How the first woman of colour to be elected to the US Congress remade education

Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927-2002) isn’t a household name in the history of US politics. The short documentary Mink! (2022), which offers an entertaining and inspiring brief history of her life, makes a powerful argument that she ought to be. Combining archival footage and the loving narration of her daughter Wendy Mink, the Canadian director Ben Proudfoot traces how the Hawaiian-born Mink beat the odds to become the first-ever woman of colour elected to the US Congress, and how her legacy of fighting for equality lives on in Title IX – a law that ushered in a revolution in women’s collegiate sports.