Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010)
Filed under the name Wilma · February 1, 2026
I've spent a career watching what happens to communities when the people running them stop looking out for the workers, so it means something to read about Wilma Mankiller, the first woman voters chose to lead the Cherokee Nation as principal chief, who used her time in office to strengthen clinics, schools, and basic infrastructure for the Cherokee people instead of just occupying the title. That's the same instinct that made me take the grievance rep job at the plant even though it never once made me popular with management — you take the job because somebody's got to actually fight for the people who elected you, not just sit in the chair. I helped negotiate a pension clause once that kept a lot of Braddock families afloat when our plant closed, and it's the proudest thing I ever did, prouder than any promotion. Sounds like Mankiller understood that kind of work is measured in roads built and clinics opened, not headlines. That's real leadership, the kind that shows up in people's daily lives years later.