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>> This is my grandmother here. >> Isn't that wonderful.
>> Enrique: PHYLLIS GUTIERREZ KENNEY AND I SHARE A CONNECTION.
>> This is my mother, this is Mrs. Fonseca and your grandmother, Mrs. Cerna.
>> Enrique: My grandmother, Felicitas Cerna, yeah.
WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS.
This was a women's club, right? >> Yes, in the church.
>> Enrique: OUR FAMILIES KNEW EACH OTHER.
>> That's a wonderful picture.
>> Enrique: AND WE GREW UP IN WAPATO.
IT'S THERE THAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF CULTURE, CLASS, AND RACE.
THOSE EXPERIENCES HELPED TO PREPARE PHYLLIS GUTIERREZ KENNEY FOR A FUTURE IN POLITICS.
AS ONE OF ONLY THREE LATINAS TO SERVE IN THE WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE.
>> Eight terms, I won every year with over 79% to 80% of the vote in this district.
¶¶
I don't know how, but she fed them.
>> Enrique: SHE WAS BORN MARIA FELIPA GUTIERRIEZ IN HARDIN, MONTANA, THE DAUGHTER OF MIGRANT WORKERS AND THE SEVENTH OF EIGHT CHILDREN.
>> We were all born in different states when they were working, traveling to crops.
My sisters in Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, you name it. And I happened to have been born in Montana, where they were doing the sugar beets.
>> Enrique: IN 1941, THE FAMILY SETTLED DOWN IN WAPATO.
>> And we were able to live in a real house, and that was nice.
>> Enrique: WHILE THE MIGRANT TRAVEL ENDED, WORK IN THE FIELDS DID NOT, EVEN FOR THE YOUNGEST MEMBERS OF THE GUTIERREZ FAMILY.
>> I started working in the potato fields at the age of 5. My brother was the picker, as they used to call them, with the potato belts, and it was very hard, backbreaking work.
>> Enrique: THE MIGRANT LIFE MADE IT TOUGH FOR THE OLDER GUTIERREZ SIBLINGS TO GET MUCH SCHOOLING.
ONCE THE FAMILY SETTLED, THEIR PARENTS MADE SURE THE TWO YOUNGEST ATTENDED REGULARLY. THAT'S WHEN MARIA FELIPA BECAME PHYLLIS.
>> There was still a lot of discrimination.
I was fortunate because I had a couple of good teachers.
My first grade teacher, for one, Mrs. Wilcox.
And she was helping me learn English.
One thing she told me that I'll always remember, she says, never forget your Spanish.
>> Enrique: SHE DIDN'T.
NOR DID SHE FORGET HOW HER PARENTS MADE A POINT OF HELPING OTHERS IN THEIR COMMUNITY.
SHE REMEMBERS HER MOTHER OPENING THEIR HOME TO BRACEROS.
>> No matter how many people came to the house hungry, she fed them.
>> They used to ask me are you Catholic or Mormon.
>> Enrique: AND HER FATHER PROUDLY SHARING THEIR MEXICAN TRADITIONS AT PARADES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS.
WHEN PHYLLIS' FATHER BECAME ILL AND DIED, HER MOTHER RAISED THE FAMILY ALONE.
SHE BECAME AN ENTREPRENEUR, OPENING WAPATO'S FIRST MEXICAN RESTAURANT.
>> They laid some of what I feel was a good groundwork for us. And always that if we wanted to do something, we could do it. Si tenemos las gañas.
If we had the desire that we could do it, but we had to work for it.
>> Enrique: PHYLLIS MARRIED YOUNG AND LIKE HER PARENTS SHE RAISED EIGHT CHILDREN.
>>> They used to ask me are you
[LAUGHTER]
One day their daughter would
>> Enrique: WHILE LIVING IN THE TRI-CITIES, PHYLLIS BECAME ACTIVE IN LATINO COMMUNITY OUTREACH THROUGH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
SHE PLAYED A ROLE IN ESTABLISHING MIGRANT DAYCARE CENTERS AND THE WASHINGTON MIGRANT COUNCIL.
>> There were so many things that still needed a change and some of the change needed in educating our people that they needed to be respected.
That they needed to have that dignity that THEY were part of the fabric of that town.
>> Enrique: AFTER A DIVORCE, SHE MOVED HER FAMILY TO THE SEATTLE AREA, WHERE SHE MET AND MARRIED PROMINENT LABOR LEADER LARRY KENNEY, A STRONG SUPPORTER OF FARMWORKERS.
HE SUPPORTED AND ENCOURAGED HER WHEN SHE TOOK HER FIRST SHOT AT POLITICAL OFFICE, RUNNING UNSUCCESSFULLY FOR SECRETARY OF STATE IN 1996.
>> It was a great experience for me.
I just loved it.
I got to go on the back road tour with the Clintons and Gore and everybody else.
>> Enrique: THAT EXPOSURE CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE 46th DISTRICT DEMOCRATS, WHO BACKED HER APPOINTMENT TO THE DISTRICT'S VACANT STATE HOUSE SEAT IN 1997.
SHE HELD THE POST FOR 16 YEARS, CHAMPIONING FARM WORKER HOUSING, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, OPPORTUNITY EDUCATION GRANTS FOR THE LOW INCOME, AND IN-STATE COLLEGE TUITION FOR UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS.
SHE ALSO PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN BOOSTING THE STATE'S WINE INDUSTRY WITH LEGISLATION THAT ESTABLISHED VITICULTURE PROGRAMS AT STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
>> Do you think your parents would have ever imagined that
Get involved in politics?
>> No, and you're gonna make me cry.
No.
And I wish they would have been alive to do that, to see me.
>> Enrique: AT 78, RETIRED FROM THE LEGISLATURE AND RECENTLY WIDOWED, IT WOULD SEEM THAT MARIA FELIPA GUTIERREZ KENNEY WOULD SLOW DOWN.
BUT NOT NOW.
INSTEAD, SHE IS HEADING UP A LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE FOR SEA-MAR COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC.
>> I want to see Latino bank presidents.
I want to see Latino and Latina presidents of universities and colleges.
I want to see Latinos to be on every bank board around and to corporate boards.
>> Enrique: I've heard some Latinos say we are own worst enemy because we don't work well together.
>> Well, I'm glad you brought that up because it's true.
It's like a pot of crabs.
You know, when one crab starts climbing up and ready to go out, they pull him back down.
And we still experiencing some of that, le envidia.
>> Enrique: ENVY?
>> But we have to learn is that when it comes down to doing something, if we can come together and be a strong voice, that's where it's gonna count. 00:06:11.198, ¶¶