This year's Black History Month falls at a convulsive time for Americans. As the Trump administration works to eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in government and throughout American society, from companies to nonprofits, it's more important than ever to celebrate and commemorate the achievements and the contributions of Black Americans, as well as the uphill struggles that so many have had to wage throughout this country's nearly 250-year history.
History is often made at Sundance as well as documented on screen, and it was a personal thrill this year to be in the audience for the premiere of PRIME MINISTER, a film documenting the transformative tenure of New Zealand’s former Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. Plus: Free Leonard Peltier is another standout at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
As I blow out the 82 candles on my birthday cake today, I will be, yet again, making the birthday wish I’ve made often since 1972 — equal rights for women in the US Constitution — a wish many American women leaders first launched as a public policy campaign before I was born!
For me, personally searching for some perspective that would ease the feelings of helplessness and despair, I turned to science and literature, going first to one of my favorite writers, Joan Didion, who in her 1968 collection of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, wrote about her experiences living in Southern California in the 1960s.
Like so many millions of others around the world this week, I am reflecting, with an expected mixture of sadness and joy, on my personal experiences with President Jimmy Carter, a great man. We grew up about 150 miles apart, both on small family farms in rural Georgia, but we first met in Washington, DC, on January 20, 1977, when he was being inaugurated as the 39th president of the United States.
As one of the founders of Project Dandelion, I am pleased to share some reflections on what we observed and responded to in 2024 and how we envision our work in the new year. We’ve spent 2024 proving something powerful: the appetite for meaningful action at the intersection of climate and nature has never been greater. This is about what we can do together. It’s about connecting the people and resources needed to tip the scales toward a livable, just world.
Urge President Biden to do everything he can to publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution to ensure his legacy includes enshrining gender equality. Let’s not lose this historic opportunity to make history. Your call or text just might be the one that secures action here.
A self evident truth, right? And yet, only 11% of the stories in US history textbooks are about women and less than 10% of public monuments across the US are of women — a statistic which includes mermaids! But finally, after decades of advocacy from women leaders, there will be such a museum in the Nation’s Capital… hopefully, in my lifetime!
Committed as I am to using this platform to lift up good work and share information and inspiration, this week’s post is a re-post from an organization I greatly admire — the IBU Movement.
Surrendering our rights and freedoms cannot be an option, but silence and ‘going along’ is a surrender of sorts and most certainly, it’s appeasement, which never leads to anywhere good. Love is where we begin to heal and prepare for a unstoppable response.