EqualityQuilt

Women Internationally

Here's the February 6 presentation from the series, "Still Fighting for Our Rights, 30 Years Later," hosted by the Women's Center at St. Cloud State University.  The 48-minute discussion below is entitled "International Affairs:  Perspectives on the Role of Women."  It features Dr. Mumbi Mwangi, assistant professor of women's studies with expertise in education, originally from Kenya;  and Dr. Swithina Mboko, visiting professor of women's studies from the University of Zimbabwe, with expertise in international business management. 

For background on the Beijing Platform and its expectations for the role of women in international affairs, go to the Minnesota Women's Action Plan page on this subject.   As International Women's Day approaches, you may also want to connect with the many Consortium groups working internationally:  Girls International Forum, Give Us Wings (Kenya & Uganda), Hadassah, Mila Vocal Ensemble, Zonta International, Organization for Burmese Refugees Abroad, and Women's Human Rights Program at Advocates for Human Rights.   Many additional groups work on international issues such as ending war, or provide assistance to immigrant and refugee women. 

For info on the International Women's Day conference on March 15 in Minneapolis, hosted by the Advocates for Human Rights, click here.

Feminist Movie Reviews

  Lorraine's reviews of last week's festival (with kibitzing from Bonnie):

Missed the first movie, but the last three were depressing.  Sexism, power, money were rampant throughout the three.  (From BPW:  Real Women Have Curves was very interesting, a bit lighter than the next three but similar themes of women keeping other women in their place - acting out of the pain inflicted on the older women, moms, etc.  I also recommend RWHC because like the next three, it also gave me that precious tiny bit of being able to better imagine what it must be like to be those characters - in this case, Latinas working in a "sweatshop" which to them is a struggling woman-owned business, and coping with body images imposed by others.)

North Country based in Minnesota's Iron Range is a must see for every woman.  If you don't know this

Volunteers, Garden, Big Trucks

Life in the Minnesota Women's Building - it's always something!  Here are some samples - more pics on the continued page.   Karen & Jackie are two more of our dear volunteers, seen here stuffing the newsletter.   Jackie, come back!  Karen, keep it coming!

And here's the bleeding heart emerging in the the first springtime of the garden installed last summer - a therapeutic addition to our lives. But maybe not so soothing, right next to the garden today are big trucks, building a new small office building across the street.  Lorraine and I are laughing and trying to comprehend the slogan on this one. Click on the pic to see it bigger.

Capitol Bulletin Conquers the World

While some of us were partying at C27, others were taking the Capitol Bulletin for an outing.  Board member Nina Rothchild sent this pic from the ancient ruins at Teotihuacan, Mexico.

To share YOUR pics (we hear CB might go to Morocco!), send to info@mnwomen.org. If you don't actually receive this newsletter in hard copy, you are sooo missing out on twice-monthly happenings, action alerts, legislative updates & congratulations from dozens of

Welcome Potential Bloggers!

Dear friends of women, Please feel free to write a few words -- your opinions on the current state of the women's community, state of the Consortium or your favorite organization, how it feels to be YOU at this point in your feminist life. We are looking for diverse points of view. You may send your thoughts via the comments section below, or email me. I suggest a max of only about 200 words for now. I will reserve the right to edit, but you may decide not to let me use the edited version. Let's get the conversation going. You can also just send a short comment on any article by clicking on "comments" below that article.