Rachel Binah (born 1942) is an American artist and environmental and

community activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. Binah was one of many in the Mendocino coastal communities who helped to organize the final hearing, in 1988, of "Lease Sale 91" by the

Minerals Management Service The Minerals Management Service (MMS) was an agency of the United States Department of the Interior that managed the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf (OCS). Due to perceived conflict of intere ...

of the Department of the Interior (in

Fort Bragg, California Fort Bragg, officially the City of Fort Bragg, is a city along the Pacific Coast of California along Shoreline Highway in Mendocino County. The city is west of Willits, at an elevation of . Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 census. Fort ...

) to protest against offshore oil development off the North Coast of California. Upwards of 2,500 people (it is thought that as many as 5,000) attended the federal hearing, with 1400 volunteering to testify. Binah has also served as chair emeritus of the

California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento. With 43.5% of the state's registered voters as of 2018, the Democratic Party has the highest number of r ...

's Environmental Caucus and the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

committeewoman. Aside from environmental concerns, Binah is also interested in

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

, spearheaded by her father suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. She also owned a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

Little River, California Little River (formerly known as Littleriver, Bell's Harbor, and Kent's Landing) is a small census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It lies at an elevation of , south of the town of Mendocino and running along the ...

. In 2009, Binah was a National Women's History Month honoree.

Exhibitions

Rachel Binah: "Black and White in Color, Paper and Constructions." The exhibition was presented in Partners Gallery in

Mendocino, California Mendocino (Spanish for "of Mendoza") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. Mendocino is located south of Fort Bragg at an elevation of . The population of the CDP was 932 ...

on July 5, 2018 – July 31, 2018. Binah's intention for this exhibition was to explore the current sentiment of modern politics.

References

1942 births Living people American environmentalists American women environmentalists California Democrats Democratic National Committee chairs People from Mendocino County, California Women in California politics 2000 United States presidential electors Activists from California 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians American women sculptors American community activists Artists from San Francisco Sculptors from California 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors {{Women's-History-stub