http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/26/first-lady-michelle-obama-highlights-breast-cancer-awareness

So, here is a really inspiring piece of footage; check-it-out before the end of this month when we, especially, promote breast cancer awareness.

Rebecca

Good morning.

In 1931, Jane Addams, a community organizer in Chicago since founding Hull House a full 40plus years before, won the Nobel Peace Prize, for work she'd begun almost two decades before.

According to the Nobel Prize Committee, see: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1931/addams-bio.html%22%3Ehttp://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1931/addams-bio.html), here are some reasons why Addams won: "...[in 1913] at a ceremony commemorating the building of the Peace Palace at The Hague and in the next two years, as a lecturer sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation,[Addams] spoke against America's entry in to the First World War. For the next 14 years, she served as the president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom."

According to CNN's report this morning, see: (http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/09/nobel.peace.prize/index.html),quoting the Nobel Prize Committee's press release: Our President's "...diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

Continuing, CNN said: "Obama's recognition comes less than a year after he became the first African-American to win the White House....Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, last year's laureate, said it was clear the Nobel committee wanted to encourage Obama on the issues he has been discussing on the world stage.

"'I see this as an important encouragement,' Ahtisaari said.

"The committee wanted to be 'far more daring' than in recent times and make an impact on global politics,' said Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the International Peace Research Institute.

"And Wangari Muta Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who won the 2004 Peace Prize, said the win for Obama, whose father was Kenyan, would help Africa move forward.

"'I think it is extraordinary,' she said. 'It will be even greater inspiration for the world. He has shown how we can probably come together, work together in a cooperative way.'"

You tell me: What's the matter with this picture? A woman slogs away for 42 years and wins a prize. A man wins the very same prize because it is hoped he will be encouraged to further inspire and "make an impact."

What's truly "daring"? I say it's having the courage of your convictions, sticking with them for a lifetime, and demonstrating results.

Tragically, a full century-plus later since Jane Addams began to demonstrate the courage of her convictions, and to show results, in a very rough Chicago neighborhood, we still live in a world where the scales of justice are uneven.

Think about it: Would any woman have won the Nobel Peace Prize, so that she would be "encouraged" to do the right thing?

It's a laughable notion.

Rebecca

Labels: Barack Obama, Chicago, community organizing, Hull House, Nobel Peace Prize

Good morning,

So here's a classic: Check-out today's USA Today story regarding healthcare reform:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/insurance/2009-10-04-womens-health_N.htm?csp=34

Here's the key portion of the story:

"Some Republicans, such as Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, say basic policies shouldn't be required to include coverage for things that not everyone will use.

"'I don't need maternity care and so requiring that to be in my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive,' Kyl said during a debate about the legislation last week.

"'I think your mom probably did,' Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., shot back.

"Their spat has become a hit on YouTube, with nearly 150,000 hits as of Sunday.

Here are some of the facts about women and health insurance, as reported in the USA Today story, based on information from The National Women's Law Center, one of the best organizations around, of any kind. See:
http://www.nwlc.org/reformmatters/

"According to the National Women's Law Center, a non-partisan legal advocacy group:

"• Forty states and the District of Columbia allow 'gender ratings,' in which insurance companies can charge women more for the same health coverage as men and can charge businesses with mostly female workers higher group rates. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 4.7 million women last year bought individual insurance in states with this pricing practice.

"• In eight states and the District of Columbia, insurance companies can deny coverage to victims of domestic violence.

"• Insurance companies may offer policies that exclude coverage for some pre-existing conditions. If a woman has delivered a baby by cesarean section, for example, companies can deny coverage for future C-sections. In other cases, some insurers will deny maternity coverage if a woman is pregnant when she buys a policy."

At my recent blogpost for Today's Chicago Woman:http://www.tcwmag.com/Blogs/Sive-Siftings.aspx, I begin with the following quote from an amazing woman, Adolphine Fletcher Terry (check-her-out here: http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=716).

"The men have failed...it's time to call out the women."

I'm repeating myself.

Rebecca

P.S. If you have a chance, call Senator Stabenow and Senator Mikuski, and thank them. They are great leaders for all of us.

Labels: National Women's Law Center, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senator John Kyl, Today's Chicago Woman, USA Today

Good morning,

As we await news of the Olympics--for good or bad overall--if Chicago is the site of the 2016 Olympics, the effort will provide a singular context for Chicago's women to shape our city and improve the the lives of the women who live in it.


In my latest post for Today's Chicago Woman, I've written about what it will take to mobilize. Click here: http://www.tcwmag.com/Blogs/Sive-Siftings.aspx


Here is an excerpt from my TCW posting:


"What sorts of women are leading Chicago today, and what can we learn from their experiences?

"In this era of management books and leadership gurus, it almost goes-without-saying that there are different leadership styles; we’re now all well used to that. But leadership style is one thing; one’s persona is something else again.

"I was tipped-over-the-edge--on this topic of leadership--when I read about the midnight-Saturday resignation of one of President Obama’s (male) aides, apparently because his too-left-wing past life had become too much of a PR burden for the White House.

"Then, I tried to picture myself in Van Jones’s shoes, having been a political appointee a couple times, myself. Notwithstanding this experience, I found it very hard to do.

"Why is that, I wondered? Then, it came to me: there are archetypes of female leadership, and, depending which one you are, odds-are, you’ll have some experiences, but not others.

"Indeed, no matter one’s expertise, knowledge, or relationships, one’s persona may be the driver of one’s fate.

So, here we go: I’ve come-up with five archetypes I see, in today’s-Chicago-woman’s leadership world, but some a whole lot more than others."


Rebecca
www.sivesiftingsrebeccasivetalksback.com