Who, Why & Where is NANCIE CARAWAY
Caraway’s origin story begins in the racially-scarred history of Alabama, as a middle-class white girl whose childhood witnessed the lingering lacerations of segregation and disenfranchisement of Black citizens.
Why“Southern trees bearing a strange fruit. Blood on the leaves and blood at the root…Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.” Billie Holiday’s mournful dirge written by the Bronx Jewish schoolteacher Abel Meerpool, and the example of the fiery, ex-sharecropper political firebrand Fannie Lou Hamer – became Caraway’s teachers.
She would later in life cultivate her university-honed capacity for critical thinking, human empathy and the expressive power of movies to move hearts and minds. Back then she didn’t have the big picture of human flourishing – but she was poignantly sure of what needs to be protected.
These influences are the oxygen that nourish Caraway’s commitments today.
In her thirties Caraway landed in Hawaiʻi, a life-changing moment. There she has been described as a feminist pioneer, an activist “First Lady”* of the State of Hawaiʻi, a prize-winning writer and scholar, a mentor, and a life-long human rights activist. In recent years, she has devoted her creative and political energies to independent filmmaking. Her work as a professor, journalist, playwright and filmmaker is highlighted in other sections.
Caraway served as Human Rights Director, Globalization Research Center, UH Hawaiʻi, Directed the international conference “Human Trafficking in Asia Pacific” for the US Department of State. Additionally, she served as Consultant to Ambassador Luis De Baca, Director of the Office of Human Trafficking, U.S. Department of State.
As a Professor of Political Science, Feminist Studies and Communication, Caraway has taught at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa, Georgetown University (DC), American University (DC), and George Washington University (DC). Not to mention the school of hard knocks.
Her prize-winning book “Segregated Sisterhood: Racism and the Politics of American Feminism,” is used in many university classrooms and was the recipient of two awards from the American Political Science Assn.
As Hawaiʻi’s “First Lady,”* Caraway initiated the State’s landmark 2014 legislation establishing the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, the second in the US. This initiative extends workplace protections to an overlooked and vulnerable population.
Caraway has four degrees: BA/MA/Ph.D Political Theory/Feminist Studies; MS Journalism, Columbia University School of Journalism; French Studies, Sorbonne, Paris. Not to mention the school of hard knocks.
For Creative Bio scroll to following section*
- State’s new first lady exudes passion and energy(Star Advertiser), December 8, 2010
GRATITUDE
The first is deep gratitude for my adopted homeland Hawaiʻi Nei. Although I am not kanaka maoli, I treasure these islands. I hope to nourish the values that make Hawaiʻi Nei our shared blessing.
The second gratitude is that I’ve been allowed to take my filmmaking shot in my own third act.
Representing Hawaiʻi was the greatest honor of my life. I never saw myself as the “First Lady,”* but as part of a larger vibrant citizenship.
*Although I find the term “First Lady” a bit retro, I celebrate those persons who find a positive identity there.