Melinda Micco Explained

Melinda Micco
Birth Name:Melinda Beth Coker
Birth Date:December 21, 1947
Birth Place:Richmond, California
Death Date:December 5, 2021 (aged 73)
Death Place:Oakland, California
Occupation:College professor, filmmaker, scholar, activist

Melinda Beth Coker Micco (December 21, 1947 – December 5, 2021) was an American filmmaker, scholar, activist, and educator. She was a professor of ethnic studies at Mills College, and the first Native American woman to earn tenure at Mills.

Early life

Melinda Beth Coker was born in Richmond, California, one of the four daughters of Harry Coker and Frankie Wilson Coker. She had Seminole, Choctaw, and Creek (Muscogee) family origins,[1] and was a registered member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.[2] She graduated from Aragon High School in San Mateo, California in 1966. Later, as a single mother in her forties, she earned a BA in 1990, an MA in 1992, and a PhD in ethnic studies in 1995, all from the University of California at Berkeley. Her dissertation was titled "Freedmen and Seminoles: Forging a Seminole Nation".[3] [4]

Career

Micco joined the faculty of Mills College in 1993, and became chair of the Ethnic Studies department in 1994. Also in 1994, she was the first Native American woman to earn tenure at Mills College. She taught ethnic studies courses at Mills,[5] and spoke on Native American identity issues nationally.[6] [7] She retired from Mills College in 2018.[8] [9]

In 2018 Micco spoke at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.[10] In 2019 she spoke at a Berkeley rally against immigrant detention centers.[11] She was founder of the Brave Hearted Women Conference, and one of the founders of Idle No More SF Bay, an environmental justice project led by indigenous women elders.[12] [13] [14] She was also active in the Intertribal Friendship House in Oakland, California.[15]

Micco produced the documentaries Killing the 7th Generation: Reproductive Abuses against Indigenous Women, with Diné Navajo educator Esther Lucero, and Every Step A Prayer: Refinery Corridor Healing Walks, with Chihiro Wimbush. She appeared in the Canadian documentary Reel Injun (2006), on film depictions of Native Americans.[16]

Publications

Personal life

Micco married and divorced, and had two children. She died in 2021, in Oakland, California, at age 72.[22]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Past Exhibitions: Melinda Micco. 2022-01-06. Art Space Gallery, Fresno City College.
  2. Web site: Micco. Megan. 2021-12-23. Remembering Melinda Micco, first Native woman tenured at Mills College. 2022-01-06. Berkeleyside. en-US.
  3. Web site: Graduate Student Alumni: Melinda Micco. 2022-01-06. The Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley.
  4. Web site: Published Resources on Freedmen. 2022-01-07. Oklahoma Historical Society.
  5. Web site: Mixed Race Studies » Melinda Micco. 2022-01-06. Mills College, Ethnic Studies Department.
  6. News: 2000-02-03. Symposium to address Native American identity. 27. The Anniston Star. 2022-01-07. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: 2015-03-25. Freedmen band conference setat OKC campus. 47. The Daily Oklahoman. 2022-01-07. Newspapers.com.
  8. Web site: Faculty Emeriti. 2022-01-06. Mills College.
  9. Storrs. Calli. November 29, 2018. Indigenous Women's Alliance hosts Native American History Month events. UWIRE. Gale Academic OneFile.
  10. Web site: Tedford. Matthew Harrison. February 2020. "An Unfinished Occupation": Commemorating the Occupation of Alcatraz. 2022-01-07. Creative Ecologies, University of California, Santa Cruz.
  11. News: July 15, 2019. Hundreds gather in Berkeley for rally against immigration detention centers. UWIRE. Gale Academic OneFile.
  12. Web site: Refinery Corridor Healing Walks 2017. 2022-01-07.
  13. News: November 7, 2019. Indigenous activists draws San Francisco's attention to environmental woes. Xinhua News Agency.
  14. Web site: Bacher. Dan. December 25, 2018. Jennifer Siebel Newsom Sings with Idle No More SF Bay Carolers. 2022-01-07. Daily Kos.
  15. Summer 2011. IFH Community History Class. Intertribal Friendship House Newsletter. 2.
  16. Web site: Farris. Phoebe. March 2011. Hollywood, Oscars, and Reel Injuns. 2022-01-07. Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine. en.
  17. Book: Encyclopedia of North American Indians. 1996. Houghton Mifflin Co. Frederick E. Hoxie. 978-0-395-66921-1. Boston. 34669430.
  18. Book: Micco, Melinda. https://books.google.com/books?id=4T3_j_9MSSAC&dq=Melinda+Micco&pg=PA74. Re-placing America: conversations and contestations: selected essays. 2000. College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature, University of Hawai'i and the East-West Center. 978-0-8248-2364-1. Hsu. Ruth. Honolulu. English. "Tribal Re-Creations: Buffalo Child Long Lance and Black Seminole Narratives". Franklin. Cynthia G.. Kosanke. Suzanne.
  19. Micco, Melinda. "Seminoles and Black Seminoles in Contemporary Tribal Politics." In Eating Out of the Same Pot: Relating Black and Native Histories" A Cross-cultural Symposium at Dartmouth College April, pp. 20-22. 2000.
  20. Book: Micco, Melinda. https://books.google.com/books?id=Q25HjNpLRv4C&dq=Melinda+Micco&pg=PA121. Crossing waters, crossing worlds : the African diaspora in Indian country. 2006. Duke University Press. Tiya Miles, Sharon Patricia Holland. 978-0-8223-8840-1. Durham. Blood and Money: The Case of Seminole Freedmen and Seminole Indians in Oklahoma. 607774236.
  21. Web site: 2021-12-29. In Memoriam: Melinda Micco, 1947-2021. 2022-01-06. Women In Academia Report.
  22. Web site: Micco. Megan. 2021-12-23. Remembering Melinda Micco, first Native woman tenured at Mills College. 2022-01-06. Berkeleyside. en-US.

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