Fabulous Women

It's really late, and it's been another great day in Detroit. I have long had an interest in women in media, so the morning plenary session was particularly fun. It was a discussion of women in the media featuring Chenese Lewis, Sherry Stringfield, Jill Soloway and Dr. E. Faye Williams.

Chenese Lewis is a gorgeous model and actor in Los Angeles where she advocates positive portrayals of plus size women in the media. She is the spokesperson for the Love Your Body Project, and is also a writer and serves as Empowerment Editor for PLUS Model Magazine.

Sherry Stringfield is not a doctor, but she certainly knows how to play one on TV. For more than a decade Stringfield played Dr. Susan Lewis on NBC's prime time hit ER. An ardent feminist, she spoke of the need for positive roles for women in television and film, and provided suggestions on how feminists could help influence media. A lifetime member of NOW, Stringfield recently purchased lifetime memberships for her two children saying: "My son is two years old, and he is sooooo going to owe me when he's older and can tell his girlfriend 'yeah, I've been a NOW member for 15 years!'"

Jill Soloway is a talented writer and producer who is determined to change the culture for women in media. For four seasons she was a writer and eventually co-executive producer of HBO's hit series Six Feet Under. She is currently directing her first feature film, Tricycle, and has just finished writing the screenplay for Pledged, a comedy about sorority life. She recently signed on as a writer for ABC's Grey's Anatomy.

Soloway, and the group OBJECT she helped form, recently took on Lionsgate and AfterDark Films for their billboards promoting the film “Captivity” that presented graphic depictions of violence against women. Soloway said the action wasn't about taking away First Amendment free speech rights or censorship, but about public space -- asking "why should I have to see this" as she would drive around Los Angeles with her young son.

Soloway went on to say that all men have to do everyday is simply get up and write, whereas women have children to raise, households to manage, and husbands or partners to care for. She encouraged the potential writers in the room to not be afraid to tell their stories. And to not be afraid of their sexuality.

Dr. E. Faye Williams, the National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, closed out the session with yet another inspirational message challenging NOW activists to support these women in their work and to "never go back." She sited comments made about the Rutgers women as an example of men trying to marginalize the gains women have made over the past few decades. Dr. Williams pledged to continue to challenge the likes of 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg.

It's time to change the law

After listening to Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm today I'm convinced it's time to amend our Constitution. Her speech this morning was electrifying. Granholm was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is therefore not eligible to run for president. Forget Arnold ... the Constitution should be amended for Granholm!

In 2003 Granholm was elected Michigan's first female governor and won re-election in 2006 over right-wing "Amway" heir Dick DeVos. Her focus on families has meant expanded health care coverage for 300,000 uninsured Michiganians. Her Michigan First Health Care Plan will be the first in the state's history to extend universal access to affordable health care to every Michigan family.

And despite tough fiscal times for Michigan, Granholm has increased spending levels for Michigan's public schools to record levels. She has also championed universal access to higher education.

Detroit: Activist City

The motor city area, Motown to some, is host to two major conferences this week -- the NAACP and NOW.

The NAACP is wrapping up a week of meetings, which included a keynote address by NAACP National Board of Directors Chairman Julian Bond.

... this is the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock School integration crisis. We honored the courage of the Little Rock Nine and their parents by holding our May Board meeting in Little Rock, along with our Daisy Bates Education Summit. In a cruel irony, the United States Supreme Court observed the 50th anniversary of Little Rock by gutting Brown v. Board, the historic case which gave birth to Little Rock and was supposed to end school segregation.

Until about 25 years ago, remarkable progress toward that goal was made under Brown. “From 1954 to 1982, [Supreme Court] Justices of all persuasions – from William Brennan to Lewis Powell to William Rehnquist – agreed that race-conscious integration policies stand in harmony, not tension, with Brown.”

Indeed, for most of us, the notion that race ought not be considered in remedying racial discrimination is ludicrous. Now the ludicrous has become law.

The Bush Court, on the same day the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list, removed black children from the law’s protection. In two cases from Louisville and Seattle, the Court held by a 5 – 4 vote that those school systems could not voluntarily use race in assigning students to schools.

This is the most radical in a line of cases beginning in the 1980s that questioned race-conscious policies. Only Justice Kennedy stood between this ruling and total disaster. Four members of the Court – the right-wing brothers Scalia and Thomas and Bush appointees Alito and Roberts - would have prohibited any use of race in remedying school segregation.

The truth is, there are no non-racial remedies for racial discrimination. In order to get beyond race, you have to go to race. To suggest racial neutrality as a remedy for racial discrimination is sophistry of the highest order.

At a time when school segregation is increasing, a plurality of the Court would condemn minority children to secondary status before they’ve even started secondary school.

I would encourage you to read the complete text of his remarks.

The NOW annual conference promises to be just as exciting, as activists address concerns over the sharp right turn of the Court and the upcoming presidential election.

Stay tuned!