OnLine With Zoe

NOW asks the membership

As a NOW member I received a survey tonight about endorsing a candidate for US President.  It listed many names with six or seven places to mark if we liked them a lot, a little or not at all.  Fortunately there was a space for a comment.  Here is mine ~

I would have done this in an entirely different way.  I would have listed the issues, asked members to assign importance such as MUST, PREFER, LIGHTLY MATTERS, DOESN'T MATTER.  Then if candidates meet the issues, that matter to the membership, they might achieve endorsement.  Issues first - not people.  Then if an endorsed person changes their position, they no longer qualify and remove themselves.  NOW needs to be issue-defined not person.  Finally, if no one meets the required issue agreements, then NOW has no endorsement.  We should raise above this nonsense of choosing the lesser of the bad offerings - set our bar and hold it firmly.

Why are we picking people on some sliding scale, like a popularity contest?  It is not how I make my interior decisions.  I make a list of requirements; peace, choice, health care, global responsibility, social consciousness and see if ANYONE meets them.  If someone does, I consider if they have a vision worth following.  I require that of myself so why not the organizations I endorse?  PS. I hope they read my comment. 

Truly Unexpected

This weekend candidates running for office in California NOW's Spring election must turn in their paperwork.  I can hardly believe I am running for a state office in CA NOW and the circumstances are just as unexpected.  In January I was asked to facilitate a Cafe Conversation (see Jan 11, A Terrific Weekend) with a group of women and, at the end of the day, they collectively came to a decision to run for officers in California NOW. 

All day I had been a neutral facilitator leading the group through a number of formal processes such as writing a core idea on a blank matchbook cover (thank you Winston Churchill).  Practicing affirmative inquiry ~ asking if they could make NOW the most effective women's organization in the US, what would it look like.  What would it take to attract thousands of new active members?  What would they do to make NOW the leader in feminist activism?  What fundamental changes would they like to see in the internal political landscape?  What would make NOW irresistible?

Certainly, I had no idea how this was all going to go.  I don't think anyone did.  As a facilitator, I require of myself to be open to any and all possibilities.  After hours of positive inquiry, value harvesting and formal conversation, they felt compelled to put together a slate of candidates with a new and very specific platform.

Late in the day, a list of positions was written on a board and one woman formally interviewed everyone in the room.  Instead of people saying what office they wanted, skills were mined and matched to each position.  When the woman on my right was finished being interviewed I fully expected the interviewer to skip over me; after all I was not invited as a member of the group but to moderate.  Throughout the day I had not answered questions ~ only asked them.  Now I was being questioned and, finally, they asked me if I would run with them as Membership VP.  They told me that it was something I have been doing all along ~ asking feminists, named and un-named, to join the National Organization for Women. 

I do wonder if I am too old.  One of my strongest feelings is that NOW, across the nation, cries to be updated and lead by women who are the age-majority, most in need and representative of feminism at work.  I am none of those.  However, I have to believe that my age will unfold into a particular service to this group of professional, capable, activists.  I am so in love with my older sisters and inspired by my younger sisters, my hope is to be a welcome runner between them ~ explaining, representing, introducing, matching Elder & Heir.   

And, oddly, I have a remarkable gift to give~ my love for NOW.  I have fought several battles on NOW's behalf; both internally and externally.  I fell in love with NOW over 30 years ago.  I became a member in the 1970's and a leader in the 1980's.  Today I am President of Pacific Shore OC NOW.  My activism, fasting, marching, speaking, always leads to encouraging new activists to join NOW to advance women's lives.  Bridging generations, working in the second and third waves, dedicated to the American Women's Movement, I hope to be elected Membership VP for California NOW. 

Non-Binding Indeed

I could not resist watching the ping-pong match on C-SPAN today.  Thank goodness there will be two more days of he said, she said, they said.  Who would believe that there are so many "good friends" or "gentle people" in the House of Representatives?  Nancy Pelosi opened the debate and, no, I won't be telling you what she was wearing.

So do we SURGE or not?  Do we fund or not?  Do we support this bill or that?  And somehow we are supposed to choose the winner and then face the reality that none of it is BINDING.  As we watch Representative after Representative fall all over themselves making certain that they say they are supporting the troops; could we just agree on that?  Could we just assume that?  What kind of asshole would not support the troops?  It is just a CYA line that somehow diminishes the possibility of being declared unpatriotic.  (another POV could be ~ with support like that ~ Don't support ME!)

Here is what I want to hear ~ Let us begin by having a national funeral for every person killed in Iraq.  Let us publicly grieve each and every death; man, woman, old, young, military, civilian, Iraqi, American, British, Australian et al.  Let us ask each family what can we do to compensate for their loss.  Let us make a commitment to show up at the airport to meet each wounded person like we do our athletes and olympians.  Would that be truly patriotic?  Would that be true support?

If they are going to have a debate, why not debate what is the best way to remove fear from our hearts and terror from our consciousness?  How about coming up with some ideas about religious freedom and respect for diversity?  We need to BIND ourselves to a better future which begins with understanding that killing is not a method for conflict RESOLUTION.  That's what I want for Valentines Day.

She's B-A-C-K ~ We must be close!

When she shows up - we must be close.   
Here is what Phyllis had to say last week to the legislators in Arkansas.   Of course she is telling the same lies that she told in 1982 when I was fasting (for 37 days).   This one woman has single-handedly stopped women from being included in the US Constitution.   
I wish NOW and all women would finally retire her by giving women equal rights under the law.   The fact it, the ERA has not been this close since June 23, 1982.   It is being presented for passage this Spring in Arkansas, Illinois and then - we only need ONE more state. Obviously since Phyllis showed up - WE ARE CLOSER THAN EVER!   
Please, write legislators in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois and your local leaders.   The US Constitution NEEDS women.   

Disturbing the Peace

Feminism must be on the cutting edge of real social change if it is to survive as a movement in any particular country.         Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light

Most often when I speak publicly, I am billed as an activist.  On those occasions, I open telling every one that I am on a mission to find the activist in the room.  "One of you is a dormant activist and you have been waiting for me to set you on fire, encourage you to begin this exciting life, to embrace this most wonderful vocation."  All they need to step off the curb of social safety is another activist.  In the 37 years I have been meeting with people under twenty, there is always a percolating activist in the room.  Many of them I am still in touch with. 

I AM JUST A LITTLE DISTURBANCE is on a button I sometimes wear.  That is all it takes to activate ~ just a little disturbance.  Picture a wet Golden Retriever running into the Thanksgiving dinner party and shaking off the excess water ~ now that's an activist!  Guests jump from their seats, they dash out of the room and their conversation is forever changed. 

A political activist, a feminist activist, a social activist has a very serious duty before disturbing the peace.  There is a deep responsibility to understand the current circumstances, estimate the effect of disturbing those circumstances and commit to supporting the chaos that will naturally unfurl.  Certainly the chaos will reorganize into a new model but that must be the honored outcome and not abandoned.  A responsible activist works to create a deep understanding, a highly developed conscience and a strong center. 

Funny that many true activists have no idea that they are performing a genuine function in society rather than just being a pain in the ass, as their mom or teachers often called them.  No matter what, they are always out there, always moving society along ~ nudging just a bit, asking for a little more leeway, refusing to move, standing strong.

My Little Book of Activist Ethics

To step in, not step around. 

To empower, not control.

To advance, not break.