Longtime Los Angeles County supervisor and trailblazing Latina politician Gloria Molina announced Tuesday she is battling terminal cancer.
In a Facebook post, Molina, 74, wrote that the cancer, which she said she has been living with for three years, is “very aggressive.” She said she also wants people to know she is not sad — and instead feels fortunate to have lived a “long, fulfilling and beautiful life.”
“I’m really grateful for everyone in my life and proud of my family, career, mi gente, and the work we did on behalf of our community,” Molina wrote in the post.
Molina said she was appreciative of the healthcare professionals who were taking care of her at City of Hope, a cancer center. She added she has a daughter and one grandchild and another one on the way.
“I have an amazing and caring family, wonderful friends, and worked with committed colleagues and a loyal team,” she wrote. “Throughout my life I’ve had the support of many people.”
Molina repeatedly made history in California as the first Latina elected to the state Assembly, the Los Angeles City Council and the county Board of Supervisors, where she represented the 1st District for 23 years, from 1991 to 2014. She represented a major portion of the San Gabriel Valley, with her district stretching from Koreatown, Pico-Union and East Los Angeles all the way east to Pomona.
“Gloria is a trailblazer,” said Antonia Hernandez, the longtime president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “Gloria was one of the earliest women to open doors for a whole bunch of other Latina women — not only in L.A., but in California.”
Hernandez, who met Molina as a young lawyer in 1974, said Molina repeatedly urged Latinas to work in all levels government. She said Molina was the one who urged her to go to Washington, D.C., and work for Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.).
“She was always calling. She was always saying there’s an opportunity here,” Hernandez recalled Tuesday. “She really nurtured a lot of folks to go into public service and politics.”
Miguel Santana, chief executive of the Weingart Foundation, said he was inspired by Molina while in high school and worked for her for 13 years when she was a supervisor. He said Molina, whom he now counts as a close mentor and friend, always stuck out on the male-dominated board as a tireless advocate for women and Latinas.
“She was always an activist in her way of governing,” Santana recalled. “She was willing to take on any righteous cause.”
Molina started her political life in the 1970s as an activist in the Chicano movement and advocate for Mexican-American women who were sterilized against their will at LAC+USC Medical Center. Years later, she fought for the replacement of the hospital after an earthquake, accusing the white supervisors of racism after they said they wanted to see it rebuilt with a smaller footprint.
“It’s sad for me as someone who loves her and knows her to know that she’s transitioning in her life,” Santana said. “But I also know that’s she’s incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to fight on behalf of her community.”
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
For more latest Education News Click Here