods, which means helping ordinary people work together to make changes in their communities.

The Midwest Academy taught organizers how to plan campaigns to achieve specific goals. They used a tool called the "Midwest Academy Strategy Chart." This chart helped students figure out what steps to take, how to identify allies and opponents, and how to measure success. It focused on finding the right people to influence and using all available resources to strengthen the campaign.

In 1978, Heather helped create the Citizen Labor Energy Coalition (CLEC), which brought together citizen groups and labor unions. She became its executive director. CLEC helped build stronger connections between these two important groups, which had often worked separately.

Heather's experience and connections from the Midwest Academy also helped her create Citizen Action in 1980. This was a nationwide group of local activist organizations. Citizen Action worked on issues like factory closings, affordable healthcare, and environmental problems. It grew to have millions of members and helped influence politics by supporting candidates who shared its goals.

Progressive politics

Heather continued her activism by supporting political campaigns. In 1981, she was arrested while supporting striking miners. She advised Harold Washington's successful campaigns for mayor of Chicago in 1983 and 1987. She also led the field operations for Carol Moseley-Braun's successful Senate campaign in 1992.

Her work led her to Washington, D.C., where she made connections with national leaders of labor unions and the Democratic Party. In 1993, she became an outreach coordinator for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), focusing on women and labor issues. She later became the DNC's training director.

In 2000, she became the director of the NAACP National Voter Fund. This fund worked to educate voters about civil rights issues and encourage more African Americans to vote. Its efforts helped increase voter turnout in the 2000 presidential election.

In 1999, Heather helped found USAction, another group that brought together progressive community organizations. She also started working as a political consultant, advising various campaigns and organizations. She was arrested in 2018 at a protest supporting the DACA program, which protects young immigrants. In 2019, she was arrested again at a climate change rally.

Heather played a key role in achieving financial reform after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. In 2010, she directed Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), a group of consumer and labor organizations. AFR was very important in getting the Dodd-Frank Act passed, which created new rules to protect consumers and prevent another financial crisis.

During the Biden/Harris presidential campaign in 2020, Heather was the director of senior and progressive engagement. She continues to be involved in political consulting and activism.

Political opponents and critics

Because Heather Booth is a well-known activist, she has faced criticism from people who disagree with her political views. Some opponents have claimed that her work and the organizations she founded were connected to socialist or communist ideas. For example, in 1978, a Congressman claimed she was associated with the Communist Party. Others have called her "the queen of socialist politics" and said she tried to bring socialist ideas into mainstream American institutions.

In 2013, a journalist claimed she was a leading figure among "socialist activists" who influenced important financial reform laws. These criticisms often come from conservative writers and politicians who do not agree with her progressive goals.

Honors and awards

Heather Booth has received many awards for her dedication to social justice:

• On May 9, 1987, she received the Thomas-Debs Award from the Democratic Socialists of America.
• On June 16, 2009, she was honored by AVODAH, a Jewish social justice organization.
• On July 6, 2013, she accepted the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Women's Health Award on behalf of the Jane Collective.
• On October 19, 2016, United Vision for Idaho held a reception honoring her during a showing of the documentary Heather Booth: Changing the World.
• On October 21, 2020, Jane Fonda presented her with Personal PAC's Irving Harris Award. Hillary Clinton also attended this virtual event.
• In March 2022, she received the Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Award from T'ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization. T'ruah noted that Heather has dedicated her life to bringing a "Jewish lens" to her work for social justice.

Documentary films, television appearances, and podcasts

Writings

Heather Booth has contributed to several books, pamphlets, and online articles:

Organizations

Here is a list of some of the organizations Heather Booth has helped found, led, or worked with: