And justice for all BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA
WE BEGIN OUR CONVERSATION WITH MARIA L. IMPERIAL AND ARIANA L. QUIÑONES OF THE YWCA OF WHITE PLAINS & CENTRAL WESTCHESTER WITH A DISCUSSION OF PRONOUNS. IMPERIAL’S ARE “SHE” AND “HER.” QUIÑONES’ ARE “THEY” AND “THEM.” IN OTHER WORDS, IF WE WERE QUOTING THE TWO IN THIS ARTICLE AND DIDN’T WANT TO USE THE LAST NAMES OVER AND OVER, WE WOULD SAY OF IMPERIAL, “SHE SAYS.” BUT WE WOULD SAY OF QUIÑONES, “THEY SAY.”
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WAGMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2020
“Language is powerful,” says Imperial, the Y’s CEO. To which we would add, language both creates and reflects society, constantly changing with it. Imperial’s and Quiñones’ use of specific pronouns not only says something about individual identity. It also mirrors a gender-neutral organization that in seeking empowerment for women and racial justice strives to expand its history and provide peace, freedom and dignity for all. “Most people think we’re a pool or a gym,” Imperial says. And to a certain extent the Y is, continuing to offer fitness activities online during the pandemic. Founded in 1929 by The Woman’s Club of White Plains to provide a safe, secure space and lunch for working women as well as programs for these women and girls, the YWCA of White Plains & Central Westchester added racial justice to its platform in 1947 under the leadership of Dorothy Height, Imperial says. The year represented a seismic shift in the fight for American racial equality: Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, playing second base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. (A year later, President Harry S. Truman desegregated the armed forces.) “In order for all women to be free, you have to ad-
