It has become increasingly clear to me that the arc of progress for American women in leadership in our country is inevitable. Last fall’s elections were just one positive harbinger of change. More women than ever before are now seated in Congress, including women of color. Women now represent a quarter of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives and women’s ranks in the Senate also have increased by two seats. What’s also exciting is the youth and energy of some of these new … [Read more...]
Storytelling for Change
As a former educator, I will always associate fall with the start of the school year – bells ringing in the hallways, sharpening of brand-new pencils, cracking the spine of a textbook for the first time. While I’ve been retired from the profession for some time, I haven’t left the academic world behind entirely. As many of you know, I have been hard at work on my next book, forthcoming Summer 2019, Your Turn: Ways to Celebrate Life Through Storytelling. Like my former students, I have had my … [Read more...]
A Mea Culpa from the New York Times: “Overlooked,” Celebrating Women’s Lives after 169 Years
In a recent special edition entitled “Overlooked,” the New York Times acknowledged that the thousands of obituaries they have published since 1851 have mostly chronicled the lives of men. Promising to do better going forward, the newspaper created “Overlooked” to highlight the major contributions that women have made to our country. Why now, I ask? I’m sincerely curious. Does hindsight’s rear-view mirror perspective allow us to see more clearly, by easing hard truths from the past? Do new … [Read more...]
The Times They Are A-Changin’: How Music Inspires the Courage and Hope of a Rising Generation
Each generation comes to reject, in one form or another, the conventional rules for getting along in the world as defined by their forebears. America last experienced this rejection in the 1960s. Having lived during that time, I can tell you the process is profoundly unsettling, scary, invigorating and yet cleansing. Sometimes the upheaval is so powerful that it unleashes a torrent of new ideas that engulf an entire society, a deluge that creates swirling eddies and cuts new channels into our … [Read more...]
Keep Running: Running for Office
These days, more women are running–not from fear or away from challenges. Rather, they’re running for office on all fronts because they’ve realized that marching in protest simply isn’t enough. At the national level, I recently saw that 390 women have announced plans to run in 2018 for the House of Representatives, a figure that’s higher than at any point in American history. Even more exciting is that 22 of these newly announced candidates are African American. If elected, they would more … [Read more...]
