Tania Del Rio

Executive Director, Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement

Tania Del Rio is Executive Director for the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement, where she focuses on the mission of promoting gender equity by empowering women and removing systemic barriers to their advancement. Her focus is on three priority areas: economic equity, safety, and empowerment. She holds a Master in Public Policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from New York University. At the Kennedy School, her master’s thesis on gender equality in the Foreign Service earned the Outstanding Policy Analysis Exercise and the Jane Mansbridge Research Awards for research on women and gender. A proud Mexican-American, she lives in East Boston with her family.

Discussion Content

Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals

Brief Intro:

This book is an accessible read for teens and young adults. It paints a vivid picture of the courage that a teenage Melba Patillo Beals (the author) and her peers mustered in the fight to integrate public schools in this country. The book showcases her astonishingly adult awareness of how her own school experience was a piece in the larger puzzle of the national fight for racial equality. I read it as an adult and was reminded and inspired by the fact that young people can exercise this kind of powerful leadership, no matter the odds. People of all ages can learn from this author’s reflections on her struggle against virulent racism. We cannot forget this is a fight we are called to continue today.

 

Tania’s Discussion Questions (PDF for Print)

    1. In what ways does racism today look different to what Melba experienced at school and in her community? In what ways does it remain the same?
    2. How can people avoid becoming passive bystanders if they witness a racist incident?
    3. How can you ensure your community, school, or workplace grows into a welcoming place for people of all races and backgrounds?

 

 

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