I hope everyone’s gone out to see the phenomenal Milk, and I also hope that everyone’s going to have a fabulous time tonight with their friends and loved ones. But if you do get a chance, I recommend that you take a break and see the 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, which sheds further light on the trial of his killer, Dan White, on the work and outreach efforts of San Francisco’s mayor George Moscone (also murdered by White), and provides loads of profound, moving archival footage, some of which Gus Van Sant used in his movie. Happily, the documentary is now up on Hulu:
I walk into the Plaza Jewish Memorial Chapel this afternoon, steeling myself for the premature funeral of one 23-year old Emma Bernstein—an incredibly creative, vibrant spirit I met only twice but whose work affected me deeply. Brilliant, impish, mischievously iconoclastic, Emma had been collaborating with writer Nona Willis-Aronowitz on a blog and book called GIRLdrive, for which I had been interviewed. Emma had taken my picture. On December 20, Emma took her life.
I look around the silent chapel and something feels wrong. I ask the attendant if I’m in the right place. “They all left a while ago,†he says. I’m three hours late.
My heart sinks. Nausea swells. An organized person, how could I have misread the time like that? How could I be so off? Anger. Then, selfish despair. I realize how much I had been counting on this funeral. When my friend Courtney first emailed me the news, I had turned numb. And numb I remained. I needed to witness the sadness in others in order to feel it myself. Mourning is best done in community, and sometimes I think this is why. Catharsis. Collective unloading. Something to help transform robotic shock into something more human. Even for someone I hardly knew.
I collect myself, turn on my heels, and walk back out onto Amsterdam Avenue, where thick snowflakes have begun to fall. It’s New Year’s Eve. Broadway is bussling with people living their lives. But today is the day a 23-year old I knew is being put in the ground. If I can’t mourn Emma properly, communally, I pledge to go home and write something for her instead. So Emma, this is for you.
Dear Emma:
more...
An official “welcome back” to everyone! And merci beaucoup to Virginia for starting us up with that meaty must-read roundup yesterday.
So before I went under for the break, I had asked each of our bloggers to chose her favorite post from 2008. Ordered chronologically, I’m pleased to present….(drumroll)….The First-Ever Best of GWP 2008!
I’ll be sending these out in a new year’s e-blast, but hey, you saw it here first. Happy reading!!
1. Is Faludi’s Terror Dream Coming True? (by Melinda, 12/20/08)
2. Thankful for Blue Sex, Sasha, Malia, and Little House (by Allison, 11/19/08)
3. Larry Summers – More than Just a Line (by Veronica, 11/12/08)
4. Faux Feminist? The Political and the Personal, Again (by Kristen, 11/03/08)
5. Global Exchange: Election Day Special (by Gwen and Tonni, 10/29/08)
6. Listen Up, Sarah Palin (by Jacqueline, 10/06/08)
7. Generation Next: Youth Organizing Beyond the Election (by Courtney, 9/22/08)
8. Opting Out Just Ain’t What It Used to Be (by Virginia, 7/22/08)
9. Getting Active Online – Your Feminist Guide to Wikis (by Elizabeth, 7/01/08)
10. Four Things Editors – Like Me! – Look for in Book Proposals (by Laura, 4/14/08)
Yes, I know, we’ve hit 10 and this, now, is cheating. But really just 2 more:
11. Gottlieb and the Single Girl (by Elline, 3/04/08)
12. Are the Mens Ready for Madame President? (by Deborah, 1/25/08)
Women, Work, and the Downturn For an excellent column on why and how the downturn is likely to affect women, read UNC-Chapel Hill sociologist Philip Cohen’s recent post at HuffPo. He argues, as has Randi Albelda and Linda Hirshman, that Obama’s jobs/stimulus plans thus far are good for men, but not as likely to address the jobs concerns for women. As Cohen asks, will Obama listen?
The Black Middle Class As happened during the Great Depression, so in the (current) Great Recession, African Americans are going to be harder hit by job loss. Zenitha Prince does outstanding reporting on the issues in AFRO News. She reports that the manufacturing sector—read auto industry, where in particular African Americans had found a path to the middle class in the past few decades—is getting hammered. What’s the size of the problem? While the unemployment rate overall is currently at 6.7 percent, for African Americans it is at 11.2 percent. It will get worse.
Not only is unemployment generally twice as high for African Americans than for the population in general, but wealth inequality also makes the black middle class a vulnerable group. While the racial gap in incomes—what we earn at our jobs—has declined over the past thirty years, the gap in wealth—what we own in terms of savings, retirement funds, housing, stocks, and other assets—remains quite large. A 2005 report from the National Urban League reports that African American households have about one-tenth the net worth of white households. This makes family crises like unemployment much harsher.
Later: Read more about the recession’s impact on minority autoworkers in Tuesday’s New York Times.
A list of our top 10 favorite posts here at GWP from 2008! Stay tuned…
And will be posting again regularly starting tomorrow. I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday, whatever holiday that might be!
We’ve been marinating on 2008; what an incredible year! Turbulent, exciting and really most of our wishes seemed to be granted in one fell swoop with the outcome of the US election.
There was China’s Olympic moment of glory, the first female Mayor in Egypt and of course the highs and lows of the U.S. election and then the same sex marriage Proposition in California. For all the leaps forward there is still more to be done for gender equality globally. Next year we want more inclusion! We wanted to share our top 5 wishes en route to inclusion. Enjoy and add your own in comments.
Our Top 5:
more...
My friend Rebekah Spicuglia, of WMC news round up fame, makes her debut at Huffington Post today with a defense of her sister — and sisters everywhere who still get the not-so-rhetorical pinch on the ass at work. Happy Holidays, Chili’s. NOT!
Like much of the world, I’ll be laying low for the rest of the week. So I thought I’d do one of those reflective-type posts before I sign off for a few days. Here goes…!
Looking back at 2008, I think about how much I’ve learned about sustaining a life as a feministy writer. For me, it’s been about weathering ups and downs, and continuing to cultivate that ongoing sense of flexibility around the other things I do (talks, workshops, private coaching, consulting for orgs). And it’s also become, increasingly, about community.
It’s been just a few months since Girl w/ Pen went group, and already I’m thinking, how did this blog ever live without these ladies?! Our bloggers have each selected their favorite post so far to highlight in the next e-blast, which will go out at the beginning of the new year. (If you aren’t “subscribed,” you can do so at top right!)
As I recently told The Happiness Project, I don’t believe in resolutions that aren’t fun to keep. So on that note, I offer the writers among you a few to try on for 2009:
1. Write what moves you
2. Try a new genre
3. Let go of the “shoulds.”
And in this time of economic downturn, for those of us writing for pay it’s also probably helpful to manage expectations, keep it real, and continue to diversify revenue streams. But despair not. As GWP blogger and fulltime book editor Laura Mazer reminds us, crisis in the publishing industry can also mean opportunity. I’m with Laura in sending all the writers among us encouragement and hope. Your perspectives NEED to be heard. Now, perhaps, more than ever…!
So “write on,” as they say. Grab hold of that public voice and get it out there in 2009. And in the meantime, Happy Holidays to the GWP community, of which I feel so honored to be a part.
Ha ha funny!
(Thanks to my Christmas-celebrating friend Jacki for the heads up!)
Addendum: I had previously written “shiksa friend,” and my mother called me to tell me to take the word “shiksa” down; she hates that word. I told her it was intended ironically. And that “non-Hannukah-celebrating” was too clunky! Is shiksa a bad word??
