Unlikely Voice of US Illegal Immigration Issues: 7-Year Old Daisy Cuevas

7-Year Old Daisy Cuevas, daughter of undocumented immigrants from Peru, becomes an unlikely voice of the illegal immigration issue after asking the First Lady a few questions. See video below.

Can't see the video? Go to The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/01/daisy-cuevas-peruvian-chi_n_596081.html

Big Photographers for Big Change

Check out this awesome art (mostly photography) auction to benefit Obama. Artists include Cathie Opie, Larry Fink (work above), Carter Mull, Andrea Fraser and many more! Bidding starts Oct 1!

for those of you on the list: Artforobama.net

Reinvigorating Political Action - Back in the Game!

It's been a long week in politics. The RNC came in like Hurricane Gustav. We knew it was coming and thought it'd hit harder than it actually did. However, the damage has been done and the nation has been reinvigorated, albeit be it in fear of another four years of Republican rule.

For the first time in years, I have been moved into going beyond caring about election results but acting upon my convictions. As a once die hard politically minded individual who at the age of 13 subscribed to Mother Jones, The Nation, The New Republic (and of course, SASSY) , who has worked with Arianna Huffington, National Lawyers Guild, Rock the Vote and The Feminist Majority to name a few, I had lost interest in the process. It wasn't a question of apathy but more of a feeling that no one is representing me and others like me. After Bush stole the election in 2000, I lost my faith in America. I will admit it. I know many of you feel the same.

The mantra of our generation: Republican or Democrat - who cares, they are all the same! I spoke it loudly too. But I can no longer only be a critic at the DJ'd brunch I am attending with all of my cool, stylish friends who share the same opinion.

I am not a registered Democrat but this current political climate, in it's continuous shift to the right, it's unbalanced Capitalism and embracing of misinformation, the lack of foresight and world affairs, has moved me to action. After Gov. Palin's stylish speech evoking culture war, I made a donation to the Obama campaign. My first political contribution in years.

Here I am watching Sunday morning political commentary shows, something I haven't done in a while. Joe Biden's interview on Meet the Press was impressive, when asked about his apparent in congruent voting record for choice with his Catholic faith and personal perspective on life beginning at conception his response was what all politicians and people should echo. Faith is personal and should not dictate public policy and other people's right to make choices best suited for themselves. The humility in faith is by all means one characteristic we often forget.

I feel the need to reach out and stress that as a community, we can move mountains! We've done so with art, music, film and other forms of culture already. We can create a better place in this world for not just our children but for ourselves, for our parents and grandparents. A place for our neighbors, our brothers and sisters across the globe. We can rise up and say "we are no longer going to let business as usual happen." Obama will bring change but he is more of a metaphor for us as a community, as a network to create movement and action.

What do I mean by action? Voting, talking to people, blogging, calling your representatives. Sending the right wing part of your family information. Reading! Seeing through the guise of speeches, looking to the real issues, educating yourself about how it all effects you. It all makes a difference, consciousness starts with you.

With that, here are a series of eye-opening articles about the RNC, McCain and Sarah Palin:

Palin Won't Talk to the Press
Cindy McCain's RNC Outfit estimated at $300,000+
Steinem on Palin
Working Class Women Don't Buy Into Palin

And of course, The Daily Show on Palin.

Election 2008 - The Gender Show Down

WOW!! With the Democratic National Convention this week and several new announcements, the 2008 election has proven to be a historic one on many fronts, particularly the portrayal of gender.

This week on NPR's Brian Lehrer show, Pulitzer prize winning author Susan Faludi discussed new gender roles and notions of masculinity in this election. Author of the culturally significant book, BACKLASH, Faludi emphasizes the perpetual and inevitable backlash against American women. Her theory, for every stride forward American women take, there is a push backwards by society. She cites many examples of American history such as the several steps made by the Suffragette and 2nd Wave Feminist movements followed by an immediate conservative climate.

Faludi points to a new masculinity present within this Presidential election: the SOLDIER (John McCain aka back off I was a P.O.W.) VS FAMILY MAN (Barack Obama) as well as the difference between Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton's speeches. Michelle having to tone down her speech, emphasizing her mother/wife role (instead of the fact that she has an important powerful career of her own) due to racism and sexism, being careful not to be perceived as the "angry black female." While Hillary, opening her speech by acknowledging her pride as a mother, went straight to the political point. Here you have a First Lady vs. Presidential Candidate femininity. You can see the role of images within the media which help to solidify their public representation. Below: Michelle as "mother and dutiful wife". Hillary as " the ardent politician."


You may listen to Susan Faludi and the concept of gender roles on the Brian Lehrer show here.

Obama's acceptance speech (viewed by more people than the opening ceremony of the Olympics) was laden with female oriented issues and topics. He opens acknowledging the election's gender show down by stating "Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest — a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours — Hillary Rodham Clinton." And brings up sexism "when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman." Listen to Obama's exception speech here.

With the announcement of John McCain's female VP candidate, Sarah Palin (aka Miss Alaska Runner Up 1984 pictured below), who is a proud and inexperienced conservative Alaskan Governor. The pro-life Palin has "taken on the oil industry" - taken them where? To the wilderness to destroy wildlife preserves? Should we blind ourselves to Palin's extremely conservative agenda simply because she is a SHE? Along with trying desperately to make the Republican party look like a party of progress, McCain has thrown Americans a bone in an effort to leverage votes because after all, people voted for Hillary just because she was a woman, right? Surely this plays a large role in the perception of gender roles and the notion of gender equality within the election.

Taking into consideration Faludi's view of one step forward equals many steps back, it's curious to see how this election will effect the lives of American women. I've had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Susan Faludi and she has an incredibly dynamic mind. Read up on her if you get a chance. And please read this damn book!


On the subject of gender, this Saturday from 4-5 pm EST, LLNY's Janna Zinzi will be hosting a show called "Politics for Goddesses Rising: Our Relevance in Election '08," on WBAI 99.5 FM in NYC. Faludi's influence can be heard with topics such as women and gender issues in the election; media portrayal and images of Michelle and Hillary; the importance of local politics; McCain's VP choice and our relevance in this election. Guests include: Valeisha Butterfield from the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network and Hip-Hop Summit Action Network; Rosa Clemente, VP candidate from the Green Party; and Kevin Powell who is running for Congress in Brooklyn's 10th district. You can also listen online if you're outside of the NYC area; at wbai.org.

The Cookie Controversy - Cindy vs Michelle

I'm sure most of you have heard about the First Lady to be cookie recipe showdown for Family Circle magazine and subsequent cookie controversy. It's astonishing that today this is a deemed worthy venture for women in the political realm. Let's face it, they may not be on the ticket but these ladies are sure in the running.

I wonder if it's more appropriate to ask Michelle and Cindy to another kind of showdown? Like a style challenge? How about giving them both a budget of $1000 with each having to come up with the best day to evening outfit? Ok, maybe that's still in the realm of cookie recipes. Perhaps another challenge, one that is more in the realm of reality? Maybe Michelle can provide us with the name of her stylist? And Cindy can provide us with how to stay off of prescription medications? With all sarcasm aside, aren't we ready to view a First Lady as more than a cookie baking stylish being? YES WE ARE.

With that said, I'd like to see these First Ladies in waiting challenged on a level we can acutally relate to. Provide us with a recipe for maximum financial potential in this dire economic time or how to decrease our carbon footprint or even how is we can be successful in our professional lives and find personal fulfillment. Those are the challenges we need to see as they are important and speak to our everyday lives and concerns. The cookies and clothes, leave it up to the experts (your assistants and stylists). We want a new First Lady for a new America.

Misogyny 2008

When the Democratic primaries end, we might finally get a break from this country's orgiastic display of woman-hating.

If you're realistic enough to recognize that the Democratic primaries have been an awakening to contemporary American misogyny and the overwhelming existance of culturally ingrained sexism you'll be able to feel this article - Election 08: Misogyny I Will Not Miss by Marie Cocco. 

I won't leave you with a bad taste in your mouth - the Democratic Primaries have also spawned a reawakening amongst women. Here's the opening paragraph to a very interesting New York Magazine article by Amanda Fortini that ran a few weeks ago.

Not so long ago, it was possıble for women, particularly young women, to share in the popular illusion that we were living in a postfeminist moment. There were encouraging statistics to point to: More women than men are enrolled at universities, where they typically earn higher grades; once they graduate, those who live in big cities might even receive higher salaries—at least in the early years of employment. The Speaker of the House is female, as are eight governors and 16 percent of Congress (never mind that this is 11 percent fewer than Afghanistan’s parliament). Many women believed we had access to the same opportunities and experiences as men—that was the goal of the feminist movement, wasn’t it?—should we choose to take advantage of them (and, increasingly, we just might not). There was, of course, the occasional gender-based slight to contend with, a comment on physical appearance, the casual office badminton played with words like bitch and whore and slut, but to get worked up over these things seemed pointlessly symbolic, humorless, the purview of women’s-studies types. Then Hillary Clinton declared her candidacy, and the sexism in America, long lying dormant, like some feral, tranquilized animal, yawned and revealed itself. Even those of us who didn’t usually concern ourselves with gender-centric matters began to realize that when it comes to women, we are not post-anything.

Keep reading here.