Power of the Positive Woman

Hi all,

Hope everyone's final week has been going well, only a few more days left!

I just wanted to share a book that is on my reading list that we read a brief excerpt from in class.

The book's title is Power of the Positive Woman and it was written by Phyllis Schlafly, one of of the most infamous activists of the modern women's movement.

I wrote about her for my final essay and was intrigued by why she chose her ideologies and what she believed in. Although many of her arguments may have been controversial, I found out that she did strive to protect women who felt threatened by the liberation movement. She worked actively as well to help protect the choices of mothers, who truly wanted to be mothers. Perhaps these might be a few of her efforts as an activist that should not be completely disregarded.

She wrote a book called Power of the Positive Woman, where she embraces motherhood. Although her arguments depend on my faulty assumptions and gaping generalizations, I am sure that her book is an interesting read!

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-Woman-Phyllis-Schlafly/dp/0515058408

13 Women Who Should Run for President in 2020

Just wanted to share this article I saw on the New Yorker about thirteen amazing women who should consider running for president in 2020. On the list are several awesome people, including almost all of the female senators and a few female representatives, as well as businesswomen (Sheryl Sandberg) and Republican politicians (Susan Collins and Nikki Haley)!

Definitely worth a read: http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/thirteen-women-who-should-think-about-running-for-president-in-2020?intcid=popular

Hidden Figures movie

I found this movie trailer a couple days ago and it looks like it should be really good. It tells the story of three African American women who worked for NASA when they were sending John Glenn into orbit. It seems like it should be pretty historically accurate too, as at least one of the actual women is helping with the plot line. Check it out, and good luck on finals this week!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8xHq6dfAo

A New Face on the Canadian Dollar Bill

Hello all! I just came across this news that my friend posted on Facebook. Black rights activist Viola Desmond is the 1st Canadian woman on the $10 bill. Fun fact: she was known as "Canada's Rosa Parks" 9 years before the incident in Montgomery, Alabama with Parks herself! Instead of the bus, she occupied a seat in the Roseland Theatre (and very close to my name!) in the "whites-only" section.

Find out more about the story here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-banknote-woman-1.3885844

East Side Sushi

Over Thanksgiving break, I watched a part of this movie with my family that we happened to stumble upon on TV. As I was watching it, I realized how pertinent the themes of the movie fits with our class! It's called East Side Sushi and it's about a Latina woman, Juana, who wants to become a sushi chef while she is working in a Japanese restaurant as an underpaid kitchen assistant. However, the very traditional, male Japanese owner refused to promote her even though she demonstrated her passion and self-taught skill. As a woman of color, Juana faced double discrimination by her gender and racial discrimination from her boss.

I don't want to give away the whole plot, but I would say it's a movie that I highly recommend for you to watch with your friends and family over break! (It has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes!) Click on the link to watch the trailer!

How Politics Killed Universal Child Care In The 1970s

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on how in 1971, the United States came very close to having universal, federally subsidized child care. This piece examines how Congress came to pass the legislation, and why President Nixon vetoed it. It expands on the story that Gail Collins tells in When Everything Changed.

American Revolutionary: The life of Chinese-American civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs

Check out this trailer for a new documentary about Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese-American radical activist who devoted 70 years to the black freedom struggle and other social movements. Her story is extraordinary!