A Heartbreaking Farewell to a Beloved Legend

Soskin made it clear she was far from disengaged. “I follow politics very closely,” she said during a video call from her home in Richmond, where she lived with her daughter, Di’ara. Reflecting on the long arc of history she had witnessed, she added: “Even going through the 50s and the 60s with civil rights, that was all [progress].”

But she worried that momentum had been lost. “I don’t feel as if that’s so now,” she said. Speaking about the Trump era, Soskin didn’t hold back: “It’s seemed to me that [Trump] has no idea what he’s doing. I think we’ve lost our sense of direction.”

For someone who had spent more than a century fighting for justice and truth, that uncertainty was deeply troubling. “And that’s terrifying to me,” she said, “because I’m going to leave the world in such a shape.”

Betty Reid Soskin passed away peacefully at her home in Richmond, California, at the age of 104, her family confirmed on Sunday.

A public memorial will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, her family has asked that donations be made to Betty Reid Soskin Middle School or toward completing her documentary film, Sign My Name to Freedom — a fitting title for a woman who spent her life doing exactly that.

Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Betty Reid Soskin didn’t just witness history. She corrected it. Preserved it.
And made sure it would never be forgotten.

What a life, what a legacy. RIP Betty Reid Soskin!