Events planned Thursday, June 23 in Hawaiʻi and Washington D.C. will mark the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX — later renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act following her death in 2002. Mink's political career began in 1956 when she was elected to the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives. The Maui trailblazer accomplished many firsts.
She was the first Japanese-American woman to practice law in Hawaiʻi. In 1964, she became the first Asian-American and woman of color elected to serve in Congress. The Conversation sat down with award-winning filmmaker Kimberlee Bassford, the director of the 2008 documentary "Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority," to learn more about her.
Mink will be honored on June 23 with a lei-draping ceremony at her statue in front of the Hawaiʻi State Library on Oʻahu. This interview aired on The Conversation on June 21, 2022. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
