Stealth protest. Sexism squared. Back to the future. Maxine Waters persists. O'Reilly as "victim." Israel Good & Bad.
LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN NEWSLETTER #42 APRIL 5, 2017
This weeks gleanings speak for themselves. No comment required from your dutiful curator except to say every link below is worth a click and worth your time.
POLITICS & ACTIVISM
There are endless ways to make your voice heard. For instance, with a stealth message on a label:
Like it or not, ever since the Supreme Court decided Citizens United, money is speech. That's why I'm re-listing "12by12," a website that makes it easy to find groups working on your issues & donate to them.
How to do the most damage to the most people in the shortest period of time. The Nation's Joan Walsh catalogues "The Unvarnished Cruelty of Donald Trump's GOP."
[photo credit, Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
In this counter-intuitive and frankly provocative piece, Frank Rich challenges liberals to hold onto our anger and quit empathizing with racist Hillbillies and other Trump apologists. (Above, a protest march in Denver.)
Today's Trump team meltdown. POTUS ousts Bannon from National Security Council. I hate to be thankful for stuff like this but Bannon's absence may make America a little bit safer.
SEXISM SQUARED
What's wrong with this picture? There's more to this weird back-to-the-future photo than meets the eye, says Jill Filipovic. Released by the White House last week, the shot looks circa 1950 for a reason.
White House photograph from a "closed press" meeting with POTUS, V.P Pence and White House Freedom Caucus last week.
When Chris Hayes asked Rep.Maxine Waters to respond to Bill O'Reilly's insulting comment about her hair, Waters said, "No, I'm not responding to him... I'm a strong black woman and I cannot be intimidated, I cannot be undermined...And I'd like to say to women out there everywhere, don't allow these right-wing talking heads, these dishonorable people to intimidate you or scare you."
The 14-term Congresswoman added, "Be who you are, do what you do, and let us get on with discussing the real issues of this country."
O'Reilly plays the innocent victim of his accusers, yet he and his cable news employer, Fox News, have shelled out $13 million over the years to settle women's complaints about his sexual advances. Bill claims he settles to spare his children pain. (Oh, right.) Recent revelations suggest that he and his former boss, Roger Ailes, operated a mutual protection racket on the network's premises.
FEMINISM
"Women Today," a special section in last Sunday's NYTimes contains solid reporting, a couple of good opinion pieces, a timeline of "turning points since 1992," and interviews with six college students. Yet it also inspires the following ungrateful questions: Can you imagine the Times doing a section on "Men Today?" Have we really come a long way, baby if women still need a special section of the newspaper as if our problems aren't everyone's problems, aren't America's problems. In the bad old days (pre-Second Wave feminism), the Times actually published a "women's section" -- a journalistic ghetto filled with stories on food, home, fashion, and society -- the implication being that the rest of the paper was for, and about, men. Men are still considered the default human beings. In recent years, those supposedly "feminine" subjects have been spun off into special weekly sections that everyone reads. Sadly, and despite its good intentions, last Sunday's special section on women felt like a throwback. Sorry, editors.
Don't be snookered by pseudo-feminists like Ivanka Trump. They usually do more harm than good.
P.S. If Ivanka's father is a feminist, night is day, up is down, wet is dry, and pigs can fly. VIDEOS
Is this your America? It's not mine. Watch this little girl's testimony and tell me it doesn't made you mad and break your heart.
Music for the resistance. Phil Ochs (above) wrote a gorgeous ode to activism during the Vietnam War, but "While I'm Here"speaks truth to us today. Its message: cherish life, resist tyranny, act now.
On the other hand, The Charlie Daniels Band famously asserted, "(What This World Needs Is) A Few More Rednecks." (Back then, "rednecks" didn't trust Gorbachev; will they trust Putin now?) Read lyrics here.
JEWISH LIFE
Bird's eye view of the Feminist Seder. Participants sitting on the floor of the NYC loft of artists Bea Kreloff & Edith Isaac Rose (above, mid-'80s). Esther Broner, (in white ), the poet-playwright who co-founded the seder & led it from its inception in 1976 until her death in 2011, gave the title "Seder Mother" to the women who co-founded it with her; "Seder Sister" to those invited every year no matter what; and "Sweet Friends" to those invited as space in our changing venues permitted. (Photo courtesy Charles Kreloff)
The Sacred Schmatta. At the end of every seder, we stand in a circle and wrap ourselves in a long stream of fabric made of dozens of gauzy scarves tied to each other, which we call "the sacred schmatta." Thus enveloped, we sing, "Hineh Ma Tov u-Ma Nayim." (How good it is for sisters to sit -- or stand --together.)
(Left to Right): "Founding Mother" Phyllis Chesler, (partly obscured); "Seder Sister" Congresswoman Bella Abzug (in hat); her daughter, Eve; "Founding Mother" me (in unflattering stripes), my daughter, Robin; Talmud scholar, Judith Plaskow; my daughter, Abigail; "Seder Sister" Gloria Steinem; and "Sweet Friend" Ruth Messinger, former Manhattan Borough President & former CEO of American Jewish World Service.
The third seder. This excerpt from Abigail Pogrebin's new book, "My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew," describes her childhood experiences at Feminist Seders through the years. Next week, will mark our 42nd annual seder and, happily, I'll be attending with my granddaughters, Maya Klaris, Robin's daughter, and Molly Shapiro, Abigail's daughter.
Consider adding this new ritual item to your seder plate. (above) Here's why.
The Forward's Jay Michaelson surveys new "Haggadot For a Year That's Truly Not Like Any Other Year." If your traditional family Haggadah puts people to sleep before the 4th cup of wine, you might want to invest in one of these creative alternatives.
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
Israeli government approves first new settlement in 20 years. In deference to Trump, PM Netanyahu promised not to expand existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. But the government did okay construction of a brand new settlement in flagrant violation of international law. "More than 600,000 Jews live in 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land the Palestinians claim for a future state." While right wing leaders lavish settlements with economic resources & costly security protection, more than 20% of the population inside the Green Line. (Israel proper) & 76% of Arab residents of East Jerusalem (which Israel controls) live below the poverty line.
Good news for a change. If I sometimes seem hypercritical of Israel, please know that my ire is inspired by devotion to the ideals of its Socialist founders, and disgust with the policies of its current government -- not by hostility to the state as a fact on the ground, or to the Israeli population in general." But, proud as I am of all the great things Israelis contribute to advances in medicine, science, technology, economics, business, and disaster relief (above) some of which are detailed here, I don't believe such achievements should be used to excuse or eclipse the suffering of the millions of Palestinians forced to live under Israeli military rule.
Jew on Jew violence in the U.S. "Pro-Israel" extremists (and their mainstream enablers) are ratcheting up their rage against fellow Jews. ( "Gratuitous hatred," in Hebrew, sinat chinam, is the behavior our sages have blamed for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem & other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people.) American Jews need to know what's going on in our midst: Toxic abuse. Physical assault. Savage misogyny. With"friends" like these, Israel doesn't need outside enemies. How have we come to this? When will the madness stop?
Police helping an injured protester at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington, D.C. 3/26/17 [JTA Photo Service / Andrew Biraj / AFP / Getty Images]
Books for Gaza
Mosab Abu Toha, (left) and his friend Shafi Salem, are trying to start the first English-language library/cultural center in Gaza (with books in Arabic too.). So far, reports Katha Pollitt, the library is in Mosab's apartment but he has started a crowdfunder to raise $15,000 to rent space and buy furniture. We can't rebuild the rubble in Gaza but we can help these young men realize this modest goal.
NEW YORK AREA EVENTS
The Institute for Women's Leadership presents "The New Normal? Women, Media & Politics" with three superlative journalists on the panel: Michel Martin, Rebecca Traister & Farai Chideya. Thurs 4/27, 7-8:30 PM @Rutgers Univ, Voorhees Hall, Rm 105, 71 Hamilton St, New Brunswick, NJ. Free. Register here.