Statewide Elections + A Letter From Our President

Virginia NOW Statewide Elections
Saturday, April 7th
Fox Point Clubhouse
6120 Blackstone Blvd.
Fredericksburg, VA 22407

Agenda

9-10 am: Registration; Coffee and donuts; time to relax

10-12 pm: Introductions of Speakers:

Eleanor Smeal and Alice Cohan, Feminist Majority and past president and vice-president of NOW

12-1 pm: Lunch

1-3 pm: Continuation of talks with the addition of Mary Ann Beall, Illinois faster for the ERA and fence climber at the White House

3-4 pm: Introduction of those running for office, speeches and election of new officers

A Letter from Our President…

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to say good-bye to all the VA NOW members, and to thank you for your time and work for VA NOW. I hope you will continue to be a NOW member in the future no matter where life takes you. We are the oldest women’s rights organization in the United States so let’s keep it going. If you would like to run for an office, you can come to the conference and submit your name. It is never too late. There are also appointed jobs to be filled. Take a chance. Below, I have listed a few of VA NOW’s accomplishments during my years as president. Unfortunately, I can not list all the good work that the chapters have accomplished across Virginia.

Diana Egozcue’s Presidential Accomplishments:

1 Hired a NOW member as a paid webmistress to assist and teach Paradise and Simone to create a new website and logo; Lisa Keyser is on contract to work as we need her.

2 Convened a meeting in Richmond with chapter leaders, officers, members and college women to talk about planning a future; a paid facilitator was hired from the VCU campus to direct the meeting.

3 Helped all chapters get their IRS accreditation back as well as VA NOW; it took me 4 years and a mountain of paperwork.

4 Found a new lawyer to get back our business license and solicitation license.

5 Started and restarted chapters around the state plus visiting them during the years.

6 Joined and worked with coalitions such as Virginia 2021, Transparency coalition, and Women’s Equality Coalition.

7 Hired a friend at minimal expense to us to create a VA NOW database to handle the membership lists and make them work for us as we wanted.

8 Hired a member who is a tax professional each year to file our taxes so we would not run afoul of the IRS again.

9 Put on a young feminist conference in Richmond which drew college and high school activists to discuss the issues important to them.

10 Preserved the rainy day investment account which is not to be touched, and worked only with what was available in the bank account. A money market fund had already been dissolved and used on PAC donations before I became president.

11 Created the VA NOW Foremother’s Project which has archived many feminists at the Smithsonian and VCU, and runs on YouTube. This is an ongoing project through our Communications VP, Paradise, and her helper.

Again, thank you for all you do have done, and will do in the future,

―Diana Egozcue, Virginia NOW President

Please join us in bidding farewell to our incredible president and welcoming our new candidates. We look forward to seeing you there!

Together we make change happen.

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Giving to Virginia NOW supports our mission for women’s economic, legal, social, and personal equality in all areas of life.

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“Who can turn the world on with her smile?”

The Mary Tyler Moore Show was the first show in which a never-married, independent career woman was the main character.  
The Mary Tyler Moore Show received high praise from critics as the women’s movement thrived in American society. The series remains one of the longest running shows in television history (7 seasons) with three spin-off shows and a revival movie in 2000.
We say goodbye to Mary today but we will never forget that she made us believe we could make it after all.

~o~

Paradise
Virginia NOW
Communications Director
communicationsvp@vanow.org

“Make Love, Not Babies” ♦️ Roe v. Wade Anniversary

Today is the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade! As I read through the tweets of people discussing the reasons they are grateful, I’m surprised by the lack of acknowledgement of what choice did for love and relationships.

We’re so used to having reproductive rights that we forget the most revolutionary part of choice.

Making love now involves you and your lover. You don’t have to live in a marriage where you fear becoming pregnant every…single…time you’re together.

We don’t have to live in a world where sex is only for the purpose of making babies and once we’re finished having children, we sleep in a different bedroom from our spouse for the remainder of our lives.

Life before the 1960s and 70s meant there was no birth control. There was no choice.

Now, making love can be about love. About desire. About connection. With the power of choice, sex is not solely for the purpose of procreating.

When I watch movies that were filmed before 1973, I see the layers of fear involving love making even between people truly in love. I realize the lack of intimacy freedom that existed. A freedom that today, we take for granted.

Period movies and historical shows filmed today have everyone rolling around with everyone and it’s completely unrealistic — but then again, we live in a world today with so much freedom, we assume it always existed on some level. We can’t really fathom any longer how different romantic relationships were before choice.

Unfortunately most of the defenses for choice today revolve around catastrophic pregnancy situations, not freedom and autonomy.

I am grateful for the freedom to exist without fear, to want any children I might have because they were not forced upon me, and to know above all else that I too, was wanted. I wasn’t a consequence, I was a gift. 🎈

Happy 44th Anniversary Roe vs. Wade!

Paradise
Virginia NOW
communicationsvp@vanow.org
Communications Director ♦️ Webmistress

Charlottesville NOW’s Winter Potluck!

It’s time for a Winter Potluck Dinner

 

Wednesday, December 14

6:30 p.m.

 At the home of Kobby Hoffman

 

Bring a dish and gift for The Shelter 

(Wish List below)

 

R.S.V.P. to cnowcville@yahoo.com

 

Charlottesville National Organization for Women and Blue Ridge Abortion Assistance Fund

 

Shelter Wish List

Non-perishable food items, paper towels, toilet paper, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, air freshener, plastic baggies, kitchen sponges, trash bags, tissues, laundry pods–high efficiency, green cleaning supplies, dish soap, dishwasher liquid/pods

White sheet sets–full, mattress pads–full & twin, comforters–full & twin, washcloths, towels

Feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, deodorant, women’s razors, women’s shaving cream, hairbrushes/combs, hand soap, hand sanitizer, hair dryers, lotion, ethnic hair products

Pajamas, lounge wear, women’s underwear

Baby wipes, baby monitors, tear-free shampoo

Grocery store gift cards, bus passes (all day), telephone calling cards, alarm clocks, umbrellas, flashlights, batteries, journals

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Happy Holidays To All and To All Equal Rights ⛄️🎄

The Virginia NOW Staff 

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2015 Silent Sentinel Award Dinner — September 17, 2015

The Honorable Margaret Milner Richardson received the 2015 Silent Sentinel Award on  September 17, 2015, at the The Woodlands at Algonkian in Sterling, Virginia. The annual Silent Sentinel Award honors a person who has been instrumental in advocating for women’s rights in the United States. It highlights and honors outstanding individuals who share common traits with those who stood […]

https://suffragistmemorial.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/2015-silent-sentinel-award-dinner-september-17-2015/

Virginia NOW’s Elections — Coming Up Soon!

Elections are near and we’re very excited! The official date is still tentative, but please mark your calendars for August, bookmarking the Virginia NOW’s Statewide Bi-annual Elections!   

Don’t forget to also check out our available staff positions! We have local and statewide openings, as well as executive and appointed openings! We welcome you to be a part of the team!

You Could Be Our Newly Elected

President, Vice President, VP of Communications, VP of Legislation, VP of Membership

Or Appointed Our New

Lobbying Director, PAC President, PAC Treasurer, ERA Coordinator, Programs Coordinator, Party Representative

Bolded positions emphasize our most desired positions.

Position descriptions here.

To submit yourself for candidacy, click here.

Note for Elections: You must be a member to run for all Virginia NOW positions and also a member to vote, so be sure to have your NOW Membership ID on hand. Options will be provided to vote online and via telephone to up-to-date Virginia NOW members.

If you don’t know your Membership ID and can’t locate your ID card, you can phone National NOW at 202-628-8669, extension x 112 for assistance. 

See you at the elections! 

Happy Independence Day!

Paradise Kendra

Communications VP/Webmistress

Virginia NOW (*)(*)(*)

WHAT A DAY!!!

WHAT A DAY!! Over the weekend, Prince William County NOW celebrated their first anniversary with over 60 women and men in attendance! They collectively came together for the good of the cause, which is to support women and encourage them to lead! We are so proud of such an amazing, humbling and powerful day!

A big round of applause to PWC NOW’s President, Hala Ayala, whose incredible trailblazing continues to light the way!  Also a very special thank you to PWC NOW’s board members who made this remarkable event happen: Sadie Barrera Mike Beaty Nancy Waltz Michael Bizik and Ginger Maddamma Jabs, who graciously hosted the event in the courtesy of her beautiful home!! You all rocked it!!!

Jeremy McPike, Debbie O’Day, Amy Laufer, Noah Kim, Rima Vesilind and Steven Hall at Celebration of our 1st Year-Women’s Leadership Luncheon. (Photo by Mike Beaty)

Hala Ayala at Celebration of our 1st Year-Women’s Leadership Luncheon. (Photo by Mike Beaty)

Kandy Hillard ROCKS IT! (Photo by Cydny A. Neville)

Amy Laufer, Jeremy McPike, Debbie O’Day, Noah Kim and Elizabeth Amy Miller at Celebration of our 1st Year-Women’s Leadership Luncheon. (Photo by Mike Beaty)

Hala Ayala and Amy Laufer (Photo by Cydny A. Neville)

Photo by Cydny A. Neville

 

Click HERE for more photos of the celebration!

 

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Vive la feminine!

Paradise Kendra
Communications VP
Virginia NOW

Happy GoTopless Day!

   What is GoTopless.org?

A U.S.-based organization who claim that women have the same constitutional right that men have to go bare-chested in public.   “As long as men are allowed to be topless in public, women should have the same constitutional right. Or else, men should have to wear something to hide their chests.”

 

There is an annual National Go-Topless Day held intentionally on August 26th, or on the Sunday closest to Women’s Equality Day.   In our society, men and women are supposed to have equal rights.  But women are commonly arrested, fined and humiliated for daring to go topless in public, a freedom men have had for decades.  It is patriarchy that makes women’s bodies taboo and makes women’s bodies need to be covered and controlled.  In the US, if we want to be in a culture that is better for women, we need to get over the exposure of women’s body being only sexual instead of allowing her to exist freely.  You cannot counter the “sexualized woman” by simply covering her up.

 

Women are taught from an early age that our bodies and our breasts are more taboo than a man’s – that a man mowing the lawn bare-chested in the extreme summer heat is acceptable.  A woman performing the same action would be borderline scandalous.

 

To protest this unconstitutional discrimination, GoTopless.org holds National Go-Topless Day events in cities nationwide. Thousands of women will be baring their chests that day in the name of equal rights, and we hope you’ll be there too!

 

On August 26, 1920, following a 72-year struggle, the U.S. Constitution was amended to grant women the right to vote. And in 1970, as an ongoing reminder of women’s equality, Congress declared August 26 Women’s Equality Day. But even in the 21st century, women need to stand up and demand that equality in fact – not just in words.

 

This Women’s Equality Day, celebrate and love your body!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love & Revolution!

Paradise Kendra
Communications VP
Virginia NOW
(*) (*) (*) (*) (*)

 

Virginia NOW Foremothers Oral History Update

So I am way hard at work learning to use Corel VideoStudio X7 in order to produce the oral history videos. This is taking a little while, since it’s the first time I’ve learned to render video in this way (at all), and want to get it right. The goal is for Paradise Kendra and Simone to create 5-10 installments of each interview, edit them with necessary captions/quotes/links, post them on our YouTube channel (to be announced). Each interview will be presented in its entirety, just cut for watchability, edited for sound quality, and annotated so that viewers can navigate the videos quickly.

Collected so far:  a 4 hour interview with members of the Congressional Union and several other activists (Marianne Fowler, Pat Harley, Mary Ann Beall, Mary Peterson Hartzler, Lee Perkins, Ray Bridge, Georgia Fuller, and Emily McCoy (who now helps run the Turning Point Suffragists Memorial efforts), recorded just after the memorial for Jean Crawford in March 2014); a 3 hour interview with Bobbie Frances (who runs EqualRightsAmendment.org and has been the Chair of the ERA Task-force for NCWO), and a 3 hour interview with Barbara Irvine at the  (where Irvine is a founding board member) — drove up to the picturesque climes of northern New Jersey for those two; and a 2 hour interview with Bonnie Becker who was at the heart of implementing Title IX in Virginia. As soon as the first clips are ready for viewing, we will make lots and lots of noise. Stick with us!

OTHER ARCHIVAL MADNESS!

Paradise is working to build a photo archive of more recent VA NOW history and events, of which there are a considerable number of excellent photos to upload, catalogue, and tag into a database. She is also doing the video conversions, fixing format issues, and and generally working to make these clips “viewable”.  Simone, meanwhile, has been gifted with lots of photographs of memorabilia from the participants, and with lots of digital documents ranging from copies of The Washington Equality Times to a few letters and other papers Jean Crawford’s family chose to share with the archive. There is a lot of work to be done, new skills to be learned, about 30 more people to interview (if they all agree!), and only two people doing it on a volunteer basis.

Those two people are also having a blast with this work, and look forward to bringing Virginia an archive of its feminist history that will be broad and deep, multi-media and historically relevant, and very personal. Hang in there! We’re bringing this huge project along as fast as we can!

 

By the by, it’s not the Virginia NOW Foremothers because we’re only interviewing VA NOW members, but because VA NOW is funding and developing the project. Our Foremothers so far have been members of NOW, but also of the Congressional Union, of the Democratic Party of Virginia, and several other historical and extant organizations. We hope of offer an archive of history, sure, more importantly a record of who these women and men were, and who they were together.

Carry on, people!

Dr. Simone Roberts
Web Editor/Historian
Virginia NOW

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

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My short skirt

is not an invitation

a provocation

an indication

that I want it

or give it

or that I hook.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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