Posts by Gloria Feldt
Feminism in Second Life–and Its Challenges in the 21st Century Real Life
Listen on Blogtalk radio to the lively multi-generational conversation that took place last night on Second Life–and please share your comments–I’d love to hear how you would answer the questions that we were asked.
The panelists are journalist and author Lynn Harris, youth activist Shelby Knox, and myself talking with host Jay Ackroyd.
Why Everyone Should Celebrate Juneteenth
I recall Juneteenth being widely observed by the local African American community when I was a little girl in Texas. There were barbecues, church services, and speeches, along with a general air of celebration. Today is the 145th anniversary of Juneteenth–June 19, 1865–the date when the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the end of slavery, finally reached Texas 2 1/2 years late:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”
President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863. There are several versions of why the news traveled so slowly to Texas, a Confederate state, none of them particularly pretty, most having to do with foot dragging shenanigans and entrenched resistance to ending slavery, at least until another cotton picking season had finished.
Read MoreWhat’s the Best Language: Choice, Freedom, Human Rights, or???
after 35 years, I’m tired of arguing about what is the most persuasive language to bring the most people into what we have for some decades now been referring to as the pro-choice fold. And frankly, I have moved on–or outward, as I prefer to say–to the bigger canvas of women’s equality and power, not just between the navel and the knees but also in politics, at work, and at home.
However, thanks to the perpetual obsession about women and sex by those who want to outlaw abortion, I find myself drawn in once more to the fray over the rhetoric of–well, whatever you want to call it. Historian Nancy L. Cohen started the latest public discussion of the terminology in her Los Angeles Times op ed proposing that we switch from “choice” to “freedom.”
Read MoreToo Cute for Words–Just Watch This Powered Girl
The adorable Jessica and her affirmations are making her way around the web, but i couldn’t resist sharing the video here. Also check out this link to Jessica’s Monday Affirmations on Feministing.com where they have the transcript–just in case you don’t catch every upbeat word she is saying. Enjoy!
Read MoreJK Rowling Talks About the Benefits of Failure
If we haven’t failed at something by the time you reach midlife, we probably aren’t trying to break boundaries or reach our deepest dreams. This video of JK Rowling’s commencement speech to Harvard graduates delivers a profound message–that “rock bottom is a solid foundation” from which realize that when you have nothing left to lose, you are completely free to start anew on the path to your life’s ambitions.
She said it better than I did, as you would expect from the author of the Harry Potter books, so take a watch.
J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.
Read MoreMolly Ivins Speaks Her Truth
An avid Kathleen Turner fan, Els Van Landuyt from Belgium, sent me the link to this video clip of Kathleen playing the late, great, sassy Texas journalist Molly Ivins in the one-woman show “Red Hot Patriot.” Put on your Lucchese boots, throw back a can of beer and enjoy, ya’ll.
Read MoreHow Many Choices About Motherhood Are There?
Submit your Mother’s Day story to the Women’s Media Center here and help spread the word that there are many choices women make about pregnancy and childbearing over the course of their lives. As a mother, I celebrate our choices as we celebrate Mother’s Day. Gloria FeldtGLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several…
Read MoreDear Ohio, Why Jennifer Brunner Should Be Your Next Senator
This past week, I learned more about Ohio politics than I ever wanted to know, in particular next Tuesday’s (May 4) Democratic primary contest between Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher. The winner will go up against Republican Rob Portman in the November general election.
I suggest you read Kelley Bell’s Huffington Post column to get more facts and colorful descriptions of the intra-party machinations than I have bandwidth to recount here.
My involvement has been only peripheral. I happened to jump into a Facebook conversation begun by one of my favorite columnists, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Connie Schultz, in which she bemoaned acrimony between women about the question of when (if ever) it’s incumbent on us to support our sisters who are running for office.
Read MoreWomenGirlsLadies on Ronnie Eldridge Show
Three of our WomenGirlsLadies inter-generational panel members, Deborah Siegel, Courtney Martin, and I (we were missing Kristal Brent Zook, who couldn’t change her teaching schedule to appear on the show) had a chance to talk with Eldridge and Co. host Ronnie Eldridge on her CUNY television show.
Click the photo above to see the video. We covered the inter-generational waterfront, from the state of the women’s movement, what happens when feminists disagree about political candidates, how we’re going to get work-life balance policies and actual practice, and what we all have in common to how the women’s movement has changed men too.
Our next public event will be Sept. 28 at the University of Missouri Kansas City. We’d love to come speak to your group too! Contact me and I’ll be delighted to give you more information.
Read MoreLeading Across Borders: Creating Women Entrepreneurs in Iraq
Regular Courageous Leadership contributor Anne Doyle sent me the link to this inspiring article by journalist Diane Tucker. Entitled “In Iraq, Women Entrepreneurs Staring a New Kind of Insurgency,” the piece is a good illustration of how financial resources underlie the capacity to achieve independence and elevate their status in society. It’s this kind of social change that also contributes to building a stronger democracy.
Tucker interviewed an American woman of Indian descent Amber Chand. Chand–who grew up in a wealthy family that lost everything when she was a child and later became an entrepreneur herself, is teaching Iraqi women, as well as women in Afghanistan and other countries in distress, how to become successful businesswomen. Here’s the story in her words.
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