I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends.
Our November 11th book review on Zoom by member Dr. Maureen Grant was excellent. She reviewed the book, “Black Faces, White Spaces” by Carolyn Finney. The book takes a historical view from the revolutionary war through 2014 and the legacy of a Euro-centric view of open space. Maureen recommended the book for content, but it is not an easy read since it can be academic. Member Janice Harris Jackson mentioned checking out Carolyn Finney’s lecture at the Botanical Gardens on YouTube.
Thinking of books, our Book Sale will be coming up in April. It will be smaller in scale this year since we only plan to collect books on three days. This also means we have a shorter window to sort the books and get them organized. Please reserve the following dates and some time to help out during the listed hours:
Mon Apr 18, 1-6pm, collect and sort
Tues Apr 19, 9-7, collect and sort
Wed Apr 20, 9-7, collect and sort
Thurs Apr 21, 1-6, Straighten after dealers have been through in the morning
We’ll also need cashier volunteers during the sale itself:
Fri April 22 9 – 9
Sat April 23 9 – 6
Sun April 24 10 – 4
Our festive Holly Berry is coming up on December 5th and I hope to see you there. Stay tuned for more SCC programs of interest in the new year.
On the topic of women’s equality, I recently finished reading Melinda French Gates book “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World”. Many chapters are devoted to a single issue. Her work with the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation involved traveling and researching issues and she tells many inspiring stories. She also gives some personal stories and currently has a web site, evoke.org.
At the national level, AAUW welcomed its new CEO, Gloria L. Blackwell. On November 17th, AAUW had a one hour zoom meeting in honor of the 140th anniversary. The distinguished 2021 AAUW Alumnae Recognition Awardee was presented to Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, currently Director General of the World Trade Organization, the first woman and first African to hold that position. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was the recipient many years ago of an AAUW International Fellowship. It was great to see how someone so accomplished got her start. Her focus has been development economics and she was twice Minister of Finance for Nigeria and former Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. It is interesting to note that Melinda French Gates has listed her on her website as one of five women change makers to follow.
Please continue to support the mission of AAUW and SCC of “gender equity and economic security” through “research, education and advocacy.”
Lynne Rogerson, President