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Can we count on your support for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights?” asked Carmen, my 11 year old sister. My mother was standing next to her, and both of them were standing in front of Senator Vargas, their local representative. At that moment I knew that what I was witnessing was the result of a multigenerational family spirit of lucha for dignity and respect.

If you are looking for a culprit for generations of fighting women within my family it all started with my great-grandmother Abue Acosta as she would make us call her by her last name. She would always say that even if her daughters wouldn’t be able to carry her last name they will always carry her spirit and so we did… My great-grandmother became a widow at the young age of 29 already with 10 children. She worked as a housekeeper, cleaning sometimes up to three houses in a day, with very little money to support her family but with much pride for her work and her independence. “Men were nice to me and courted me with gifts but I would think about my children, will they be cared for? I didn’t know and since I didn’t know I didn’t do it,” Abue Acosta would tell me when I questioned her once as to why she never re-married.

We are four generations of domestic workers from my great-grandmother to me.  Because of different life circumstances we worked in one the most labor intensive and underappreciated job: domestic work. Are we proud of our labor? Absolutely! But it is time that this invisible workforce is recognized as what it is a professional industry and a dignified job. With this recognition of the workforce it will also bring an acknowledgement to the thousands of multigenerational women legacies that have worked hard, fought for their families and struggled for dignity and respect.

Carmen my little sister waited for the response from Senator Vargas.  She was directing her big black eyes right at him, her sight was calm and direct with innocence, but with wisdom that extended beyond her young age. In my little sister’s eyes I saw the reflection of generations of women and domestic workers. The week after that Senator Vargas became our co-sponsor.

The bill became a two-year bill and all of us, including Carmen, are going back for the Domestic Worker Children's March on January 24th! But we can’t win this alone.  Join us in Sacramento. Call or email your California State Senators, or make a donation today.

Grecia Lima is the Campaign Director for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Her passion and future goal is to build sustainable electoral organizing infrastructures that engage and empower young people, people of color, and working class communities in the electoral process.