Category Archives: advocacy

Dolly & Gloria

advocacy, books, politics, reading, thinking out loud, ,

Gloria Steinem’s death came just a few days after that of Dolly Parton. They seemed to be two women who spun in very different orbits. However, their lives intertwined in a way that shows that feminism is more complex than the anti-woke crowd would have us believe.

Ms. Magazine republished Steinem’s 1987 tribute to Parton, the year the latter was named of the magazine’s Women of the Year. (Days later, the same magazine published a tribute to its founder.)

I encourage you to read both articles. For me, the most powerful statement is Steinem’s simple but powerful definition of feminism: “If feminism means each of us finding our unique power, and helping other women do the same, Dolly Parton certainly has done both.”

I think Steinem gets it right and it is simple. Everyone gets to discover and embody their unique power. Create a life that makes sense for them as individuals. Define themselves in ways that make them feel whole. That’s it: no one is forcing anyone to live as a trad wife or a childless cat woman. Have babies, don’t have babies; get married, don’t get married; work outside the home, don’t work outside the home. You get to choose.

If early feminists were evangelical in their quest to get women out of the home and into the world, it was because of the context of the times. Women were ruled by men in their personal, professional and financial lives. Opportunities to work outside the home were limited and often ended upon pregnancy. Even as late as 2008, I had a man tell me that, if he was able to provide continuing grant support for a project, he would probably only be able to keep on my male colleague since he had a family to support. I was married without children at the time so I suppose he thought I was working for fun even though I was actively consulting and finishing up a doctorate.

I was born on the cusp of the first and second waves of feminism. One of the best books I’ve read that shares the experiences of my mother’s generation is The Book Club for Troublesome Women. Here’s my review from LibraryThing:

“The Book Club for Troublesome Women showed up in my Hoopla recommendations. Four women in the new suburbs of Northern Virginia come together to read Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique even as the world and their lives are changing irrevocably in the early 1960s. Bostwick’s story was heart wrenching in many ways as we see women belittled by the world, and in many cases, their own husbands. But Bostwick also explores ideas about how the enforced roles of women required enforced roles for men who may not find bread winning to be their real desire. Of course, there are pretty petty men as well, and I found myself shouting “a*****e” a few times along the way.

She weaves history into the story as the women in Concordia, Virginia, were right on the doorstep of the March on Washington and lived through the assassination of Kennedy. We see them grappling with their changing roles, coming to understand the importance not just of friendship but also mentorship. And, I am a huge fan of Katherine Graham who shows up as herself and provides some support for one of the characters in the novel. It felt a little “Forrest Gumpy” but helped underline the turmoil of those years.”

We grieve the loss of these women. We watch in horror as their work is belittled and dismantled. So, we do what people have always done: we pick up the mantle and march on. Labor Day is a great day to write a letter to your legislator to let them know where you stand on the issues.

Sigh

advocacy, poetry, thinking out loud

Writer, farmer, and activist Wendell Berry died yesterday, aged 92. He told the stories of his people in quiet prose and reflective, if sometimes combative, poetry. I have read a few of his novels, but it is his poetry that speaks to me most strongly. He is my favorite poet as I resonate with his love for rural life along with his anger at environmental destruction. I have written about him often on this blog. I suspect “The Peace of Wild Things” is his most beloved poem as we all find ourselves longing to escape to a place of quiet tranquility.

Berry, however, was much more than just a rural bard rambling through the fields. He was an environmental activist who used his poetry to lament the loss of nature and with it the diminishment of our own lives. Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry documents the challenges of being a farmer in the 21st century through the eyes of Berry, his family and his neighbors and friends. It is not so much a biography of the man as a portrayal of a disappearing way of life. In the trailer, Berry recites a poem written in 1997 from his collection of Sabbath poems titled A Timbered Choir.

Feeling A Little Less Helpless

advocacy, politics, thinking out loud, ,

I met with the Jameson Babb, Chief of Staff for Senator Lashrecse Aird, my Virginia state Senator. I reached out to ask what, besides making phone calls or sending postcards, I might do to feel a little less helpless. I also had a couple ideas I wanted to share with him to see if they would be worth the time and energy.

It was one of the best meetings I have had for a long time. I had an informal agenda, and we covered most of my topics plus a lot more ground in 30 minutes. I left with immediate ideas for where to begin, including starting a women’s group ala The Liberal Women of Chesterfield, who were the powerhouse behind getting Abigail Spanberger, current candidate for Virginia governor, elected in the first place. Their mission statement is fiercely progressive:

LWCC strives to be a safe haven for liberal women and their allies to support, educate, and encourage one another to be actively involved in our government; and, furthermore, seeks to advance advocacy issues and
campaigns that align with our progressive values of inclusivity and equal rights for all people.

As I read it, I was reminded of an episode from Season 3 of The West Wing, when President Bartlett is running for his second term. Bruno Gianelli, the high paid consultant played powerfully by Ron Silver, designs ads that skirt campaign finance laws (this was 2001 so before Citizens United basically gutted them completely). Sam Seaborn pushes back because he thinks they should have a higher standard, the “we go high” philosophy of more contemporary times, and Bruno makes an impassioned speech about not apologizing for being liberal and progressive and believing that government can do good things for its people to improve their lives:

If you are interested in some of the other ideas that came out of my meeting and possibly connecting with other women, get in touch.

Meanwhile, I feel a little less helpless and a little more empowered. If you have a “friendly” state representative, I encourage you to reach out to them.

Writing for Rights

advocacy, writing

In 1988, when I told people I had joined AI, they did not think of Artificial Intelligence. Instead, they probably knew I had joined the international human rights organization, Amnesty International. Like many of people, I became aware of the organization (it had begun in 1961) because of the musicians who headlined the Human Rights Now tour in 1988, especially Peter Gabriel.

I wa part of a local group that met at a Quaker Church and wrote lots of letters for Amnesty International over the years as part of their Write for Rights program. I haven’t been involved in recent years beyond making a donation. So, when I stumbled on this year’s membership card, I wondered if, in this day of AI and online forms, letter writing was still part of the mission.

Amnesty continues the tradition with a focused event related to Human Rights Day on December 10. They haven’t posted anything about this year’s event but you can learn more about the power of letter writing at the website. They continue to encourage us to handwrite our letters along with personalizing the recommended language. In this day of AI and copy/paste, a handwritten letter makes a personal connection between writer, reader, and, in this case, the person who is the subject of the appeal.

Ending Solitary Confinement

advocacy, ,

In 2015, in honor of long-jailed South African activist Nelson Mandela, the United Nations updated and adopted the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, calling them the Nelson Mandela Rules. These rules include guidelines for the use of solitary confinement:

The Mandela Rules, updated in 2015, are a revised minimum standard of UN rules that defines solitary confinement as “the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact.” Solitary confinement may only be imposed in exceptional circumstances, and “prolonged” solitary confinement of more than 15 consecutive days is regarded as a form of torture.

United Nations Report on Use of solitary confinement in United States, february 28, 2020

This week, news came of a hunger strike by prisoners in Texas prisons to protest the extensive and prolonger use of solitary confinement. The practice is often used “proactively” by separating gang members and others considered a danger even if they have not committed infractions. According to PBS News Hour, some 3100 prisoners are in solitary confinement in Texas, many of them held that way for more than a decade. This is, under the Mandela rules, torture.

Virginia’s General Assembly is considering a bill that would limit the use of solitary confinement using the Mandela rules as its guideline for no more than 15 consecutive days over the course of a 60-day period. I have contacted my representative to let him know that I support this legislation. I also used it as an opportunity to remind him that I am against the death penalty as well. You can read the legislation at the Virginia’s Legislative System website. While you’re there, you can browse other legislation, and if you feel called to contact your representative but aren’t sure who it might be, use the Who’s My Legislator website to find out.

Virginia does not have a good track record when it comes to the use of solitary confinement. Twelve inmates and former inmates filed a lawsuit against the Virginia Department of Corrections, alleging that VDOC has been using semantics to get around its own program to end solitary confinement. The investigation into the death of an inmate in solitary confinement in January 2022 provides some insight into the practice as well as the semantic games: solitary confinement is now called “restorative housing.”