Wisconsin Women of Color Network Inc.’s Leadership Forum
Wis. Women of color leaders/ On their own terms: Initiating social
and political changes
Wis. Women of color leaders/ On their own terms: Initiating social
and political changes
By Heidi M. Pascual
The four panelists at the Wisconsin Women of Color Network Inc.’s annual leadership seminar at MATC-Truax
on June 21 all have some traits in common: courageous, outspoken, and truly at-work community leaders. They
were Lisa Tiger (Native American); Sheri Carter (African American); Thuy Pham-Remmele (Asian American); and
Sheila Stubbs (African American). While their individual experiences are uniquely different, they all have been
working very hard for others. They are advocates for the people they represent in their personal and professional
lives. Following are excerpts of the panel’s presentations.
Lisa Tiger
Lisa Tiger came to Wisconsin to take a job at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and
Public Health. She started out in the early ‘90s pursuing a master’s degree in Medical Anthropology, a course that
studies health, illness, and healing from a perspective that includes culture. “It’s important to try and work with
Native Americans, and in my current job, I’m able to do that to a certain extent,” Tiger said, adding that there are,
however, things that always tie one’s hand, “funding; and people who decide and influence funding don’t seem to
see the value, all the time, of the approaches that we want to take.”
Tiger explained that a new term, “client community-based participatory research,” is now being used to
describe the work that she does: “go in and work with people and find out what they want and make it happen in the
way that makes sense to the culture.” However, in the case of Native Americans, Tiger has been trying to convince
her coworkers and federal fund grantors that their case is different. “Health care for Native Americans is a treaty
right,” she stressed. “In most places, it’s land that was ceded; it’s agreements that were made between Native
American governments and the federal government of the United States; it’s treaties that said that they would
provide for the health care needs of all descendants of Native Americans as long as the grass grows and the river
flows, which means that all of our children would not have to worry; that was the deal.”
She said that the federal government denying Native Americans access to medical care could be viewed as a
violation of international law. “It is,” she said, “which means other countries could invade us and take over,” but
indigenous people are usually not considered a “country.”
She talked of the Bush Administration funding the Native American health care agency, the Indian Health
Service, last year. “It is supposed to be the agency that provides for the health care needs of Native Americans,
unless they have their own tribal clinics, chosen because of tribal enterprise,” Tiger said. “In 2007, the Bush
administration funded that at 68 percent of need, which means that in most Native American communities, they
have about 68 percent of what they needed to cover health care. But what they really mean is that they had only
68 percent of what their budget had the last couple of years; it’s never really what was needed. In the Native
American reservations, the clinics literally closed down, including ERs, by June or July because the funding cycle
starts again in October. So there’s really nowhere to go. It’s really tough to see that and the lack of infrastructure.”
Tiger lamented that people have a dichotomous idea of casinos with big lights. “For the most part, people are
poor; in houses that are overcrowded, without electricity, and without enough resources to take care of their
families.” In response to what she sees among Native American communities, she is trying to develop programs
through her doctoral work in patient navigation. “That project will be about taking a patient from cancer screening
all the way through ... so that we don’t lose people, so that they don’t end up not finishing their treatment. It’s a
matter of streamlining resources because in the end, there’s a lot of us working, and if we don’t know each other …
I assume this is why we are here. One of the ways to be a leader is to try to make those connections and maximize
those resources that we have.”
Sheri Carter
Sheri Carter is a product of UW-Madison who moved to California and worked for 12 years in communities-in-
transition in Pasadena. “I worked in older communities where you have empty nesters, professionals moving out,
and a new wave of people coming in; and bridged the gap between social acceptability in the home versus social
acceptability outside the home,” Carter introduced herself. “From there I moved back home (to Madison) and I
became president of my neighborhood association and became chair of the South Madison Metropolitan
Planning Council.”
She explored what she thought were challenges in leadership in the community. “First, I think that we should
be politically engaged,” Carter said. “Once we elect these officials, we should continue to be engaged with them
and make sure that some of the issues that are affecting us in our own community or businesses should be
addressed.” She talked about issues she confronted as president of the Arbor Hills Neighborhood Association,
including the redevelopment of a frontage road. “As a neighborhood, we wanted to see some things in the
development, and it took meetings after meetings with the developer and narrowing down to five things what we
wanted to see,” she said. “Five years later, they are building … it’s not done yet, but what developed was how a
neighborhood can communicate with the developer.” She added that while the developer’s goals are to make
money and get a building up, the community’s goals are to know what kind of building the developer will construct
and to develop a positive relationship with the developer so that the neighborhood would be part of such a
redevelopment. “It was difficult but rewarding because now we have that relationship and they have come to our
aid on many occasion,” Carter said with pride.
The four panelists at the Wisconsin Women of Color Network Inc.’s annual leadership seminar at MATC-Truax
on June 21 all have some traits in common: courageous, outspoken, and truly at-work community leaders. They
were Lisa Tiger (Native American); Sheri Carter (African American); Thuy Pham-Remmele (Asian American); and
Sheila Stubbs (African American). While their individual experiences are uniquely different, they all have been
working very hard for others. They are advocates for the people they represent in their personal and professional
lives. Following are excerpts of the panel’s presentations.
Lisa Tiger
Lisa Tiger came to Wisconsin to take a job at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and
Public Health. She started out in the early ‘90s pursuing a master’s degree in Medical Anthropology, a course that
studies health, illness, and healing from a perspective that includes culture. “It’s important to try and work with
Native Americans, and in my current job, I’m able to do that to a certain extent,” Tiger said, adding that there are,
however, things that always tie one’s hand, “funding; and people who decide and influence funding don’t seem to
see the value, all the time, of the approaches that we want to take.”
Tiger explained that a new term, “client community-based participatory research,” is now being used to
describe the work that she does: “go in and work with people and find out what they want and make it happen in the
way that makes sense to the culture.” However, in the case of Native Americans, Tiger has been trying to convince
her coworkers and federal fund grantors that their case is different. “Health care for Native Americans is a treaty
right,” she stressed. “In most places, it’s land that was ceded; it’s agreements that were made between Native
American governments and the federal government of the United States; it’s treaties that said that they would
provide for the health care needs of all descendants of Native Americans as long as the grass grows and the river
flows, which means that all of our children would not have to worry; that was the deal.”
She said that the federal government denying Native Americans access to medical care could be viewed as a
violation of international law. “It is,” she said, “which means other countries could invade us and take over,” but
indigenous people are usually not considered a “country.”
She talked of the Bush Administration funding the Native American health care agency, the Indian Health
Service, last year. “It is supposed to be the agency that provides for the health care needs of Native Americans,
unless they have their own tribal clinics, chosen because of tribal enterprise,” Tiger said. “In 2007, the Bush
administration funded that at 68 percent of need, which means that in most Native American communities, they
have about 68 percent of what they needed to cover health care. But what they really mean is that they had only
68 percent of what their budget had the last couple of years; it’s never really what was needed. In the Native
American reservations, the clinics literally closed down, including ERs, by June or July because the funding cycle
starts again in October. So there’s really nowhere to go. It’s really tough to see that and the lack of infrastructure.”
Tiger lamented that people have a dichotomous idea of casinos with big lights. “For the most part, people are
poor; in houses that are overcrowded, without electricity, and without enough resources to take care of their
families.” In response to what she sees among Native American communities, she is trying to develop programs
through her doctoral work in patient navigation. “That project will be about taking a patient from cancer screening
all the way through ... so that we don’t lose people, so that they don’t end up not finishing their treatment. It’s a
matter of streamlining resources because in the end, there’s a lot of us working, and if we don’t know each other …
I assume this is why we are here. One of the ways to be a leader is to try to make those connections and maximize
those resources that we have.”
Sheri Carter
Sheri Carter is a product of UW-Madison who moved to California and worked for 12 years in communities-in-
transition in Pasadena. “I worked in older communities where you have empty nesters, professionals moving out,
and a new wave of people coming in; and bridged the gap between social acceptability in the home versus social
acceptability outside the home,” Carter introduced herself. “From there I moved back home (to Madison) and I
became president of my neighborhood association and became chair of the South Madison Metropolitan
Planning Council.”
She explored what she thought were challenges in leadership in the community. “First, I think that we should
be politically engaged,” Carter said. “Once we elect these officials, we should continue to be engaged with them
and make sure that some of the issues that are affecting us in our own community or businesses should be
addressed.” She talked about issues she confronted as president of the Arbor Hills Neighborhood Association,
including the redevelopment of a frontage road. “As a neighborhood, we wanted to see some things in the
development, and it took meetings after meetings with the developer and narrowing down to five things what we
wanted to see,” she said. “Five years later, they are building … it’s not done yet, but what developed was how a
neighborhood can communicate with the developer.” She added that while the developer’s goals are to make
money and get a building up, the community’s goals are to know what kind of building the developer will construct
and to develop a positive relationship with the developer so that the neighborhood would be part of such a
redevelopment. “It was difficult but rewarding because now we have that relationship and they have come to our
aid on many occasion,” Carter said with pride.
| (From top) Thuy Pham-Remmele; Lisa Tiger; Sheri Carter; Sheila Stubbs. |
son in Vietnam, who was two years old then. My world collapsed.” She decided to leave Vietnam only
when her mother encouraged her to go and promised to take care of her son. She came to me and said,
“‘Honey, you go ahead. You go. I promise you, you have a son.’”
In the spring of 1975 while Pham-Remmele was completing her master’s in the U.S., South Vietnam
fell, and she found herself without a country. “I didn’t have a country anymore, and again I thought life
was over,” she recalled, teary eyed. “But I got a call that said my scholarship was being extended so I
could finish my Ph.D. because I had nowhere to go.” In the late ‘80s, Pham-Remmele’s life was relatively
good: she was teaching; her American husband was teaching; her son just graduated from Memorial
High School; and she got pregnant. Another blow came when her baby died three months after birth. “I
sat and cried, but I returned to teaching in a week, because I said the baby didn’t come here to destroy
the parents, or the family and God knows why it happened,” Pham-Remmele confided, again teary-eyed.
Being as strong as she is, Pham-Remmele came out of that with renewed vigor and hope. She
continued her work as an educator until her retirement a few years ago. Despite being “retired,” however,
Pham-Remmele isn’t retired in her community work. Remmele was elected to the City of Madison’s
Common Council last year. “The reason I joined the city council, is because in my neighborhood,
people are aging and things are being replaced, and I see a lot of elderly people living alone,” she said.
“When I came here 35 years ago, many of them were very active, doing all kinds of things in the
community. Then, 10-20 years down the road, there’s nobody there for them.” It was a call that said,
“Stand up, do something for us,” that made her say “yes” again, before realizing what it meant. “I didn’t
know I needed to have a campaign manager; it ended up it’s me.” She added she also became her own
secretary, treasurer, and campaigner, going door-to-door. She said she learned the hard way that no
matter how many promises you got, at the end of the day, you are responsible for everything.
Pham-Remmele also credited her female coworkers. “This isn’t to put the men down, but maybe they
take care of lofty things,” she posited with a grin. “But it’s the details that are in the hands of the women. I
feel comfortable, more trusting, and less vulnerable working with women.” She shared her experiences
working with men as well. “All the years working with men — from principals who looked like my grandpa,
to principals who looked like my son — sometimes they meant well, but they also usually told me, ‘Oh,
don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it; don’t ask, it’s OK.’”
At the city council, she said that whenever she asked questions, an alderman sitting beside her would
say, ‘Don’t ask, they think you don’t know; just say, Aye!’ “But I have to know what I’m “aye-ing to,” Pham-
Remmele said with some punctuation. “So don’t tell me that if you ask, people will think that you don’t
know; so that you’ll act as if you know. But the last thing I want to do is to lie to myself. I cannot stand
liars, how could I stand myself being a liar!” She admitted that even if the mayor tells her ‘Thuy, don’t’
worry, you’ll get the hang of it,’ she still doesn’t get the hang of it. Pham-Remmele asked her audience to
bear with her. “I’m very naïve; I’m very inexperienced,” she admitted, “but when I say something, it’s as
good as gold. In my family, you don’t make a promise unless you mean to carry it through. So I don’t
know what to share with you, because I’m still learning. It’s only one year, but I already have a lot of gray
hair.”
In her closing statements, Pham-Remmele stressed, “When we talk about leadership, you have to be
able to look at yourself and know that you don’t cheat anybody out of anything. And I trust very strongly
that women are there when needed; that we get things done.”
Sheila Stubbs
Sheila Stubbs was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors in 2006 (and still serves). Before
becoming involved in politics, she attended a small Black college in Mississippi, then Jackson State
University to pursue her graduate studies. She then campaigned for a Congress person, Benny
Thompson, and it planted the seed for her interest in politics. “I felt compassion at what he was trying to
do,” Stubbs recalled. “It starts at home. If you can’t get people at home to buy into what you’re doing and
believe, then people around you won’t get involved.”
Stubbs is prone to activism being the daughter of Linda Hoskins, president of the local NAACP. “I love
NAACP because I believe in advocacy; I believe in my forefathers, the people who came before me, so
that I will have the opportunity to do what they wanted me to do.” She told her audience proudly that her
mom came to Madison when she saw a media portrayal of Simpson Street (now Bridge Lake Point)
which is similar to the Allied Drive area that people now hear about. “So mom decided to move to
Madison, and we moved to Simpson Street specifically because people thought that everybody in that
area was uneducated, didn’t know what to do, were crime-driven, all kinds of negative things. But here I
was, a graduate student; I did volunteer work; my mom’s educated; but it was just what the media
portrayed about some of our people.”
In her neighborhood, Stubbs observed that people of color were under-represented as elected officials
generally ignored them, so she decided to do something about it. “I worked 10 long years volunteering,
teaching people who cannot read how to read; going out to the community centers, working with the
disabled and disconnected youth,” she said. “There were neighborhoods getting funding for them, but
they were not providing services for them, so I decided I’m going to do something about this; I’m going
to save my neighborhood. It doesn’t matter how much money the city of Madison gives; it doesn’t
matter how much money Dane County gives. If you’re at home and you don’t do something about it, the
money is just money all by itself. There has to be foundation and I realized that the person who is
impacted the greatest is the one who lives there.”
She complained about the absence of law enforcers at times when drug dealers were around and
authorities who didn’t even return her calls. “I was living it; I saw it all around me, so I did something
about it,” she recalled. “At the time, my predecessor was seeking reelection, he came right to my house,
got really comfortable on the back of my mama’s couch. I said to him, ‘I’m going to run against you; I
am going to seek office, because there are some things you didn’t do. And I have a list.’”
Stubbs started to line up her “troops,” starting with her “prayer warriors” led by Sadie Pearson. “ You
cannot do this all by yourself, and you cannot do this without prayers,” she said. Stubbs then narrated
how she went door to door, talked to people and won against a two-term incumbent. As Dane County
Supervisor representing the south side of Madison, she has held herself responsible for safer
neighborhoods. “Human services is what will operate South Madison, because we need some stability (in
the area),” Stubbs emphasized. “I’ve been a parole officer for eight years. Don’t tell me to do jails.” She
was referring to how she stopped situating the Huber site on Madison’s south side. “Politics can be dirty.
Decisions are sometimes made when you’re not around. I was on vacation to Florida.”
She was upset that other Dane County Supervisors made a decision that involved her district. “You
know what I think, ‘Why don’t they build it in Maple Bluff? Why South Madison? Why not West?” Stubbs
went to County Exec. Kathleen Falk, talked with the Board chair, and the decision made without her was
rescinded. She was upset that Metro Bus Route 13 was being cut. “Why are we choosing to cut a route
with the highest number of ridership and we know the revenue is coming through?” Again, Stubbs talked
to Dane County Exec. Kathleen Falk about her refusal to lose Route 13, and Falk said, ‘We got to save
South Madison.’
In her commitment to advocate for her district’s neighborhoods, Stubbs does everything in her power
to truly represent her district and be a voice for her constituents. She holds listening sessions and works
with neighborhood associations to improve community service. She is a woman of color whose
leadership is marked by real action.
Members and guests of WWOCN left the seminar feeling empowered and inspired by these four female
leaders who came from their own ranks.
when her mother encouraged her to go and promised to take care of her son. She came to me and said,
“‘Honey, you go ahead. You go. I promise you, you have a son.’”
In the spring of 1975 while Pham-Remmele was completing her master’s in the U.S., South Vietnam
fell, and she found herself without a country. “I didn’t have a country anymore, and again I thought life
was over,” she recalled, teary eyed. “But I got a call that said my scholarship was being extended so I
could finish my Ph.D. because I had nowhere to go.” In the late ‘80s, Pham-Remmele’s life was relatively
good: she was teaching; her American husband was teaching; her son just graduated from Memorial
High School; and she got pregnant. Another blow came when her baby died three months after birth. “I
sat and cried, but I returned to teaching in a week, because I said the baby didn’t come here to destroy
the parents, or the family and God knows why it happened,” Pham-Remmele confided, again teary-eyed.
Being as strong as she is, Pham-Remmele came out of that with renewed vigor and hope. She
continued her work as an educator until her retirement a few years ago. Despite being “retired,” however,
Pham-Remmele isn’t retired in her community work. Remmele was elected to the City of Madison’s
Common Council last year. “The reason I joined the city council, is because in my neighborhood,
people are aging and things are being replaced, and I see a lot of elderly people living alone,” she said.
“When I came here 35 years ago, many of them were very active, doing all kinds of things in the
community. Then, 10-20 years down the road, there’s nobody there for them.” It was a call that said,
“Stand up, do something for us,” that made her say “yes” again, before realizing what it meant. “I didn’t
know I needed to have a campaign manager; it ended up it’s me.” She added she also became her own
secretary, treasurer, and campaigner, going door-to-door. She said she learned the hard way that no
matter how many promises you got, at the end of the day, you are responsible for everything.
Pham-Remmele also credited her female coworkers. “This isn’t to put the men down, but maybe they
take care of lofty things,” she posited with a grin. “But it’s the details that are in the hands of the women. I
feel comfortable, more trusting, and less vulnerable working with women.” She shared her experiences
working with men as well. “All the years working with men — from principals who looked like my grandpa,
to principals who looked like my son — sometimes they meant well, but they also usually told me, ‘Oh,
don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it; don’t ask, it’s OK.’”
At the city council, she said that whenever she asked questions, an alderman sitting beside her would
say, ‘Don’t ask, they think you don’t know; just say, Aye!’ “But I have to know what I’m “aye-ing to,” Pham-
Remmele said with some punctuation. “So don’t tell me that if you ask, people will think that you don’t
know; so that you’ll act as if you know. But the last thing I want to do is to lie to myself. I cannot stand
liars, how could I stand myself being a liar!” She admitted that even if the mayor tells her ‘Thuy, don’t’
worry, you’ll get the hang of it,’ she still doesn’t get the hang of it. Pham-Remmele asked her audience to
bear with her. “I’m very naïve; I’m very inexperienced,” she admitted, “but when I say something, it’s as
good as gold. In my family, you don’t make a promise unless you mean to carry it through. So I don’t
know what to share with you, because I’m still learning. It’s only one year, but I already have a lot of gray
hair.”
In her closing statements, Pham-Remmele stressed, “When we talk about leadership, you have to be
able to look at yourself and know that you don’t cheat anybody out of anything. And I trust very strongly
that women are there when needed; that we get things done.”
Sheila Stubbs
Sheila Stubbs was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors in 2006 (and still serves). Before
becoming involved in politics, she attended a small Black college in Mississippi, then Jackson State
University to pursue her graduate studies. She then campaigned for a Congress person, Benny
Thompson, and it planted the seed for her interest in politics. “I felt compassion at what he was trying to
do,” Stubbs recalled. “It starts at home. If you can’t get people at home to buy into what you’re doing and
believe, then people around you won’t get involved.”
Stubbs is prone to activism being the daughter of Linda Hoskins, president of the local NAACP. “I love
NAACP because I believe in advocacy; I believe in my forefathers, the people who came before me, so
that I will have the opportunity to do what they wanted me to do.” She told her audience proudly that her
mom came to Madison when she saw a media portrayal of Simpson Street (now Bridge Lake Point)
which is similar to the Allied Drive area that people now hear about. “So mom decided to move to
Madison, and we moved to Simpson Street specifically because people thought that everybody in that
area was uneducated, didn’t know what to do, were crime-driven, all kinds of negative things. But here I
was, a graduate student; I did volunteer work; my mom’s educated; but it was just what the media
portrayed about some of our people.”
In her neighborhood, Stubbs observed that people of color were under-represented as elected officials
generally ignored them, so she decided to do something about it. “I worked 10 long years volunteering,
teaching people who cannot read how to read; going out to the community centers, working with the
disabled and disconnected youth,” she said. “There were neighborhoods getting funding for them, but
they were not providing services for them, so I decided I’m going to do something about this; I’m going
to save my neighborhood. It doesn’t matter how much money the city of Madison gives; it doesn’t
matter how much money Dane County gives. If you’re at home and you don’t do something about it, the
money is just money all by itself. There has to be foundation and I realized that the person who is
impacted the greatest is the one who lives there.”
She complained about the absence of law enforcers at times when drug dealers were around and
authorities who didn’t even return her calls. “I was living it; I saw it all around me, so I did something
about it,” she recalled. “At the time, my predecessor was seeking reelection, he came right to my house,
got really comfortable on the back of my mama’s couch. I said to him, ‘I’m going to run against you; I
am going to seek office, because there are some things you didn’t do. And I have a list.’”
Stubbs started to line up her “troops,” starting with her “prayer warriors” led by Sadie Pearson. “ You
cannot do this all by yourself, and you cannot do this without prayers,” she said. Stubbs then narrated
how she went door to door, talked to people and won against a two-term incumbent. As Dane County
Supervisor representing the south side of Madison, she has held herself responsible for safer
neighborhoods. “Human services is what will operate South Madison, because we need some stability (in
the area),” Stubbs emphasized. “I’ve been a parole officer for eight years. Don’t tell me to do jails.” She
was referring to how she stopped situating the Huber site on Madison’s south side. “Politics can be dirty.
Decisions are sometimes made when you’re not around. I was on vacation to Florida.”
She was upset that other Dane County Supervisors made a decision that involved her district. “You
know what I think, ‘Why don’t they build it in Maple Bluff? Why South Madison? Why not West?” Stubbs
went to County Exec. Kathleen Falk, talked with the Board chair, and the decision made without her was
rescinded. She was upset that Metro Bus Route 13 was being cut. “Why are we choosing to cut a route
with the highest number of ridership and we know the revenue is coming through?” Again, Stubbs talked
to Dane County Exec. Kathleen Falk about her refusal to lose Route 13, and Falk said, ‘We got to save
South Madison.’
In her commitment to advocate for her district’s neighborhoods, Stubbs does everything in her power
to truly represent her district and be a voice for her constituents. She holds listening sessions and works
with neighborhood associations to improve community service. She is a woman of color whose
leadership is marked by real action.
Members and guests of WWOCN left the seminar feeling empowered and inspired by these four female
leaders who came from their own ranks.
As chair of SMPC, Carter has more work ahead of her. “SMPC covers Districts 14 and 13, with approximately 26
neighborhood associations under our umbrella,” she explained. “We have 13-15 neighborhood associations that come to our
meetings on a regular basis, and I want to make sure that they engage in the political process, that they’re engaged in the
businesses, and that they never give up. We provide support groups for the presidents of the neighborhood associations because
they need them. It’s very stressful being a president. Sometimes, they have some process of redevelopment. We can give advice
on how to do it all over again.”
At SMPC, Carter also looks at partnering with Park Street partners to brand Park Street (from Regent Street to the West
Beltline). She explained that “branding” means what State Street has done to preserve its community, creating a space known
for its boutiques and small businesses. “Districts 13 and 14 are the most diverse ethnic neighborhoods we have left in Madison,”
she stressed. “Park Street is full of small businesses — just family-owned businesses trying to make it. So we work with them and
let them know the importance of being on Park Street. And don’t forget that Walgreens and Copps have decided to make Park
Street their home .”
Carter urged her audience who were all women of color (except for a guest), to get out, voice their opinions and stand up for
what they say. “In the last presidential primaries, I was amazed at how many women were negative towards a woman, and I really
thought that was in the past,” Carter lamented. “So I thought we had moved to a different country. But we still have to worry
about inequality; we still have to worry about health care.” She also expressed concern about the lack of health services for
single women and care for seniors.
Thuy Pham-Remmele
Thuy Pham-Remmele is a Vietnamese American and a new member of the City of Madison Common Council. At the outset,
she thanked Agnes Cammer for inviting her and stated her reason for responding “yes,” right away before even asking what the
meeting was about. “Whenever I look at her, I see my mother, I see my high school teacher, and I see my older sister,” she said.
“I come today feeling very much at home; when I see you, I am in the family of friends.”
Pham-Remmele then introduced herself in a very personal way. “My mom just turned 90. I grew up in a family of 11 children,
(including) 8 daughters,” she said. “I always had shared a bed with a sister; I never got a bed to myself. When my older sister
moved out, a younger one moved in.” She explained that the arrangement taught her to be considerate and to keep her hands
to herself. She married young through an arranged marriage that bore a son. The marriage, however, didn’t last long because of
her husband’s infidelity. “My mother in-law said to me, ‘You are the main wife; your husband is wealthy so he can afford many
mistresses,’” Pham-Remmele recalled. “I walked away from that; I got here on a Fulbright scholarship and left my
neighborhood associations under our umbrella,” she explained. “We have 13-15 neighborhood associations that come to our
meetings on a regular basis, and I want to make sure that they engage in the political process, that they’re engaged in the
businesses, and that they never give up. We provide support groups for the presidents of the neighborhood associations because
they need them. It’s very stressful being a president. Sometimes, they have some process of redevelopment. We can give advice
on how to do it all over again.”
At SMPC, Carter also looks at partnering with Park Street partners to brand Park Street (from Regent Street to the West
Beltline). She explained that “branding” means what State Street has done to preserve its community, creating a space known
for its boutiques and small businesses. “Districts 13 and 14 are the most diverse ethnic neighborhoods we have left in Madison,”
she stressed. “Park Street is full of small businesses — just family-owned businesses trying to make it. So we work with them and
let them know the importance of being on Park Street. And don’t forget that Walgreens and Copps have decided to make Park
Street their home .”
Carter urged her audience who were all women of color (except for a guest), to get out, voice their opinions and stand up for
what they say. “In the last presidential primaries, I was amazed at how many women were negative towards a woman, and I really
thought that was in the past,” Carter lamented. “So I thought we had moved to a different country. But we still have to worry
about inequality; we still have to worry about health care.” She also expressed concern about the lack of health services for
single women and care for seniors.
Thuy Pham-Remmele
Thuy Pham-Remmele is a Vietnamese American and a new member of the City of Madison Common Council. At the outset,
she thanked Agnes Cammer for inviting her and stated her reason for responding “yes,” right away before even asking what the
meeting was about. “Whenever I look at her, I see my mother, I see my high school teacher, and I see my older sister,” she said.
“I come today feeling very much at home; when I see you, I am in the family of friends.”
Pham-Remmele then introduced herself in a very personal way. “My mom just turned 90. I grew up in a family of 11 children,
(including) 8 daughters,” she said. “I always had shared a bed with a sister; I never got a bed to myself. When my older sister
moved out, a younger one moved in.” She explained that the arrangement taught her to be considerate and to keep her hands
to herself. She married young through an arranged marriage that bore a son. The marriage, however, didn’t last long because of
her husband’s infidelity. “My mother in-law said to me, ‘You are the main wife; your husband is wealthy so he can afford many
mistresses,’” Pham-Remmele recalled. “I walked away from that; I got here on a Fulbright scholarship and left my
| (Top) WWOCN President Rachelle Ashley; (above) Maria Flores |
| (L-R) Kim Tran, Natasha Davis, Sheri Carter |
| (L-R) Agnes Cammer, Earnestine Moss |
| (L-R) Alice Bailey, Sadie Pearson |
| (L-R) Addrena Squires, Mari de Moya, Thuy Pham-Remmele |
| (L-R) Naomi Carter, Georgia Euler |
| (L-R) Rachelle Ashley, John Milton, Julia Lamp |
