March 8th, Herring for the 8th, Fundraiser!!

Please join The Women of the Alexandria, Arlington, NOVA, and Vienna Chapters of NOW

in support of Charniele Herring 

in her campaign as a candidate from the 8th Congressional District

to become the first African American woman to represent

Virginia in the United States Congress.

Let’s make history together—bring a check to the event or donate online at www.HerringforCongress.com!

She’s progressive. She’s feminist. And she’s ready to represent.

WHEN & WHERE

Saturday, March 8 • 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. 

7221 Beechwood Road, Alexandria, VA 22307

SUGGESTED CONTRIBUTION LEVELS:

Ally $1,000  * Benefactor $500  * Patron $250

Friend $150  * Sponsor $100  * Guest $50

PLEASE RSVP TO
Jere Gibber: 703.768.6987 • jgibber@aol.com

     Federal Campaign Finance Advice: 

• Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and
• name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle.
• Federal law prohibits contributions to the campaign from corporations, labor organizations and national banks; from any person contributing another person’s funds; from foreign nationals who lack permanent resident status; and from federal government contractors.
• Contribution Limits:  Herring for Congress may accept contributions from an individual totaling up to $5,200: $2,600 for the primary election and $2,600 for the general election.

ACT TODAY! GOP Delegates Stuff Choice Restrictions into 2014-16 Budget: STOP THEM!

The toolkit  at our website  (click)  helps you take action against the anti-choice amendments included in the House budget. The bills in House of Delegates are dangerous to women’s lives and the health our families. We hope you’ll use this tool kit TODAY.

On Sunday, February 16^th the House of Delegates unveiled its outline for the 2014-2016 Virginia budget (HB30). The budget contained several provisions to further attack women’s health and rights, including measures to

• defund Planned Parenthood (4-5.04 #3h)
• prevent executive action on newly-enacted clinic regulations (4-5.04 #4h)
• and strip funding for low-income women who seek abortion when the fetus has been diagnosed with an incapacitating mental or physical anomaly (4-5.04 #6h)

 The House must vote on their final budget by Thursday (Feb. 20^th) at midnight. The House budget will then move to the Senate for action. Currently, there are zero anti-choice amendments in the Senate budget.

Our thanks to the ACLU/Reproductive Freedom Project for their fast action and this handy kit! Thank You!

For more information, contact:

Katherine Greenier
Director, Reproductive Freedom Project
ACLU of Virginia
701 E. Franklin St., Ste. 1412
Richmond, VA 23219
■ o 804.523.2147
■ e kgreenier@acluva.org

Advocacy Teams & Tasks Week 5 (Feb 17-21)

Hello wonderful VA NOW advocates and allies,

This is your fifth weekly update to our VA NOW General Assembly action! Thank you to those who got active last week on voting rights, gender equity, and poverty reduction!! To remind you, we have asked all our all star GA volunteers (yes, that’s YOU!) to commit to the following:

~~ Writing at least two emails to committees you are interested in following, one in Jan and one in Feb.

~~ To try to make it out to a committee meeting when legislation is being voted on OR (more realistically) send an email to your selected committees when you are alerted that bills are being voted on.

~~ To attend an advocacy day to gain more experience with the legislative process.

So, what’s up this week??

First, this will be our last week of action alerts! The General Assembly Session is coming to an end, and this is the last real week to make a direct impact. So please, if you have not sent out your Feb committee action email, please do so this week! I will send you all an update with how session turned out at the end of the month in the Richmond NOW Feminist Newsletter–look out for an email from rva.now@gmail.com!

Second, billsheets for this week are linked at vanow.org/represent/vanow-in-action. Every week they are updated, as some of the legislation we are monitoring dies or gets passed by indefinitely in committee. Remember, we are tracking bills related to the following topics–

+ Family Health
+ Community Safety
+ Social and Economic Equity
+ Civil and Human Rights

Third, you will see an updated committee tracking document, which is how you can find out where legislation you are interested in currently is! Since we will only be sending out an email once a week, please be sure you  take a minute, two or three times a week, to check the docket of the committees your bills are in and see if you should send out an email or not. Links to all dockets are in the committee tracking document.

What we recommend taking action on this week: (below the fold)

Celebrating ‘V-Day’ – February 14th, 2014!

“The clitoris is pure in purpose. It is the only organ in the body designed purely for pleasure.”  — Eve Ensler

Dance, celebrate, and rejoice on V-Day (Vagina Day) AKA Valentine’s Day!  Take the day for you and celebrate your vagina, in any way you want.

MY SHORT SKIRT

*** 

My short skirt

is not an invitation

a provocation

an indication

that I want it

or give it

or that I hook.

***

My short skirt

is not begging for it

it does not want you

to rip it off me

or pull it up or down.

***

My short skirt

is not a legal reason

for raping me

although it has been before

it will not hold up

in the new court.

***

My short skirt, believe it or not,

has nothing to do with you.

***

My short skirt

is about discovering

the power of my calves

about cool autumn air travelling

up my inner thighs

about allowing everything I see

or pass or feel to live inside.

***

My short skirt is not proof

that I am stupid

or undecided

or a malleable little girl.

***

My short skirt is my defiance.

I will not let you make me afraid.

My short skirt is not showing off,

this is who I am

before you made me cover it

or tone it down.

Get used to it.

***

My short skirt is happiness.

I can feel myself on the ground.

I am here. I am hot.

My short skirt is a liberation

flag in the women’s army.

I declare these streets, any streets,

my vagina’s country.

***

My short skirt

is turquoise water with swimming colored fish

a summer festival in the starry dark

a bird calling

a train arriving in a foreign town.

My short shirt is a wild spin

a full breath

a tango dip.

My short skirt is

initiation, appreciation, excitation.

But mainly my short skirt

and everything under it

is mine, mine, mine.

“No wonder male religious leaders so often say that humans were born in sin—because we were born to female creatures. Only by obeying the rules of the patriarchy can we be reborn through men. No wonder priests and ministers in skirts sprinkle imitation birth fluid over our heads, give us new names, and promise rebirth into everlasting life.” — Gloria Steinem

“The heart is capable of sacrifice. So is the vagina. The heart is able to forgive and repair. It can change it’s shape to let us in. It can expand to let us out. So can the vagina. It can ache for us and stretch for us, die for us and bleed and bleed us into this difficult, wondrous world. So can the vagina. I was there in the room. I remember.”  — Eve Ensler

*** If you haven’t read Eve’s Ensler’s Vagina Monologues, check it out on Virginia NOW’s Read section.  Also see and follow Virginia NOW’s on Shelfari.

Love Your Body,

Paradise Kendra
Communications VP
Virginia NOW

Advocacy Feb 10 -14

Hello wonderful VA NOW advocates and allies,

This is your forth weekly update to our VA NOW General Assembly action! Thank you to those who got active last week on reproductive justice, domestic violence and stalking, payday loans AND to those who attended our 2014 Women’s Lobby Day! We had a wonderful day of action!! To remind you, we have asked all our all star GA volunteers (yes, that’s YOU!) to commit to the following:

• Writing at least two emails to committees you are interested in following, one in Jan and one in Feb
• To try to make it out to a committee meeting when legislation is being voted on OR (more realistically) send an email to your selected committees when you are alerted that bills are being voted on.
• To attend an advocacy day to gain more experience with the legislative process

So, what’s up this week??

 First, this week is crossover, meaning all bills that have passed the House will be moved to the Senate and assigned to a committee. All bills that have passed the Senate will be moved to the House and assigned to a committee. Crossover is tomorrow; all bills that have not passed the House or the Senate by the end of session on Tuesday will automatically die.

Second, I have attached our VA NOW billsheets for the week. Every week they are updated, as some of the legislation we are monitoring dies or gets passed by indefinitely in committee. Remember, we are tracking bills related to the following topics–

• Family Health
• Community Safety
• Social and Economic Equity
• Civil and Human Rights

Third, you will see an updated committee tracking document, which is how you can find out where legislation you are interested in currently is! Since we will only be sending out an email once a week, please be sure you  take a minute, two or three times a week, to check the docket of the committees your bills are in and see if you should send out an email or not. Links to all dockets are in the committee tracking document. 

What we recommend taking action on this week:

Voting Rights:

 

(Both in House Privileges and Elections)
Support SB 16 Absentee voting; persons age 65 or older on day of an election are entitled to vote absentee ballot.

Support SB 11 Absentee voting and procedures; secure return of voted military-overseas ballots.

 

(Both in Senate Privileges and Elections)

Support HB 670 Absentee ballots; name and signature requirements.

Support HB 838 Absentee ballot; procedures for return of envelope.

 

Gender Equality:

 

(In House Privileges and Elections)

Support SJ 78 United States Constitution; General Assembly to ratify and affirm Equal Rights Amendment

 

Poverty Reduction:

 

(Both in House Counties, Cities, and Towns)

Support SB 10 Water and sewer; discounted fees and charges for certain low-income and disabled customers

Support SB 67 Discounted fees and charges; City of Richmond may develop criteria for certain customers. 

 

The link to all standing committees in the General Assembly: http://lis.virginia.gov/141/com/COM.HTM

 

If you end up misplacing any documents, like our fact sheets or what our strategy is for writing Committee emails, please note you can always check out our VA NOW website to stay updated and informed on the issues. The direct link is here: http://vanow.org/represent/vanow-in-action. You can also view our most current billsheets and committee tracking documents on our VA NOW blog site, here: https://virginianow.wordpress.com/ 

And always remember: if you have any questions, concerns, or would like to talk about any piece of legislation we are monitoring, do not hesitate to contact me directly! Please have a wonderful week and talk with you soon!!

 

Vicki Yeroian, BSW

Statewide  Director of  Lobbying, VA NOW

lobbyingdirector@vanow.org

 

The National Organization for Women (NOW) PAC Endorses Delegate Charniele Herring for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District

VA NOW PAC endorsed Delegate Herring, and now National NOW seconds that motion!

February 4, 2014

The National NOW PAC announces its endorsement of Delegate Charniele Herring of Alexandria for the Democratic nomination in the 8th Congressional District.

NOW congratulates Delegate Herring for her legislative achievements and her leadership in advancing an inclusive society. As a Virginia NOW member, Delegate Herring exemplifies the values we fight for – equality and justice for all. Her historic victory in her first delegate race – in which she was shamefully sidelined while an unnecessary recount went on – demonstrated her determination to overcome racism and sexism. Delegate Herring will be a United States congresswoman we can all be proud of.

NOW – the National Organization for Women  – is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has taken action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.

Virginia NOW PAC – Marjorie Signer, Diana Egozcue, and Lee Perkins.

Contact: Marj Signer, marj.signer@gmail.com

Day of Action, Close the Eye of Big Brother

As you are aware, VA NOW is not at all fond of the present surveillance practices and policies of Bush and Obama presidencies. While we are supportive of many of Obama’s policies, this is one we can’t abide. The Day We Fight Back is one of several organizations working to change this situation. VA NOW, as a progressive and feminist political and cultural organization, deplores these policies for many reasons (see our previous post here, click) but mostly because just knowing that you might be / are being watched chills both our imagination and our courage. Without the exercise of these two faculties (we call them freedom in this country) the future cannot be more affirming of human dignity and possibility than the past has been.

That long term effect is a by-product of surveillance, but it is a by-product that makes all those who enjoy the status quo very, very happy indeed. We are not happy with the status quo.  The following is from The Day We Fight Back, calling for actions online everywhere and in the streets in some cities on Feb. 11, 2014.

Fight back: join or plan an event. This Tuesday, February 11th, thousands of websites are protesting online as part of the The Day We Fight Back against mass surveillance. But they’re also going to be protesting on the streets. Events are planned in cities worldwide, including in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Copenhagen, Stockholm and more. Find an event near you: View our comprehensive list of events to see if there’s one near you. If there is, join up and take part. Or plan one now: If there are no events in your city, now is the time to organize one. Check out ourguide to hosting an event, and plan one locally. Email us back and let us know if you’re planning an event and we’ll list it on the site. And add the banner to your site now: If you have a website and haven’t added the code to your site yet, now is the time. The banner code is live on our website, grab it and add it to your site. We also have a special version of the banner that pushes people to call over email – the single most effective political action most people can make. Find that code here. Together, we can tell governments around the world that mass surveillance is unacceptable. The Day We Fight Back team.

DC Jazz and Black History Month

Contemporary Arts Inc. presents
“In Celebration of Black History Month”
featuring
The Carl Grubbs Ensemble
with special guest John Blake Jr.

The Carl Grubbs Ensemble, with internationally renowned saxophonist, Carl Grubbs, Eric Byrd on piano, Blake Meister on bass, and drummer, John Lampkin, III, along with special guest,John Blake, Jr., Jazz Violinist Extraordinaire, will be performing at the Randallstown Community Ctr., located at 3505 Resource Dr., Randallstown, MD 21133, on Friday, February 28, 2014 from 6-8PM

 Carl Grubbs combines his strong presence on saxophones with the unique sounds of John Blake Jr., jazz violins, for this Tribute to the Jazz Masters. The artists provide a high energy performance of traditional jazz selections as well as their respective original jazz compositions.

The concert is FREE but you must reserve your free tickets online at:www.instantseats.com/events/ContemporaryArts.

The last time the gentlemen performed together, it was standing room only! Don’t wait. Order your tickets now! For more information, please call Barbara Grubbs 410-944-2909,ContemporaryArtsInc@verizon.net, www.contemporaryartsinc.org

You can find DC Jazz and the full schedule of jazz events in the area at: www.dcjazz.com.

February is Black History Month!

2014 National Women’s History Month Theme & Honorees

February is Black History Month

Black History Month recognizes and honors important people and events in the history of African-American history.  In 1926 noted historian, Carter G. Woodson, originated the idea of “Negro History Week”. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans – former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

The tradition of what became Black History Month greatly influenced the expansion of academic scholarship and the corresponding recognition of the rich history of African Americans.

• Shop Black History Featured Items
• Take the African-Americn women’s history quiz
  African-American Women’s History Challenge
• Celebrate Black History Month

February Highlights in US Women’s History, generally

• February 1, 1978 – First postage stamp to honor a black woman, Harriet Tubman, is issued in Washington, DC
• February 4, 1987 – First “National Women in Sports Day” is celebrated by Presidential Proclamation
• February 12, 1869 – The Utah Territorial Legislature passes a bill allowing women to vote
• February 15, 1921 – The Suffrage Monument, depicting Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott, sculpted by Adelaide Johnson, is dedicated at the U.S. Capitol
• February 15, 1953 – Tenley Albright became the first American woman to win the World Figure Skating championship
• February 17, 1870 – Esther Hobart Morris in Wyoming became the first American woman Justice of the Peace
• February 24, 1912 – Henrietta Szold founds Hadassah, the largest Jewish organization in American history, focusing on healthcare and education in the Israel and the U.S.
• February 24, 1967 – Jocelyn Bell Burnell makes the first discovery of a pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star
• February 27, 1922 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote

February Birthday

• February 1, 1878 (1950) – Hattie Wyatt Caraway, first woman elected to the U.S. Senate (1932, D-AR), first woman to preside over the Senate (1943)
• February 1, 1910 (1988) – Ursula Nordstrom, children’s book editor, worked at Harper & Brothers after secretarial course in 1931, became director of the Department of Books for Boys and Girls (1940) where she edited landmark books including Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon, E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and Stuart White, Shel Silverstein’s  The Giving Tree, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, and “I Can Read Books” with Elsie Minarick’s Little Bear
• February 1, 1930 (1986) – Ruth Ross, magazine editor, helped found inaugural issue of “Essence” (1970), which included articles of leading African-American scholars and writers, however the Black Perspective, first to address issue of race in the media, feared advertising losses and removed her so the magazine became “less black”
• February 3, 1821 (1910) – Elizabeth Blackwell, the first fully accredited female doctor in the U.S. (1849), along with her sister Emily, founded the first medical school for women
• February 3, 1874 (1946) – Gertrude Stein, poet, author, art critic, famous for her phrase, “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose”
• February 4, 1865 (1921) – Lila Valentine, Southern suffrage leader, introduced kindergartens and vocational training into public education in Virginia, recognized health needs with the Visiting Nurse Association fighting tuberculosis, supported the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia and the National American Woman Suffrage Association after visiting England and realizing that many health issues required women’s voice, made 100 speeches in Virginia
• February 4, 1913 (2005) – Rosa Parks, “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” her arrest after refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked a boycott of the bus system, which eventually led to the Supreme Court decision to integrate buses
• February 4, 1918 (1995) – Ida Lupino, prolific American woman director and actress, born in England, emigrated to Hollywood in the 1930’s, involved with movies dealing with social issues, bigamy, polio, unwed mothers, and rape more than 40 years before the topics were widely discussed
• February 4, 1921 (2006) – Betty Friedan, author and activist, wrote The Feminine Mystique (1963), cofounded the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966
• February 5, 1905 (1999) – Mirra Komaroysky, Russian born, fled first to Kansas and then to Brooklyn, studied effect of male unemployment in families and conflicts in women’s lives, wrote Women in the Modern World (1953), predating Betty Friedan by 10 years
• February 5, 1914 (1994) – Hazel Smith, Mississippi journalist, first woman to win Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing (1954), although a segregationist, she supported law and justice and wrote that society must follow the law on integration, which led to bankruptcy and extreme poverty, a TV movie, “A Passion for Justice,” (1994) was based on her life
• February 6, 1887 (1985) – Florence Luscomb, architect and reformer, first woman to graduate from MIT (as an architectural graduate) in 1909, gave 222 speeches for woman suffrage in 14 weeks, learned to drive and repair her party’s touring car, sold copies of “The Woman’s Journal,” ardent outdoorswoman, joined ACLU in 1919, helped to derail anti-communism crusade in Massachusetts, NAACP official (1948), ardent opponent of the Vietnam War
• February 7, 1867 (1957) – Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of beloved Little House books
• February 7, 1918 (1997) – Ruth Sager, scientist, graduate of the University of Chicago, worked on corn genetic research in plants, studied cancer research after 1975, became professor of cellular genetics and chief of the Cancer Genetics Division at Harvard Medical School
• February 8, 1911 (1979) – Elizabeth Bishop, poet and writer, graduate of Vassar, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1956, struggled with depression, alcoholism and asthma, wrote on a variety of subjects, probably her most enduring work is Geography III (1976)
• February 9, 1849 (1941) – Laura Clay, anti-slavery proponent from childhood, woman’s rights advocate from 1869, president of Kentucky Woman Suffrage Association (1881) and the Kentucky Equal Rights Association, popular lecturer for suffrage but states’ rights position led her to oppose the 19th amendment in Tennessee in 1920
• February 9, 1944 – Alice Walker, writer, first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for The Color Purple (1983)
• February 10, 1883 (1959) – Edith Clarke, first woman to earn an M. S. in electrical engineering from MIT (1919), first woman professor of electrical engineering (1947), invented the Clarke Calculator, a graphical device for solving power transmission line equations
• February 10, 1901 (1992) – Stella Adler, family fled from Russia in 1892 when Yiddish plays were prohibited, debuted in 1922 in New York, developed 2-year curriculum at Stella Adler Acting Studio in New York and Los Angeles, graduates include Marlin Brando and Robert De Nero
• February 10, 1907 (1992) – Grace Hamilton, first African-American in the Deep South’s state government, elected to the Georgia General Assembly 1966-84, credited with Andrew Young’s victory in Georgia’s Congressional election in 1980
• February 10, 1927 – Leontyne Price, Grammy Award winning opera singer
• February 11, 1925 (1998) – Aki Kurose, interned in 1942, the American Friends Service Committee funded her college work, anti-war projects included treatment for cancer victims of Hiroshima, taught peace education in Seattle schools where she used Martin Luther King’s nonviolent example
• February 12, 1884 (1980) – Alice Roosevelt Longworth, “Princess Alice,” the first political celebrity of the 20th century, when her father Theodore Roosevelt was asked why he could not discipline her, he explained that he do that or rule the country but he couldn’t do both, as adult she espoused isolationist ideas of America First
• February 12, 1926 (1992) – Joan Mitchell, abstract painter, creations included many 6- and 8-foot canvasses with animals, her poetry also included nature and animals subjects
• February 13, 1906 (1990) – Pauline Frederick, journalist, first woman network radio correspondent (1939), first woman to moderate a presidential debate (1976)
• February 14, 1847 (1919) – Anna Howard Shaw, woman suffrage leader, exceptionally fine orator, licensed as Methodist Protestant minister in 1880, graduated as M.D. in 1886, organizer with Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association 1888-92, lectured in every state, beloved president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (1904-15), awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for her work during World War I
• February 14, 1891 (1977) – Katherine Stinson, the fourth licensed woman pilot in the country (1912), first to fly mail from Helena, Montana (1913), first woman to “loop the loop” (1915), first woman to fly in Asia, drawing 25,000 to watch in Tokyo
• February 14, 1904 (1988) – Jessie O’Connor, journalist, Smith College magna cum laude (1925), reported textile strikes in North Carolina and coal strikes in Harland Co., Kentucky, helped those accused of communism, Vietnam anti-war opposition, and anti-Reagan protests
• February 14, 1914 (1976) – Nancy Love, pilot, ferried planes to Canada during World War II as Commander of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) 1940-42, group later absorbed into WASPs
• February 15, 1820 (1906) – Susan B. Anthony, inspirational leader of 19th century women’s right movement, national suffrage strategist, lecturer, activist
• February 15, 1935 – Susan Brownmiller, writer, also known as Susan Warhaftig, writes novels and conducts historical research, including Against Our Will: Men, Woman and Rape (1975) and a memoir, In Our Time
• February 16, 1870 (1927) – Leonora O’Reilly, labor organizer, founding member of the Woman’s Trade Union League, helped found NAACP
• February 16, 1905 (1988) – Louise Larson, first Chinese American and first Asian American reporter in a mainstream daily paper (1926), received many awards, wrote memoir Sweet Bamboo (1989)
• February 17, 1912 (2005) – Andre Norton, writer, Alice Mary Norton used “Andre” thinking that it would be more salable in science fiction and fantasy, also used pseudonyms “Andrew North” and “Allen Weston,” 50 years later she was named “Grand Dame of Science and Fantasy”
• February 17, 1930 – Ruth Rendell, author who under the pseudonym “Barbara Vine” became popular in America for her psychological crime thrillers novels but she is really the English Baroness of Babergh, C. B. E.
• February 18, 1931 – Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, first African-American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1993)
• February 18, 1934 (1992) – Audre Geraldine Lorde, writer, authored a book of poetry or essay almost every year, fought sexism and homophobia, joined the struggle for civil rights and feminism, created Kitchen Table Women of Color Press with others in 1988, wrote A Burst of Light to highlight her response to liver cancer
• February 19, 1902 (1992) – Kay Boyle, writer and political activist, involvement in anti-Vietnam war demonstrations led to jail sentence in Oakland, CA, considered by some a better writer than Djuna Barnes and Anais Nin but has not yet earned similar acclaim
• February 19, 1952 – Amy Tan, novelist, mother-daughter relationships are subject of The Joy Luck Club, now in 35 languages, The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991), and The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001)
• February 20, 1805 (1879) – Angelina Grimké, abolitionist, joined the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1835 and addressed “mixed” audiences in 1837, wrote An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South criticizing slavery in 1836, after which a price was placed on her head should she return to South Carolina
• February 20, 1902 (1995) – Katharine Way, Ph. D. in nuclear theory at the University of North Carolina (1938), developed the Way-Wigner formula for fission produced decay, her concern for the health of retirees led to Durban Seniors for Better Health in the City of Medicine
• February 21, 1855 (1902) – Alice Freeman Palmer, educator, founded the predecessor organization to the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 1881
• February 21, 1903 (1977) – Anais Nin, began her 69 volumes of journals with a letter to her father, found she liked recording her thoughts in stream of consciousness style, some journals were published in 1966, also wrote novels and D.H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study (1932)
• February 21, 1927 (1996) – Erma Bombeck, humorist and columnist, began writing obituaries and columns on gardening, eventually wrote books of humor, supported the Equal Rights Amendment, appeared on “Good Morning America” for 11 years
• February 21, 1936 (1996) – Barbara Jordan, politician, star debater at Texas State University, served in Texas state legislature 1962-72, elected to the House of Representatives 1973-78 where she sponsored expanding the coverage of the Voting Rights Act and voted to impeach Nixon, taught 17 years at University of Texas, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1994)
• February 22, 1876 (1938) – Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Sha), writer; Sioux Indian activist, founded the National Council of American Indians (1926)
• February 22, 1892 (1950) – Edna St. Vincent Millay, first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1923)
• February 22, 1900 (1996) – Meridal LeSueur, passionate poet and writer of short fiction and essays dealing with unfair labor conditions and the land rights of Southwest and Minnesota Native American tribes
• February 23, 1900 (1991) – Elinor Warren, composer, gifted pianist, wrote more than 65 art songs, major works with orchestra are “The Harp Weaver” (1936) and “The Legend of King Arthur” (1970)
• February 23, 1904 (1995) – Helen Nearing, determined to live a more simple life, she and her husband Scott learned better techniques for surviving independently and also for getting maple syrup, traveled on lecture circuit where they publicized their The Good Life practices, which they had refined at their Maine homestead and organic garden
• February 25, 1910 (1992) – Millicent Fenwick, fashion editor, member of the New Jersey General Assembly (1969-73), earned the nickname “Outhouse Millie” for her fight for better working conditions for migrant workers (including portable toilets), won seat in Congress in 1974 and served three terms, turned up in comic strip “Doonesbury” as “Lucy Davenport,” champion of gun control, campaign spending limits, and ERA
• February 26, 1859 (1953) – Louise Bowen, Chicago philanthropist, saved Hull House financially in 1935, funded the Woman’s Club building, demanded removal of health hazards from Pullman Company, obtained minimum wage for women at International Harvester Company and raised $12,000 for families of strikers
• February 26, 1921 (1985) – Wilma Heide, educator and women’s studies pioneer, president of National Organization for Women 1971- 72, spearheaded sex discrimination charges against ATT
• February 27, 1890 (1989) – Mabel Staupers, graduate of Freedman’s Hospital of Nursing (now Howard University) in 1917, led Harlem Committee of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association, organized health education, public lectures, free exams and dental care for school children, fought for full racial integration with the help of Frances Bolton, integrated Army and Navy nurses
• February 27, 1897 (1993) – Marian Anderson, opera singer, first African-American member of the New York Metropolitan Opera (1955)
• February 28, 1898 (1992) – Molly Picon, Yiddish actress, performed around the world beginning with “Baby Margaret” at age 5, entertained troops in Korea and Japan during World War II, renowned for her somersaults and flips well into her seventies, wrote one-woman show, “Hello, Molly” (1979), and an autobiography, Molly (1980)
• February 29, 1916 (1994) – Dinah Shore, singer and actress, performed on WSM in college with Frankie Laine, Dennis Day, Frank Sinatra and others, became a regular on Eddie Cantor’s show in 1940, entertained USO troops during World War II (12,000 at Versailles), won first of 10 Emmy Awards in 1955 for “The Dinah Shore Show,” which ran until 1962

Are you ready for National Women’s History Monh?  Visit our webstore for celebration materials Theme and Celebration Items

Come join the celebration March 27, 2014 at 5:30 pm
The Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C.  Save the Date! LEARN MORE

Advocacy Update for Feb 3–Feb 9

This is your third weekly update to our VA NOW General Assembly action! Thank you to those who got active last week on reproductive justice, domestic violence and stalking, and human trafficking! To remind you, we have asked all of our all star GA volunteers (yes, that’s YOU!) to commit to the following:

• Writing at least two emails to committees you are interested in following, one in Jan and one in Feb
• To try to make it out to a committee meeting when legislation is being voted on OR (more realistically) send an email to your selected committees when you are alerted that bills are being voted on.
• To attend an advocacy day to gain more experience with the legislative process

So, what’s up this week??

This week is VA NOW and the League of Women Voters’ Lobby Day! Please join us this WED, Feb 5th anytime between 7:30-3:30pm! What’s the itinerary and where are we meeting?

RSVP and questions (including about carpooling and parking), contact Marj Signer at legislativevp@vanow.org.

Also, our Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1463049330583693/

Place: General Assembly Building, Ninth & Grace Streets, Richmond

7:30- 8:00  Coffee/ Breakfast  (Sixth Floor Cafeteria)
8:00- 8:30  Women’s Reproductive Health Caucus  (Third Floor East Conference Room)
8:30-9:30  Women’s Round Table – hear from legislators  (Third Floor West Conference Room)
9:30- 10:00  Get briefing on issues from NOW lobby team

10:00- 11:30  Visit legislators (you can make an appointment ahead of time to see your own delegate or senator or join our NOW Team)
11:30  Walk over to the Capitol and line up for entry to House or Senate Gallery

Noon:  Wait to be introduced from the Floor

12:30- 1:00 Walk to Tobacco Company for lunch and networking with other organizations
2:00  Walk to Library of Virginia

2:30-3:30  Attend program on Women of Virginia at the Library

3:30 Drive home or return to General Assembly Building for legislative committee meetings

Second, I have linked our VA NOW bill sheets for the week (click here and here). Every week they are updated, as some of the legislation we are monitoring dies or gets passed by indefinitely in committee. Remember, we are tracking bills related to the following topics–

• Family Health
• Community Safety
• Social and Economic Equity
• Civil and Human Rights

Third, you will see an updated committee tracking document, which is how you can find out where legislation you are interested in currently is! Since we will only be sending out an email/post once a week, please be sure you  take a minute, two or three times a week, to check the docket of the committees your bills are in and see if you should send out an email or not. Links to all dockets are in the committee tracking document.

What we recommend taking action on this week: (below the fold)