Sheroes of the free press

Last week I attended the 3rd National Conference on Media Reform.  The number of women speakers and panelists as well as the recognition of gender as a media reform issue was significantly better than the last conference where gender issues were invisibilized and women’s representation among presenters was token at best.  This conference started off [...]

Lynn Woolsey’s Plan for withdrawal from Iraq

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) has come up with a comprehensive proposal to withdraw our troops from Iraq. Her plan includes the following points:

Withdraw all U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq within six months from the date of enactment.
Accelerate, during the six-month transition, training of a permanent Iraqi police force.
Prohibit [...]

Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf brings positive change during first year of her presidency

Here in the U.S. we have this ongoing idiotic debate about whether this country is ready for a female president.  Yet with far less resources at her disposal, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s first year as president of Liberia makes clear that the real question is what are we waiting for?  After years of war and terror under [...]

Peace on earth begins at home

I have a confession to make. I have become an Alice Walker junkie. Just can’t get enough of the lady and her words. At the moment I am devouring “Living By the Word” and in it I found a wonderful description of what is truly at the heart of what is necessary [...]

“The Dinner Party”: Homeless no more

2007 is shaping up to be a watershed year for feminist art. The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum will open this spring with Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party” as its centerpiece. The Museum will also host a show called “Global Feminisms” which will run March 23 – [...]

Our Bodies Our Blog: Fabulous resource about women’s health

The wonderful women at Our Bodies Our Selves not only write excellent, comprehensive books about women’s health, they also have a terrific blog that has daily coverage of women’s health issues in the news. This is a fabulous resource, be sure to check it out!

Solstice Prayer by Janie Rezner

Many thanks to my dear friend Janie Rezner for allowing me to post her Solstice prayer. Janie is an extraordinary artist, poet and musician. She also has a radio program, Women’s Vocies on KZYX. Please visit her website to see more of her wonderful art and learn more about her work and life. [...]

Shulamit Aloni on Israeli apartheid

I made my first trip to Israel 34 years ago. I was 16 years old (do the math yourselves), wearing rose colored glasses and knowing exactly what life was about. While there I learned much, quite a lot of it at odds with what I had learned in Sunday School. Among other [...]

When I’m 103

On days when things seem particularly grim, I have been known to mutter that being an activist is aging me quickly. All those marches and rallies in all kinds of weather, burning the midnight oil too often, takes it’s toll on a girl. Of course it has always been in the back of [...]

In Memorium: Tillie Olsen

Feminist author Tillie Olsen has died at the age of 94. During the last several years, I have been reading everything I can about women writing about writing. Olsen’s “Silences” perhaps explains better than anything else I have ever read the immense odds that women writers have faced throughout history. Indeed, her [...]