8 ANGELA MERKEL CHANCELLOR Once upon a time in Templin Germany there lived a seven-year-old girl named Angela One Sunday she was listening to her father's sermon in church when her mother started to cry What's the matter Angela asked They are going to build a wall her mother said They want to seal off the border between East Germany and West Germany Angela was stunned Why would they build a wall she thought People should be free to go wherever they like The Berlin Wall prevented East Germans from going to the West They were also barred from listening to the news coming from the other side Every day Angela hid in the school bathroom with a little radio It was illegal to listen to stations from the West But she didn't care She wanted to know what was happening in her country When Angela grew up she studied chemistry She wanted to become a university professor But the government had a special force known as the secret police They told Angela that she would be promoted but only if she spied on others Angela refused She never became a professor She was working as a researcher in a lab in 1989 when the Berlin Wall was demolished She called her mom and said I think we're free to go to the West Indeed they were Angela eventually became chancellor of Germany the head of the whole country She is a determined leader who knows the pain that walls can cause She never wants her people to be divided again BORN JULY 17 1954 GERMANY
WHAT WE SEEK IS HARMONY AMONG NATIONS THAT WAS AND REMAINS THE GREATEST GOAL OF EUROPEAN UNITY ANGELA MERKEL ILLUSTRATION BY ELENIA BERETTA
ANN RICHARDS GOVERNOR When Ann was a little girl her father taught her to hunt and fish and tell great stories In high school she became an expert debater Her talents and quick wit even scored her a debate scholarship to college After she got married she and her husband attended rallies and spoke out in support of equal rights for women and people of color In her home Ann hosted rowdy pool parties and spirited dinners Sometimes she would greet her guests in wild costumes She was clever and charming and everyone wanted to be near her But she was growing restless She was a stay-at-home mom with four children I was so bored cooking and sewing Ann said She needed more She started her career in politics by helping another woman win a local election And in 1975 friends convinced her to run for her first office county commissioner She won and threw herself into her work Next up she became state treasurer Ann was shocked when she was invited to give the keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention She cracked jokes and spoke about the needs of working people and her hopes for the future Suddenly the whole country knew her name In 1990 she became governor of Texas In her single term she appointed women Black people Latinx people and people with disabilities to positions of power She did not accomplish everything she set out to do But she made sure that children of all kinds could see people who looked like them in government SEPTEMBER 1 1933 SEPTEMBER 13 2006 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 10
ILLUSTRATION BY CINDY ECHEVARRIA I DID NOT WANT MY TOMBSTONE TO READ SHE KEPT A REALLY CLEAN HOUSE I THINK I'D LIKE THEM TO REMEMBER ME BY SAYING SHE OPENED GOVERNMENT TO EVERYONE ANN RICHARDS
