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Life
05/05/2011
REVEAL YOUR SOUL
03/09/2011
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.
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.
Pretty Politico's Interview with Ani DiFranco: “Feminism Will Save the World"
At the Omega Institute’s 2010 Women and Power Conference last weekend, WMC Vice President Jamia Wilson spoke to Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco about feminism, spirituality and leadership.
Ani DiFranco marched and performed at the April 25, 2004, March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C.
Feminist icon, political activist, and raconteuse Ani DiFranco won a 2004 Grammy, and two years later the National Organization for Women (NOW) honored her with its Woman of Courage Award. In our short conversation, DiFranco, founder of Righteous Babe Records, displayed the wit, wisdom, self-definition and thoughtfulness that inform her music and political messages.
Jamia Wilson: Music has been your main medium for conveying powerful messages about social change. What are other sources that drive your power?
Ani DiFranco: More and more I realize feminism will save the world. Feminism is for everybody. You can’t start with a fundamental, crazy imbalance like patriarchy. Until we have gender equality we will have crazy social ills. Feminism is a tool for men as well to escape violence and inequality.
I was blessed with a feminist mom and her empowered friends who started a food co-op and were part of “Women for Downtown Buffalo.” We would always go door to door for progressive women candidates. I learned very early what it means to connect with other women, and I realized that these are the women whose respect means so much to me. I wanted the respect of the people I respect.
Wilson: As you may have already determined, this is a friendly feminist interview. How did you handle criticism from the opposition early on in your career?
DiFranco: I am getting more of the friendly interviews over time, but in the face of criticism I was secure that there was another world, an even better place to live on. That’s where my focus was. I never took criticism from the conservative media and patriarchal apparatus.
Wilson: You received NOW’s Woman of Courage Award at the Young Feminist Summit. What fuels your courage? What words of advice do you have for young feminists?
DiFranco: I turned 40 two days ago. I think that 15 years ago, I was not as clear. After struggling to get back to myself, I saw that the more you care for other people and put them next to you and provide an atmosphere where everyone is fulfilled, the more that atmosphere is created for yourself. Being benevolent and kind for someone else is doing it for yourself.
Wilson: Happy Birthday Ani! I’m honored that you’re spending it with us. I am turning 30 in a few weeks. We’re both Libras! [With her hands, DiFranco simulates the balancing scales that represent the zodiac sign.]
I have heard great things about the way you work with your band and staff. Do you have suggestions for how we can invoke more compassionate leadership within the movement? What does it look like?
DiFranco: It looks like mothers look. We need to look no further than the literal experience of your body that is my body, your blood that is my blood that puts us as women. Autonomy is a masculine family. We are one organism, different hearts, arms of one. Women have a heightened appreciation for this. You don’t have to give birth to know the spirit of this. It’s not about what’s right for me. It’s about what’s right for us. We don’t think for one, we think for at least two—hopefully we think for all. It’s the motivation for our deciding.
Conversely, there’s an important growing period for young women to know what we want and be able to act on our own behalf. Self-sacrificing is very female. Martyr can translate to anger. I inherited that anger and had to get a lot of that out of me to get the ultimate beauty and power of thinking like a woman. You’re not a martyr. You are one step ahead in something patriarchal society would do well to learn. You can’t think for one to have a successful world.
Wilson: I am emerging from that period in my life where I came to a similar realization about that level of personal awareness you spoke of. Spirituality centers me and allows me to listen more to my inner voice and needs. What does spirituality mean for you?
DiFranco: For me, God is a metaphor. All of the contexts in which God can be found are all based on a metaphor. Those that can think in terms of metaphor understand the consciousness that empowers us all. The more we recognize it, the stronger and happier we are. Spirituality is prioritizing, and focusing on serving that oneness.
Wilson: What role, if any, does spirituality have in the feminist movement? Is there synergy between activism and spirituality?
DiFranco: Spirituality has a different definition for each of us. Like love, it is inextricable—all of the great activists I know are spiritual, joyful, and loving people. They have discerned that working for your community and society is a way of being a more happy and fulfilled person, in a sense of being in touch with God.
Marches are all about driving fun, coming together in a positive space, and you meet people who make you feel less alone. That is where spirituality, activism and art become one.
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.
This article is a cross-post of a piece from Women's Media Center.
09/05/2010
