Public Policy Meeting – Women, War & Peace: Dec. 10th.

DVD coverJoin the Public Policy Committee to watch and discuss Women, War & Peace.

The PBS series on Women, War & Peace has generated a lot of conversation. And what better way to acknowledge the Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence currently underway? We’re planning to watch Part 1 together and talk about it over a pizza lunch this Saturday.

December 10, 2011
11:00 am
Irene Miller’s Home, Palenville
RSVP to imiller65@hvc.rr.com.

Want to share a ride to Palenville? Contact Ruth Wahtera.

AAUW Branch Holiday Party December 13

Songs for the Season of Light
Branch Holiday Party

 Kingston Library Community Room
Tuesday, December 13
3:30 pm

photo of Danielle Woerner

Danielle Woerner photo by Michael Gold

Join us for a celebration of the season. Bring your friends and introduce them to AAUW. This promises to be a wonderful program.

Danielle Woerner presents “Songs for the Season of Light”: Warm up your voices and your holiday spirits with song!   Singer, voice teacher and songwriter Danielle Woerner, December’s presenter,  will share and lead the group in songs for this winter holiday season from a variety of spiritual and secular traditions around the world.

Woerner is well-known as a singer, actor, teacher and workshop leader, as well as a writer and songwriter.  Her own history as a University Woman includes voice teaching at Bard, Vassar and Dutchess Community Colleges, and an Artist Residency at SUNY/Ulster.  She studied at Bard (B.A.), Barnard, Berklee (Master’s program) and Hunter Colleges and the Universite d’Aix-Marseille, in addition to her professional training in NYC.

Two Please Brings:

  1. Small unwrapped gifts for the residents of the domestic violence shelter
  2. For the scholarship table, re-gifting items and your cash. Donate your items. Pick up some bargains. Proceeds go toward our scholarship fund.

Birthday Celebration Saturday: 130 Years!

Cake & Candles

Celebrate with Us!
Kingston AAUW Birthday Celebration
DATE: Saturday, December 3, 2011
TIME: Doors open at 1pm; film at 1:30
LOCATION: Kingston Library Community Room

MORE: AAUW members have been advancing equity for women and girls for 130 years. Our founding members were leaders in the suffrage movement, opened educational opportunities for women, and worked to improve conditions for working women and their families. We continue that work today.

To celebrate our 130th birthday, on December 3rd, AAUW Kingston will have a public showing of Ironed Jawed Angels, the Golden Globe award winning film about suffragettes fighting for the right to vote.  It underscores the challenges — personal and political — in the story of these remarkable women.

Come cheer them on, hiss, cry, and celebrate.

If you’ve never seen it, you MUST.
If you have seen it, SEE IT AGAIN.
And bring a friend who hasn’t seen it.

Katja von Garnier’s “Iron Jawed Angels” tells the remarkable and little-known story of a group of passionate and dynamic young women, led by Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) and her friend Lucy Burns (Frances O’Connor), who put their lives on the line to fight for American women’s right to vote.

Please contribute personal care items or small, unwrapped gifts for the women living in the domestic violence shelter.

Thanksgiving Controversies

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow… safe travel, great food, and the company of people you enjoy.

The day used to kick-off the holiday season but this year has spawned some controversy.

  • Should Black Friday start on Thursday? 185,000 people signed an on-line petition protesting Target’s midnight opening which will ruin the day for many Target employees.
  • Will you take the pledge? “Respect the Bird”  is a growing movement of people protesting “Christmas Creep” and pledging “to not let Black Friday shopping gobble up my Thanksgiving.” (You can take the pledge here: http://respectthebird.com/p/pledge.html )

What will you be doing on Thanksgiving? Tell us in the comments below.

 

Sexual Harassment in Our Schools: How big a problem? What can we do?

CrossCrossing the Line Cover Arting the Line: Sexual Harassment at School, AAUW’s new research report on sexual harassment in middle and high schools, which was released online Monday, has gotten significant media attention from a number of outlets including the Associated Press and the New York Times. This report — the first of its kind in 10 years — provides valuable information for all of us who are concerned about the next generation.

Parents, teachers, administrators, policy makers, and, most of all, students need this report to shed light on the issue of sexual harassment in schools. AAUW is ready to amplify the conversation and give people the facts and best practices they need to work toward a solution.

You can get a PDF of the Executive Summary and/or the full report here.

Watch this site for more discussion about what we can do.

Anita Hill 20 Years Later | C-SPAN

Anita Hill testifying 20 years ago - Clarence Thomas Senate hearing

Anita Hill put her personal and professional life on the line when she testified about Clarence Thomas’s sexual harassment. It was a turning point for women. No longer do we consider sexual harassment of anyone business as usual.

This weekend hundreds of people gathered at Hunter College to reflect on what has happened, what we’ve learned, and the work that remains. The conversation was fast moving and the questions from the audience provoked differences in opinion as well as insight into the intersections of race, gender, power, and politics.

You can watch the video of the panels at Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later conference here: Anita Hill Speaks 20 Years Later | C-SPAN

Speakers included Anita Hill, people involved in the hearing, like Catharine MacKinnon and Judith Resnik, scholars like Kimberlé Crenshaw, and current day activists like AAUW fellow Ai-Jen Poo, Jamia Wilson, and Emily May from Hollaback to name just a few.  This was a terrific conference, well worth carving out some time to watch.

Some of our members were fortunate to be there. Whether you were there in person, watched the live stream, of watch the video, please add your impressions of the day or thoughts on sexual harassment in the comments