CWLU Herstory Blog

It was a long time coming and I resisted the emotion for as long as humanly possible, but yes now I really do hate Hillary Clinton.

When she and Bill burst on the national scene in 1992, I was willing to entertain the possibility of a new updated Eleanor and Franklin story, only this time "Eleanor" would have more than just "Franklin's" ear. She would have some real policymaking power.

Working people face these issues every day. But all too often, women especially don’t have the resources or support to help meet these challenges.

Working America and the AFL-CIO are conducting a nationwide survey on what it's like to be a working woman. If you’re a working woman, your opinion matters greatly. Please take a moment to complete the Ask a Working Woman survey and share your thoughts and experiences.

The Chicago Feminists Meetup Group is sponsoring a book discussion on Ellen Bravo's Taking on the Big Boys on May 19 at Argo Tea 16 W. Randolph in downtown Chicago. A fee of $1 is charged to cover expenses. An RSVP is requested. You may sign up and RSVP at the Chicago Feminist Meetup site.

For people unfamiliar with Meetups, the idea is to sign up at the Meetup website where you will be able to see who is in the group, get the latest news, contact other Meetup participants, and register for events. It's a form of online organizing that can work suprisingly well.

The Chicago Feminist Meetup Group currently has 113 members and has sponsored 12 meetings so far. Check them out here.

It's no secret that feminists are on both sides of the fence in the Democratic primary.

Despite the media stereotype of a vast leftwing feminist conspiracy made up of goose-stepping fembots, the actual women's equality movement is very diverse. Being the independent-minded people that we are, feminists tend to resist being forced to toe a party line.

However the rivalry between Obama feminists and Clinton feminists has challenged that idea. Some of our earnest sisters-in-struggle are demanding not simply that we vote for their favorite candidate, but that we pass their loyalty test. The penalty is the explusion from the their sisterhood.

Now why does this remind me of junior high? Or even kindergarten for that matter?

The feminist blogosphere has been filled with postings about this split. Some attribute it to race. Some say it's generational. Some even say (perish the thought) that there are very real issues that need to be discussed with passion and intellect, rather than vitrol and group-think.

Whatever happens during this election cycle, something tells me the issues that divide us are not going away anytime soon. Below are some links to articles I think are useful in this debate. Feel free to comment and add your favorites.

• Goodbye to All That (#2) by Robin Morgan
• Lest We Forget: An open letter to my sisters who are brave. by Alice Walker
• Women are Never Front-Runners by Gloria Steinem
• Yo Mamma by Linda Hirshman
• Thinking Outside of the Ballot Box by Aurora Levins Morales
• Obama and race: our country is so confused by Pam Spaulding
• Careful, Obama. Humorless Feminists Are Watching by Debra Dickerson
• The Obama Feminists: Why Young Women Are Supporting Obama by Ariel Garfinkel
• A Vote of Allegiance?: In the Obama-Clinton Battle, Race & Gender Pose Two Great Divides for Black Women by DeNeen L. Brown
• Feminists for Clinton by Ellen Carol DuBois, Christine Stansell and others.
• Hillary Clinton: I really wish she was on our side by Bob Simpson
• Why I'm Endorsing Barack Obama by Kate Michaelman
• No Crystal Ball-- Still, We Wonder by Erica C. Barnett
• Hillary's Scarlett O'Hara Act by Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Ellen Bravo wrote this article which was posted on the AFL-CIO blog. She is former director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women and author of Taking on the Big Boys: Or Why Feminism Is Good for Families, Business and the Nation.

Congratulations, working women! As of today, your salary since January 1, 2007, has finally reached the total earned by your male colleagues in 2007 alone. What’s more, this pay gap is all your fault!

According to the media, the problem is that women just don’t ask. If we learned to speak up in salary negotiations, pay equity would be a hard fact.

An ABC News segment called the negotiation process “something that each of us has the ability to control….No employer has an obligation to whisper in the woman’s ear, ‘Hey, you know, you just lost out on more money because you didn’t speak up.’”

Poet, essayist and activist Adrienne Rich will appear in Northeastern Illinois University's (NEIU) Presidential Lecture Series. Since receiving the Yale Younger Poets Award in 1951 at the age of 21, Adrienne Rich has not stopped writing in her distinct voice, with strength and conviction.This event is free and open to the public

Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, Northeastern Illinois University
5500 N. Saint Louis Ave in Chicago
(Use campus entrance located at 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.) Free parking in Lot F
Thursday, April 24 at 8 p.m

From the Chicago Abortion Fund's First TV Appearance

The Chicago Abortion Fund(CAF) is made up of a diverse group of women who firmly believe that affordable abortions are part and parcel of the fight for reproductive justice. Not content with simply raising money to financially assist women to obtain abortions, CAF has been doing some serious outreach efforts into the communities of Chicagoland.

Now CAF is on cable. To view them on your TV set, you can tune into My Voice, My Choice, as the CAF's leadership group host their own TV talk show/hotline on CAN TV's Channel 21. look for them on the last Wednesday of every month at 8pm.

If you miss them on cable, you can see the broadcasts on YouTube. The main CAF website is at www.chicagoabortionfund.com and they also have a MySpace page where you can friend them and add your supportive comment.

Because the need for their financial assistance far exceeds their available funds, please consider giving them a generous donation.

Located close to the Capitol building in the heart of the federal city is the Sewell-Belmont House and Museum, the headquarters of the National Women's Party and the former home of women's rights leader Alice Paul.

The Sewell Belmont House now offers a free downloadable guide for a special walking tour of Washington DC women's suffrage history. For a copy, visit the Museum's homepage.

If you have never visited the Sewell-Belmont House and Museum, it is open 5 days a week, staffed by friendly and knowledgeable docents. A donation of $5 per person is suggested.

You can walk through the rooms where women's history was made and get a deeper appreciation of First Wave feminism. If you are a student or a researcher, the Museum has an archive of national Women's Party documents, photos, banners, newspapers, cartoons, buttons and more.

If you are unable to actually visit the building, the Museum now has an online digital collection which you can visit here .

We learned of the death of Barbara Seaman last week from Jennifer Baumgartner's remembrance on Feministing and we are updating our original blog entry with an announcement of a memorial service in Barbara's honor. If you are in the NYC area, please attend if you can.

A memorial service for Barbara Seaman will be held on Thursday, March 6 at 5:30 pm at the Riverside Memorial Chapel at 180 West 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan.

Barbara Seaman was one of the leaders of the women's health movement. Way back in the 1960's, she warned us about the dangers of birth control pills in her magazine articles and in her book The Doctor's Case Against the Pill . It was largely due to her efforts that warnings were placed on the pill and people became aware of the dangers of excessive estrogen ingestion.

Join the National Organization for Women Foundation, National Council of Negro Women, and the Institute for Women's Policy Research for the 2008 Summit on Economic Justice for Women, April 11-12 in Atlanta, Georgia. The summit is dedicated to "Bringing Together Research and Advocacy--from Local to Global--to Advance Economic Justice and Empowerment for Women"

Don't miss the reduced early registration fee. Make your plans now to join with grassroots activists, researchers, and academics to address the critical economic issues facing women in the U.S. and abroad.

Goals for this unique conference include expanding the body of knowledge on critical economic issues; increasing our understanding of the global economic challenges women face; building and strengthening alliances in the economic justice movement; developing recommendations and strategies for enhancing women's economic empowerment; and informing policies globally and locally, including helping to shape the 2008 U.S. presidential election debate.

Submit a workshop or research paper. Workshops will blend research and grassroots action, offering participants an opportunity to hear from experts and apply action strategies to address economic inequality. The deadline to submit a proposal is Feb. 15.

If your chapter or organization would like to be a sponsor, exhibitor or advertiser, learn more online or contact us by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone at 202-628-8669, ext. 117.