Global Heroes Honored in L.A.
An Afghan rapper. The founder of the first primary school for girls in a Kenyan village. A trailblazing member of Congress who fights to create an AIDS-free generation. An advocate for women’s and children’s rights and empowerment. Tonite in Los Angeles, the Feminist Majority Foundation (publisher of Ms.) will award these four women with its...
Kim Gandy: New President and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence
This week Kim Gandy left her position as Vice President and General Counsel of the Feminist Majority Foundation to take the helm as President and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Gandy began her illustrious feminist career as an attorney defending victims of domestic violence and led a successful effort to modernize...
In Mississippi, and in Every State, We ARE a Pro-Choice, Pro-Birth Control Nation
By duVergne Gaines I just returned from the front lines in Mississippi, where students on campuses across the state united and mobilized to defeat the so-called “personhood” amendment. In the beginning, many political pundits made it sound as though Initiative 26 was a fait accompli. From the day I landed in Jackson to stay...
A Loss for Dolores Huerta, And the World
By Eleanor Smeal I was distraught to learn last night of the unexpected death of Richard Estrada Chavez, the life partner of my dear friend Dolores Huerta, who serves on the Feminist Majority Foundation board of directors. Richard was the younger brother of Cesar Chavez, who cofounded the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Dolores. Richard...
Orlando Update: Clinics Remain Open in Face of Anti-Abortion “Siege”
By Christie Thompson The weeklong Operation Rescue/Operation Save America (OR/OSA) “siege” of Orlando has just two days left, and area women’s health care providers have successfully remained open and operating throughout. The anti-abortion extremist group targeted seven different clinics over the course of the week, surrounding offices and harassing both staff and patients. Organizers from...
100,000 Have Told the FBI That Rape Is Rape. Have You?
By Annie Shields Nearly 100,000 people have signed onto the Ms. and Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) campaign to change the FBI’s definition of “forcible” rape. After a Ms. investigative report found that the FBI’s fundamentally flawed definition excludes hundreds of thousands of rapes from the yearly Uniform Crime Report, Ms. and FMF started a Change.org...
Midwives: Women Saving Women
Today, May 5, 2011 is International Day of the Midwife, which was spearheaded by the International Confederation of Midwives in 1992. It’s been said over and over, but it bears repeating. ONE WOMAN DIES EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY DUE TO COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH. That’s approximately 529,000 women each year, with another 10 MILLION more...
Kim Gandy, Former NOW President, Joins Feminist Majority Leadership
Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation and the Feminist Majority, announced today that Kim Gandy has become Vice President and General Counsel of both organizations. Gandy brings to her new positions a wealth of experience in leadership, organizing, public policy advocacy, litigation, media relations, and coalition building at the national, state, and local...
Election Results 2009—Wake Up Call for Social Progressives and Feminists
In both the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, social issues took a back seat to economic issues. This is understandable considering dismal unemployment figures, the housing crisis, fear of layoffs, and dwindling retirement investments. Bad economic times trump social issues.
