AAUW Kingston Branch Meeting (on Zoom)
Thursday, January 20, 7 PM

A Current Look at Prosecution in Ulster County
– a joint meeting with the League of Women Voters Mid-Hudson

Here is a chance to learn about the state of prosecution in Ulster County.
David Clegg will present and answer questions.

During Clegg’s campaign, the League of Women Voters Mid-Hudson hosted a candidate forum to discuss what would make his tenure as a DA impactful to our judicial system. There was a great deal of public focus on the Bail Reform legislation and how it would be interpreted by the court and put into effect with the participating police departments and sheriff’s office. During the tight election, League members were witness to the ballot recounts. This program is an opportunity to check in now and see how this first year saw theory put into practice, to learn about who is collaborating in making change, and what are the hurdles and opportunities in the justice system that citizens should better understand.

Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/3006528119597976
(with Zoom information)

— Susan Holland, susan-holland@usa.net

Please join AAUW National for a Member Webinar on Wednesday, January 12, at 4 PM ET to kick off the New Year.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_F970hiewRT-ItgardO7D2g

You’ll hear from Julia Brown—your AAUW National Board Chair—and AAUW National Governance Committee Chair Malinda Gaul about the year to come, including our upcoming bylaws vote and comment period.

You’ll also get a special update from new AAUW CEO Gloria L. Blackwell as she reflects on our 2021 accomplishments and looks ahead to 2022 and beyond.

We encourage you to submit your questions ahead of time when you register, but you can also ask questions and provide feedback during the live webinar using Zoom’s Q&A function. We look forward to seeing you there!

— posted by Susan Holland

From Janice Brown, AAUW-NYS President:

AAUW-NYS Members,
AAUW is celebrating its 140^th anniversary on Wed., November 17 at 4 PM. You are invited.
Click on the following link to register for the Zoom meeting, if you have not registered yet:
Register Here

It’s a party, and we don’t want you to miss out. Let’s represent “the Big Apple” as only New Yorkers can do. We will have two of our branches being celebrated during this event: Jamestown and Kingston.

Another highlight of the celebration will be an exclusive conversation with the 2021 Alumnae Recognition Award winner Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, PhD., first woman and first African to serve as Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Come prepared to have a party and let’s celebrate the work of AAUW.

— Susan Holland

For our 11/6/21 Branch Meeting, Luncheon, and Fundraiser at Reginato Ristorante in Lake Katrine, we were excited to welcome guest speaker Suzanne Young-Mercer, who is the Diversity and Cultural Director for AAUW-NYS and is a member of the Rockland County Branch. During an informative and informal talk that engaged a rapt audience of 35 people, she addressed the question “Are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Still Relevant?”. DEI is a term used to describe programs and policies that encourage representation and participation of diverse groups of people, including people of different genders, races, ethnicities, abilities, disabilities, religions, cultures, ages, and sexual orientations. Thank you for making the trek to join us at this event, Suzanne, and thanks to all who made this fundraiser a complete success!

L to R: Geraldine Popko, Lynn Gore, Suzanne Young-Mercer, Dorothy Draper Silberg, Maryanne Kalin-Miller, Marjorie Bot

L to R: Maryanne Kalin-Miller, Suzanne Young-Mercer

L to R: Susan Holland, Lynn Gore

— Susan Holland
— Photo credit: Gloria Waslyn

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, is Election Day!
Please get out and vote.
Encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to vote too.
We have many local and county races and ballot proposals.

Turn Your Ballot Over!
There are five important state proposals (and possibly other local ones) on the back of the ballot:

Proposal 1: Amending the Apportionment and Redistricting Process
Proposal 2: Right to Clean Air, Clean Water, and a Healthful Environment
Proposal 3: Eliminating Ten-Day-Advance Voter Registration Requirement
Proposal 4: Authorizing No-Excuse Absentee Ballot Voting
Proposal 5: Increasing the Jurisdiction of the New York City Civil Court
Proposal 6 (Ulster County): Utilization of funds designated for payroll expenses within the County budget

For more information, go to:
http://www.vote411.org
Ulster County:
https://elections.ulstercountyny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/list-of-props-10.28.21.pdf

Polls are open in our area from 6 AM to 9 PM.
Call me if you need a ride to the polls.
Susan H, 845-389-3961, susan-holland@usa.net

Board of Elections websites
– Dutchess County:
http://www.dutchesselections.com/
– Greene County:
http://greenegovernment.com/departments/board-of-elections/
– Ulster County:
http://ulstercountyny.gov/elections
– NYS:
http://www.elections.ny.gov/

Fall Branch Meeting, Luncheon, and Fundraiser
Saturday, 11/6/21, 11:45 AM to 2:30 PM
Reginato Ristorante, 34 Leggs Mill Road, Lake Katrine

For our Fall Branch Meeting, Luncheon, and Fundraiser, we are very excited to welcome guest speaker Suzanne Young-Mercer, who is the Diversity and Cultural Director for AAUW-NYS and is a member of the Rockland County Branch. She will address the question “Are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Still Relevant?”. DEI is a term used to describe programs and policies that encourage representation and participation of diverse groups of people, including people of different genders, races, ethnicities, abilities, disabilities, religions,
cultures, ages, and sexual orientations.

Menu:
– Cash bar
– Soup or salad
– Sorbet
– Entrée choices:
Chicken Francese
Eggplant Rollatini
Sole Almondine
Pork Marsala
– Choice of coffee or tea
– Dessert: Choice of cake or ice cream

Cost: $35 (members)
          $40 (non-members)
Scholarship donations are very welcome!

Registration form:
https://kingston-ny.aauw.net/files/2021/10/AAUW_Kingston_Fall_Luncheon_110621.pdf

Make your check out to AAUW Kingston and send
by Friday, 10/29 (with your entrée selection) to:

Marjorie Bot, 58 Twin Ponds Drive, Kingston, NY 12484

Come catch up with old and new friends!
50/50 drawing and door prizes!

For more info or to join us on Zoom, contact: lynngore54@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 27, 2021, 4 PM ET

AAUW’s 140th Anniversary Webinar Series:
AAUW in Conversation with Dr. Patricia Bell-Scott

To register, go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vssH23W_Q2WSy2h6AdwTSg

Join us for a discussion with AAUW fellowship alumna Patricia Bell-Scott, Ph.D., an award-winning author and professor emerita of women’s studies and human development and family science at the University of Georgia. Her most recent book, The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice, won the Lillian Smith Book Award and was named Booklist Best Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year by the American Library Association. Her previous books include Life Notes: Personal Writings by Contemporary Black Women, which was a featured selection of The Quality Paperback Book Club, and All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women’s Studies, an award-winning textbook that was named to the Black Issues Books Review list of “Books that Made the Century Great.” Dr. Bell-Scott served for a decade as co-founding editor of SAGE: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women. She is a former contributing editor to Ms. Magazine. She is also a co-founder of the National Women’s Studies Association, for which she served as co-convener of the inaugural coordinating council.

Thursday, October 14, 7 PM
A Virtual Evening “High Tea” with AAUW Kingston
Welcome back, old and new friends!

Make a cup of your favorite tea and bring a delicious snack.
Share your choices, including your special china, with the group!

AAUW Kingston needs your help!
We would love to expand our membership.
Invite a friend to join our Zoom (the link will be sent out on 10/13).

This will be a social event with a brief introduction and
breakout rooms, so you can meet up with old and new friends.

All are welcome, please join us!

For more information, contact:
Lynn Gore
lynngore54@gmail.com
845-687-9210

From AAUW National —

AAUW is partnering with more than 150 organizations to host the Rally for Abortion Justice this Saturday, October 2. People will take action in 600+ events nationwide and online to demand an end to the dangerous, escalating attacks on reproductive rights and freedoms in this country. Join us!

We have long known that the day is coming when the Constitutional right to abortion will be challenged. While the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly confirmed this right since the Roe vs. Wade court decision in 1973, it has been systematically under attack for decades. States have enacted medically unnecessary restrictions and barriers making access inconsistent. The only answer now is Congressional action.

Access to critical health care should not depend on where someone lives.

This is where you come in: we need you now. Civic participation takes many forms, especially with an ongoing pandemic. Committing to calling your elected officials and empowering friends and family to join is just as, if not more, powerful than going to a rally or march in person. Please make decisions on where and how to advocate safely and take note of public health precautions required in your area. This weekend, you could:

• Attend in person: Check for a rally or march near you (for example: 11 AM at Kingston Academy Green and Woodstock Village Green)
• Engage virtually: Support the Women’s Health Protection Act and take action on social media
• Build community: Have a conversation with friends and family on the importance of defending reproductive health and freedom for all (read more in Where We Stand: Reproductive Rights)

Every person should have the ability to make their own informed decisions regarding their reproductive life. It is beyond time for abortion to be secured legally, funded fully, and equitably available for all who need it, when they need it, without shame or stigma.
Join us on October 2 and every day to protect reproductive health and freedom!

Saturday, October 2, 2021
9:30 AM to noon

From Suffrage to the ERA: Equity, Resilience, Activism explores the history and current status of the women’s movement.

Pre-register to attend by Zoom here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-suffrage-to-the-era-equity-resilience-activism-tickets-168108636457

An engaging and transformative seminar featuring noted historian Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner and esteemed panelists will examine the past, present, and future of the women’s movement.

This event will also address the current impact of the pandemic on women that created a “she-cession” and focus on the future as women fight for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in order to enshrine equity once and for all in the Constitution. Panelists include Karen King, Erie County Commissioner of Public Advocacy; Ava Thomas, Operations Manager for the Family Justice Center; Shanaz Tejani-Butt, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Sciences in Philadelphia; and Diana Cihak, founder of WomenElect Program and WEPac. Join us for this important conversation as we explore Equity with Resilience and Activism.

Presented by the Western New York Women’s Suffrage Centennial Celebration Committee. Partner organizations include:
AAUW Buffalo Branch, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Daemen College History & Political Science Department, Erie County Commission on the Status of Women, League of Women Voters of Buffalo-Niagara, University at Buffalo Gender Institute, Western New York Women’s Foundation, Women’s Auxiliary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York, WNY Chapter, Zonta Club of Buffalo