After Kartar Dhillon gave birth to her first child in a Fresno hospital, a perplexed nurse asked why Dhillon was still using her maiden name. “Why don’t you use your husband’s name?” the nurse asked. Dhillon — who also refused to wear a wedding ring — shot back without hesitation: “Why doesn’t he use mine?”

It was the early 1930s, and though Dhillon was still in her teens, she was not a person constrained by the expectations of her era. The rest of her life would stand as solid evidence of that. She would go on to be a dedicated union member, a social justice organizer, a Black Panthers volunteer, a prolific essayist and a passionate campaigner for India’s independence. She also just happened to be the kind of live-wire who was always first on the dance floor at parties — especially if Ja

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