When I self-published my book Busting the Brass Ceiling in 2020, I didn’t expect huge sales. Even though I called in lots of favors and got a lot of discounted editing and design rates, I didn’t even expect to make my money back. That didn’t matter. Or at least it didn’t matter enough to change my mind about moving forward. My co-author, Fanchon Blake, deserved her place in history.
Fanchon had always dreamed of becoming a top cop. She had already done well in the Army. Why not go for a career in law enforcement?
In 1948, she joined the LAPD, where she walked a beat in high heels, a skirt, and a girdle. Despite the department’s expectation that women cops remain ladylike—with clothes and makeup impeccable even after taking down a suspect, and guns that had to be carried in their purses—she was sure her efforts and talent would be rewarded. Instead, despite working hard and earning high achievement ratings, she was not allowed to promote. Neither were the other women on the force.
It got worse from there.
Over the years, the tenacious police officer tried to play by the rules and challenge the increasingly discriminatory agenda from within. That didn’t work, so she took the story to the press. When those efforts also failed to effect change, she realized someone would need to take the LAPD to court, and that someone might as well be her.
In 1973, the police sergeant finally sued the Los Angeles Police Department, thereby initiating one of the country’s landmark Title VII cases with little to no help from anyone. Her betrayal of the LAPD’s codes of silence and loyalty would not go unpunished. Despite the ensuing verbal abuse, silent treatment, and intimidation, she pushed on.
Seven years later, her heroic efforts would finally make it possible for women to bust through the brass ceiling. The case would help abolish institutionalized sexual and racial discrimination practices not just in the LAPD but in law enforcement in general. Today, Fanchon Blake is widely considered a hero by all those, including LAPD officers and upper brass who know her story.
I’m thrilled to say that a lot more people are going to learn about Fanchon’s fight for equality. Last week, thanks to an introduction by my client and friend, Jeff Swaney, whose book None of the Answers comes out next spring, Open Road Integrated Media published the ebook version of my book Busting the Brass Ceiling. The paperback, which is available for pre-order, will be published on November 5, 2024.
I wish Fanchon had lived to see this. And I hope her story and my book remind us all of the battle for equality that she—and so many others—waged to get women to where we are today.
