My name is Elizabeth Jenkins. In 1979, there wasn’t a hospital in Oscoda, Michigan — these days there are at least three — but I was born the next city over in East Tawas. I spent most of my life in Michigan. I grew up thinking that I would be an artist, lawyer, and actress, but now that I’m almost 30 I can’t be so sure.
Before graduating from college I lived in New Orleans for a year where Curtis Muhammad introduced me to grassroots organizing and the labor movement. After finishing school, I worked in St. Louis, Missouri as Communications Director for SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Missouri-Kansas State Council. Then I lived in China studying Mandarin for a year and a half, June 2006 - January 2008. Now I work at Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC.
In Mandarin, my name is 姜丽 (Jiang1 Li4). Jiang means “ginger” and Li means “pretty.” It’s a pretty common name. Sort of like being called “Jane Smith” in English. Or “Elizabeth Jenkins.”