Linda Tirado

American author and political activist

Linda Tirado
Born	1981 or 1982 (age 41–42)
Occupation(s)	Author, photographer, activist
Works	Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

Linda Tirado (born 1981 or 1982)^[1] is an American author, freelance photographer and political activist. Her memoir Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America is about her life as a member of the working class.^[2]^[3] She has also written articles for The Guardian, The Daily Beast and other online periodicals. In 2014, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women.^[4]

Early life and education

Tirado attended Cedar City High School and Southern Utah University.^[5] She did not finish her college degree.^[3]

Career

Tirado first came to public attention in October 2013 when a comment she made about living in poverty on a Gawker Media website, Killer Martinis, went viral; she later expanded it into her book, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America. Peter Coy from Bloomberg Businessweek gave the book a favourable review, calling it "funny, sarcastic, full of expletives, and most of all outrageously honest."^[6] Marcia Kaye from the Toronto Star also gave a favorable review, concluding the book was "provocative and controversial, and I wouldn't be the least surprised to see Tirado, in her thrift store sweater and ill-fitting jeans, running for office one day soon."^[7]

Shortly after Tirado's Killer Martinis post, an article in the Houston Press argued she had had a comfortable life, working in politics since 2004.^[8] It also erroneously claimed she had attended a boarding school.^[3] The writer attacked Tirado for purveying poverty porn, describing poverty through negative stereotypes those who have never experienced it would expect to read.^[8] Tirado had disclosed this background herself on a GoFundMe page she was running; while she described her essay as "impressionistic" she made public records showing that for several years she and her family had received Medicaid,^[9] welfare and WIC.^[10]^[3]

In May 2020, she was injured in her left eye while she was covering the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Tirado believed the injury was caused by a rubber bullet fired by the police, though it was later reported to be a sponge bullet.^[11] Following surgery, the prognosis was that she would be blind in that eye. She returned to work the following day.^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15] Tirado filed suit against the Minneapolis Police Department around June 14, 2020.^[11] On May 26, 2022, in the protest aftermath, the Minneapolis City Council agreed to a $600,000 settlement.^[16]

Tirado has also written articles for The Guardian, The Daily Beast and other online periodicals.

Honors

In 2014, Tirado was included in the BBC's 100 Women.^[4] In August 2020, she received the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award from the National Press Club.^[17]

Personal life

Tirado wrote Hand to Mouth while living in Utah. As of 2014, she lived in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two daughters.^[1]

As of June 2024, her friends have reported that Tirado is dying of complications of the traumatic brain injury in 2020.^[18]

References

^ ^a ^b Cooke, Rachel (September 21, 2014). "Linda Tirado: 'It was insane. I got 20,000 emails in a week'". The Observer. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
^ Shipler, David K. (December 26, 2014). "'Hand to Mouth,' by Linda Tirado". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Goldberg, Michelle (December 11, 2013). "Linda Tirado Is Not a Hoax: The author of "Why I Make Terrible Decisions" discovers the dark side of Internet fame". The Nation. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Who are the 100 Women 2014?". BBC. October 26, 2014.
^ Foster, Dawn (December 9, 2014). "Linda Tirado: Any commission that aims to abolish hunger must first address income". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
^ Coy, Peter (October 2, 2014). "Poorsplaining: What It's Really Like to Be Poor in America". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on October 3, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
^ Kaye, Marcia (December 5, 2014). "Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado: Review". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
^ ^a ^b Leicht, Angelica (November 29, 2013). "That Viral 'Poverty Thoughts' Essay Is Totally Ridiculous". Houston Press. Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ "Medicaid eligibility letter". Amazon Web Services. July 27, 2010. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ "Welcome to WIC". Amazon Web Services. July 2, 2010. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Photographer amid Minneapolis unrest sues, says officers blinded her in eye with nonlethal shot". Star Tribune.
^ Tirado, Linda (May 29, 2020). "Hey folks, took a tracer found to the face (I think, given my backpack) and am headed into surgery to see if we can save my left eye". @KillerMartinis. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
^ Tirado, Linda (May 30, 2020). "I hat we think happened is I took a rubber bullet to the face". @KillerMartinis. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
^ "A Reporter's Cry on Live TV: 'I'm Getting Shot! I'm Getting Shot!'". The New York Times. May 30, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
^ Tirado, Linda (May 30, 2020). "No worries, I've been back at work for five hours now. My job is to witness and they only got my left eye. My right one is good to go". @KillerMartinis. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
^ Webster, Tony (May 26, 2022). "Minneapolis settles lawsuit with Linda Tirado, journalist blinded in one eye during May 2020 unrest". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
^ "National Press Club Honors Linda Tirado With Press Freedom Award". www.prnewswire.com. National Press Club. August 20, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
^ Schuman, David (June 20, 2024). "Journalist shot by Minneapolis police during 2020 protests dying from injuries". CBS Minnesota. Retrieved June 21, 2024.