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Current Affairs
05/05/2011
REVEAL YOUR SOUL
03/09/2011
03/08/2011
12/29/2010
MTV Abortion Special "No Easy Decision" Addresses Abortion with Compassionate Integrity
I have had time to process last night's show and I must say, I'm still in awe of the surprise we received from MTV. We have a long way to go, but yesterday's special and the sisterhood and communion so many women are gaining as a result inspires me. What a good way to look forward to 2011. Check out my blog about MTV's first abortion special here.
12/22/2010
Show Some Pro-Voice Love: Tune In to "16 and Loved"
For the first time in three seasons of MTV's popular series "16 & Pregnant," and one season of "Teen Mom." MTV is debuting their first coverage of teens who choose to have abortions, called “No Easy Decision.” The WMC team and I are embarking on a watch-in, in solidarity with Exhale, an abortion talk-line that is partnering with MTV’s “16 & Pregnant” series (ranked #1 in its time period with 12-34 yr olds versus all television) which, on December 28th, will be venturing into new territory with a special that features three young women telling their abortion stories.
It is time for MTV to give coverage to a perspective that has largely been left out of the 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom discourse. When a woman terminates an unintended pregnancy, that is one of several options she may elect to choose. A woman must be allowed to make that choice if that is the best option for her individual situation–without government intervention. She should be allowed to make her decision and afforded her right to privacy. This very personal decision is one that is made between a woman, her doctor, and her conscience or God. We must defend each woman’s right to have a child or to choose NOT to have a child. Women deserve access to comprehensive sexuality education so that they can prevent unintended pregnancy, but also to ensure that they know about all of the safe options they can consider when faced with this deeply personal decision.
Please show solidarity with Exhale and TUNE IN TO SEND A MESSAGE TO MTV THAT WE NEED CONTINUED, BALANCED COVERAGE ABOUT ALL OF THE OPTIONS AND SUPPORT TEENS HAVE WHEN FACING UNINTENDED PREGNANCY - And to show support for the brave teens who shared their stories for the show.
It is also important that we work dilligently to combat any racism that will surely emerge when the anti-choice hardliners start their chatter about the show. When Entertainment Weekly released their piece about the show, I read some troubling racially-driven comments about Markai, an African American woman featured in both the original series and the special.
Markai's decision to terminate her pregnancy has received a lot of racially-tinged comments and judgment from the public. Its imperative that we ensure that we are putting positive comments out there and protecting her from racist vitriol as well as the sexist, classist, and anti-choice attacks. I am also concerned about some problematic stats some trolls in the interwebs have been throwing out about black women and abortion—i.e so-called “black genocide” commentary as well as ideological nonfactual drivel about black women having more abortions than any other race.
I hope you'll join the conversation. Clearly our voices need to be heard. I will be live-blogging and tweeting the “16 and Loved” special along with a team of bloggers including Jessica Valenti and Lynn Harris. Join our conversation live on December 28th at 11:30PM EST.
Follow the conversation live on Twitter with the hashtags #16andloved, #WMCwatchin, and #provoice.
11/12/2010
The New Young Feminists
(More Magazine)
I attended the 92nd Street Y/MORE Magazine panel on “The New Young Feminists” with Naomi Wolf on Wednesday night. Here are some articles recapping the event:
While I appreciate the value of the intergenerational discussion, I would have loved more diverse representation on the panel.The constitution of the panel reflects what often happens in the media.
Panelist Courtney Martin said it best when she acknowledged that the media attempts to present her, and other cisgendered white able-bodied women as the main spokeswomen for the movement. It was a riveting discussion, but based on some of the questions that came from the audience, it is clear—we have a long way to go.
I'm so proud of Shelby Knox, Courtney Martin, and Lena Chen for their courageous activism and dedication to our central feminist value-- EQUALITY.
10/20/2010
10/15/2010
10/11/2010
Manifesting a Movement—a Spiritual Uprising
Crosspost from Women's Media Center
Inspired by the women she met at the Omega Women and Power Conference, WMC’s Jamia Wilson explains why their visions of spirituality belong at the heart of feminism.
The Omega Sanctuary.
For me, feminism is God’s work. Yes, I am a pro-choice feminist who celebrates science, and is committed to protecting first amendment rights for all. Concurrently, I humbly revere the sublime presence of the creator in all things, people, and ideas, including our movement for equality.
When I reflect upon my experience at the Omega Institute’s Women and Power conference from September 24 through 26, I envision the convergence of hundreds of powerful women and allies, sharing space and time to contemplate a common vision—compassion for ourselves and each other. As the Omega Institute website states, The Women and Power Conference empowers women “to bring hope, healing, and change to their own lives and the world around them.”
Many of the women I met at Omega dismantled the trite conservative notion that spirituality has no place within the feminist conversation. I encountered a cadre of such women as Gabrielle Bernstein, spiritual guru and former NARAL Young Professionals Council president, and Meggan Watterson, feminist theologian and executive director of REVEAL: Young Women Defining the Divine. Their faith fuels a passion for gender equality and feminist stewardship.
In a political climate where religious fundamentalism often corrupts, desecrates, and betrays, it makes sense that even some progressives are wary of the intersection of faith and politics. These women, however, exemplify the synergistic relationship between feminism, activism, and spirituality, representing many of us whose stories are often absent or minimized in the public discourse.
For three days, we allowed ourselves to return to nature and focus on “being the change we want to see in the world” in the spirit of Gandhi. Academics, activists, dharma teachers, yogis, performers, philanthropists, scientists, humanitarians, artists, mothers, poets, and educators, pondered the meaning of women’s leadership, with many concluding that guidance that is heart-driven and powered by compassion, love, innovation, and active listening will render a more powerful movement.
Among these courageous women were Leyma Gbowee, leader of Women of Liberia Mass Action, philanthropist Jennifer Buffett, and Malika Saada Saar, founder of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights (the name honors both the biblical Rebecca and beloved teacher and artist Rebecca Rice). These leaders call for a paradigm shift that privileges compassion, over destructive hegemonic manifestations of power that diminish humanity.
In listening to women’s stories over the three days, I gained a wealth of knowledge—including these seven potent ideas that inform how we can actualize our spiritual feminist power:
- Loving peace In the Giving Voice to Trauma: Spiritual Surrender and Leadership workshop, author and survivor of the Cambodian killing fields Loung Ung remarked, “loving peace is something you choose and work with on a daily basis.”
- Compassionate leadership Musician and feminist activist, Ani Di Franco described “autonomy” as a “masculine fantasy.” Di Franco argued that women “don’t think for one, we think for at least two—hopefully we think for all. It’s the motivation for our deciding.”
- Karmic flow Personal finance guru Manisha Thakor called for women to “share with each other in order to support each others causes.” Thakor advocates for women’s financial empowerment because “fighting money harms the natural cycle and the karmic flow.” Thakor insists that “when women aren’t talking and sharing we can’t negotiate from a place of strength.”
- “Beloved” bodies Rebecca Project founder Maalika Saada Saar mesmerized conference participants with a reading from Toni Morrison’s Beloved, calling for women to “love [their flesh]. Love it hard” and honor their bodies by challenging the sexualization, violation, and trafficking of their sacred flesh.
- Mindfulness I met Cheri Maples, former assistant attorney general in Wisconsin, organizational consultant, trainer, and dharma teacher ordained by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and asked her about her work. She emphasized that her organization was named the Center for Mindfulness and Justice because fostering mindfulness and compassion leads to peace and justice.
- Sisterhood and oneness Awadiya Ahmad Yahia, delegate to the Darfur Peace Talks, challenged women to practice solidarity with women around the world, stating “It is about us and our sisters who aren’t here, it is only us who can lead our people and ourselves to peace.”
- Reject fear Shaima Khinjhani, the Afghan government’s youngest gender equality consultant, proclaimed that she “learned to choose faith over fear” when she risked her life by providing women with education in defiance of the Taliban.
My most important takeaway from the conference was the idea that our success as a movement depends on our ability to respect spirituality’s role in the feminist conversation. Women are practicing feminism around the world by fighting for their values and beliefs, raising their voices, and demanding to be recognized in their spiritual communities. Current discourses related to women’s ordination, Islamic and Mormon feminism, Wiccan religious freedom, and many more conversations related to women’s spiritual lives provide us with new opportunities to discuss power and feminism with a perspective that will broaden our movement. I have faith that loving peace, mindfulness, karmic flow, sisterhood, and compassionate leadership will drive our movement to create more inclusive spaces where interfaith belief systems and discussions related to spirituality are welcomed rather than feared, and celebrated instead of undermined.
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author alone and do not represent WMC. WMC is a 501(c)(3) organization and does not endorse candidates.
10/01/2010
Everyday Angels
Last night, I experienced Gabrielle Bernstein's "The Universe Has Your Back" lecture and feel uplifted. I'm excited to start 30 days of meditation in order to take back my life, go within, and get up-close-and-personal with my divine feminine and my inner guide.
Gabrielle is a student of Marianne Williamson whose presentation at the UN Digital Media Lounge inspires me to continue to do the work I do, and bear witness by raising my voice, and remaining mindful and authentic.
