Baughman, Bhutto, and Me
Thank you, Duane Baughman for changing my life. Sounds hyperbolic, but I mean it. Our short interaction was inspiring and I’ll carry that forward with me here. Your documentary film, “Bhutto” has given me an urgency and fearlessness that fuels my drive onward. I’ve always been politically active. I’ve always been an engaged voter. I’ve always worked on campaigns. But, up until that moment, I was content to be part of the chorus; never raising my voice singularly on an issue. Up until that moment, I was a behind-the-scenes person. I never wanted to be the person to step out on the ledge and take the risk. Read More
TWO STEPS FORWARD NO STEPS BACK!
As I reflect on this past Black History Month and get ready to celebrate Women's History Month, I am so proud to be part of the Emerge California 2012 Class. We are 24 women already doing amazing things in our communities and 45.8% of us are African-American, the highest in Emerge California's 10 year history! Read More
The Politics of Pushing up People (Rather than Eating Our Own) by Stephanie Coxe
I sat down to lunch recently with another woman involved in local politics. Not too long ago we’d been adversaries in a hard fought primary campaign and the experience strained our relationship. Truth be told, I repeated some less than flattering words that had been spoken about her. Caught up in the stressful and zealous whirlwind of the campaign, my ideals of the Democratic sisterhood flew out the window when the heat was on and, frankly, I was ashamed of my behavior. Read More
Local Women Matter
I live in Berkeley, and many people here are movers and shakers on a national – or even global – scale. Within a 15-block radius of my house live Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, founders of MoveOn.Org; Laura D’Andrea Tyson, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Clinton Administration; Robert Reich, Clinton’s Labor Secretary; Michael Pollan, acclaimed author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma (and much more); Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse, the Edible Schoolyard and champion of School Lunch reform; Alice Walker – The Color Purple (etc. etc.); Michael Lewis – Moneyball (etc. Read More
Don't Let Anyone Stand in Your Way
In 1968 our country was adjusting to losing a great man, leader and the voice that was Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To many his passing had symbolized the end of the civil rights movement. What more could blacks want? We had successfully fought and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which opened once closed and forbidden doors for people of color to have equal access to public accommodations. We were given our right to vote with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and 10 years prior Brown v. Board of Education desegregated our schools. So what else could we possible need? Read More
Unity: What Political Candidacy Means to Me
I have been coming to this place of political candidacy for a very long time. I grew up in a family where public service, political participation and contribution to the political process were paramount and almost mandatory. I grew up in Latin America/Caribbean where participation in the political process could for a segment of our society be the difference between life and death, between eating and starvation. We believed in the process. We believed in participating in order to effect change and make a difference in the lives of ourselves, our families and our communities. Read More
I Carried a Box
It seems like such a strange statement to use to describe a defining moment in your life, and yet for me, that's exactly what it is. My initial reaction to the honor of carrying a box of recall petitions into the Government Accountability Board on January 17th was pure excitement. I couldn't wait to turn in the signatures we had all worked so hard to collect. That feeling of exhilaration continued throughout that evening as we celebrated the victory of over 1 million signatures collected. We laughed as we hugged and congratulated each other on a job well done. Read More
Brimming with Excitement
For so many reasons, 2012 looks to be a year filled with excitement, possibilities, and great potential for myself and for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Having just completed my Emerge Massachusetts new member orientation, I am looking forward to our classes, to getting to know my classmates better, and to using what I learn to hopefully better my community. During our orientation, we each learned so much about each other already and I am honored to have been selected to learn and work alongside such inspiring women. Read More
The Women are Here
As 2011 drew to a close, newspapers, magazines, and blogs scrambled to compile the traditional "year-end" lists, ranking the events and milestones of the previous year. Reading some of these lists and thinking over how I would remember 2011, I looked back on major world events that had transpired as well as my own professional and personal milestones. Read More
Taking It Into Our Own Hands
America saw its first female vice presidential nominee the year I was born. I knew Geraldine Ferraro as the name on a campaign button in my dad's collection of political memorabilia. She was, to me, a relic of the past. Now, I know how truly recent this transformation of our democracy has been. Only in the past four decades have a substantial number of women started to run and be elected to public office in the United States. Read More