NWHP’s blog is spotlighting book reviews written in honor of Women’s History Month.

I recently finished a book on the Congresswoman, Activist and Attorney Bella Abzug.  The book is called:  Bella How one tough broad from the bronx fought Jim Crowe Pissed off Jimmy Carter Battled for the Rights Women and Workers Rallied against War and for the Planet and shook up Politics along the way Abzug.

 The story is told from every person Abzug  had ever known, from her children to her collagues and best friends including Gloria Steinem, Marlo Thomas and Ted Kennedy. Each person gave their interpretation of her life,including her firing by Jimmy Carter and her activism for civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights.

The story of Bella Abzug is more than just stating birth work death, it shows that she was indeed a well
rounded person, she raised her daughters in a time when most women were staying at home moms,
she had a nearly 40 year marriage to the love of her life and she spent every moment fighting for causes,
she paved the way for women now, without her, there would be no Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin or Sonia
Sotomayor.

 Bella was known as a ball buster, she was also equally well known for her wide hats which
were the subject of ridicule. Bella did many things that at the time women wouldn’t even consider, she
went down south to defend a black man accused of statutory rape and she assembled many rallies for
New York..She was literally the voice of the 1970s and she even called out a few biased congressmen
out for setting women back a 100 years.

This book literally takes the reader moment to moment in Bella’s life and even incorporates her own
words to set the scene, you can feel the emotions, the highs and lows of a woman who started out in
humble beginnings and ended with her passing awake from a stroke. This is literally a rags to riches story

As a Kid in the 90s I had no clue who Bella Abzug was because we were only taught five women in
school, Harriet Tubman, Betsy Ross, Abgail Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt and Queen Isabella but as I read
more and more about her, I realized how much she contributed to America and paved the way for a new
generation to speak up and change the world for the better…She was the original bra burner and for
millions of little girls born during her and after her rise in Congress, we’ve become her voice.

By  Nikki Luongo