Though this video focuses on African American women and their quest towards ministry there are numerous aspects of this discussion that apply to the women’s movement and issues of women and women of color in the movement. Additionally, the video features students and alumnae of my alma mater, Spelman College.

To view visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9k5DppSaQ.

Also, this video made me think: How do religious women on the left and right fit into the feminist movement or what we are trying to do here in this listserv?

I hope you enjoy,
DNMP

hey Danielle–you are asking important questions… what the hell are we doing here on this listserve? I know what projects I’ve started, but I don’t know what members of this list, or of the group on Facebook, or of the group on Organizing for America want from Feminist Advisory Board for Obama. Yesterday I created a poll on the FAB blog to help me be a better organizer. It’s a teeny tiny questionnaire.

People are busy with their jobs and their kids and the obligations they already have in their lives. Frequently I hear people say that they’d like to help but are already over-obligated. And it’s a horrible economy, so that just adds a layer of stress everywhere, even if you have a job. There’s so much to worry about in one’s own quest to survive and to give one’s children a good life, that it’s hard to muster energy and input for protesting violence against women in Iran or Pakistan or Afghanistan, or to get people to pay attention to my proposal for needia, or for all kinds of other inititatives already out there by name-brand organizations such as Amnesty International, to whom I donated money yesterday because they seem to really focus on violence against women.

So, I feel your frustration… or maybe I just feel my own frustration! I don’t know. I’m not angry, I’m just questioning how I can be effective in this world at this time. Some of my ideas, like needia, are truly creative and original, and I will pursue getting people on board to help me flesh this out and make it happen. Other projects I’ve started feel like pulling teeth because they assume some participation by FAB members.

You have contributed many interesting articles and thoughts. My idea for a webcam roundtable is/was how I imagine bringing all of these voices to visibility, but I am temporarily stalled on that because ooVoo has turned out to be an unreliable platform and it takes a lot of time to test platforms.

Actually, the one project I started which has turned out to be reliable is my podcast, Interview4Obama. Interviews are, for me, a breeze and enjoyable, but editing them can take up to 8 hours per interview. This has me thinking that a better platform for discussion might be to do blogtalkradio so that people can call in and the whole thing can then get podcast (I think).

So… yeah… such is life as an activist, nu? Day after day I wake up thinking that I’m gonna take the day off and clean my house because I can’t find anything or maybe go have "fun" with my husband, and yet I have to admit that I am obsessed person. I sit down to relax and my mind doesn’t stop trying to solve the problems of the world I live in. I make a note or I go to the computer to pound out a blog post because I have to, because I am not capable of distancing myself from the suffering I know exists in this world. In fact, I just put on my to-do list to write about the shock of recognition and the defenses humans use against seeing themselves in people who are suffering…

I am very interested in hearing from members how they want to interact with this list and this group, or how they don’t want do. Again, though I’ve laid out my personal frustrations, I am not pressuring people. Collaborations work when people want to be there, and they fall apart quickly when there is no mutual excitement.

As to the video you sent, I will watch it and comment. The issue of inclusion is a major issue for the women’s movement. I will also cross-post to the list of members on FAB/OFA (57 members, I think) and the membership at Facebook (145), and also to Fem2.0 wiki… and… oy… maybe cleaning the bathroom is a good idea…

yours
Madama

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Cross-posted with permission from the Feminist Advisory Board.

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