IN LOS ANGELES, Vol. 7, Issue 26- Feb. 8-21, ‘05, p. 100

IN San Diego by Nicole Murray-Ramirez

Dr. Pat Washington . . . Civil Rights leader extraordinaire

In just a few years Dr. Pat Washington has become one of San Diego’s most articulate, well-known and respected civil rights leaders for the GLBT and African American communities, as well as for the feminist movement. Dr. Washington is the past president of the San Diego Chapter of N.O.W. (first African-American elected), is the education chair of the San Diego Branch of the NAACP, and serves on numerous boards and committees. She is a noted scholar, writer and lecturer and has been invited to be a keynote speaker at conferences across the U.S.A and abroad. Indeed, Dr. Washington is considered by many as one of San Diego’s best public speakers/orators, especially when it comes to fighting for those without a voice.

Dr. Washington was born in a very poor black Southern neighborhood in Suffolk, Virginia to a family who subsisted on welfare. It was her grandmother who raised her, and she remembers always looking forward to Sunday when she could dress in her best outfit for church. Since childhood, Pat loved to read, and—believe it or not—was rather shy and quiet in junior and senior high school. She remembers the first year John F. Kennedy High was officially integrated, because it was her first day of school. She proudly became the first person in her family to earn a high school diploma, even though she became pregnant in the 10th grade.

Life for Pat Washington in those early years was a struggle. She worked after school everyday, missing the school prom and other social events important to teens. Pat fondly remembers her 3rd and 4th grade teachers who guided her, mentored her, and pushed her to continue her education and got to college.

It was in her college years that Pat Washington truly blossomed and came into her own, becoming a popular figure on campus and discovering her fighting spirit for equality, respect, and compassion for all—especially for those without a voice or a champion. Pat Washington earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an M.A. and B.A. from Old Dominion University in Virginia. Dr. Washington’s greatest love is for teaching and mentoring students, and she has taught at various universities.

Pat considers herself a bisexual woman in a lifetime lesbian relationship. She met the love of her life in 1989 in upstate New York. She and Maggie Allington were friends for several years until they became lifetime partners in 1992. In 1996, Dr. Pat Washington and Maggie Allington moved to San Diego where Pat was hired as an assistant professor in the women’s studies department at San Diego State University (SDSU). Dr. Washington soon became one of the most popular faculty members on campus, winning numerous teaching and mentoring awards from students. While conventional wisdom dictates that junior faculty keep their heads down and their mouths shut until they are tenured (a six year process), Dr. Washington was not one to keep silent about issues of fairness and equity. Despite meeting all stated requirements for tenure (publications, teaching, service), Dr. Washington was fired from SDSU in 2002. Numerous local and national scholars and activists have rallied to support Dr. Washington and the federal civil rights enforcement agency (EEOC) has found in her favor. Her discrimination and retaliation case against SDSU is going to trial on May 6, 2005.

Although being reinstated and receiving the tenure she has already earned is Dr. Washington’s biggest battle right now, she continues to find time to serve and fight for the equality of both her GLBT and black communities, as well as other underserved and excluded groups. Dr. Washington’s personal heroes are author Zora Neale Hurston, Malcolm X, and her lover Maggie, who has always stood firmly beside her with support, loyalty, and uncompromising love.

Recently, Dr. Washington worked on the successful campaigns of San Diego’s first elected Latino City Attorney, Michael Aguirre, and City Councilman Tony Young. She plans to campaign for Todd Gloria to become San Diego’s first openly gay male City Council member.

I’ve had the honor of working with Dr. Washington on many projects, and she reminds me of my friend, author and political commentator Donna Brazile. I predict a great future for Pat Washington as an elected official who will most certainly go far.

To contact Dr. Washington: Themorgangirl@aol.com