Posts Tagged Thank You Thursdays

By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays Friday: Ellen and Nona

Speaking of our mother’s legacies, thank you to Nona Willis Aronowitz for creating an online archive of her amazing mother’s work. Ellen Willis, for those who don’t know (and you should!), was a radical feminist, cultural critic, activist and thinker, who believed that “the purpose of community is to foster individual happiness and self-development; that the meaning of life lies in our capacity to experience and enjoy it fully; that freedom and eros are fundamentally intertwined; and that a genuine sense of responsibility to other human beings flows from the desire for connection, not subordination to family, Caesar, or God.” Word. Word. Word. And, word.
Michelle Goldberg recently had a beautiful reflection on Willis’ work over at ...
Speaking of our mother’s legacies, thank you to Nona Willis Aronowitz for creating an online archive of her amazing mother’s work. Ellen Willis, for those who don’t know (and you should!), was a radical feminist, ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Elizabeth Warren, the contrarian economist

She’s got the unsexist job on the planet, in many ways, but damn if she isn’t trying to make the best of it and save the American economy in the process. Check out this excerpt from her interview with Guernica:

I think partly that I always had my neck bowed, I was always going to do something else. When we were able to pick an elective in junior high school and all the girls picked drama, I, of course, had to pick debate. I said I was going to take physics, you know, just because. So, there was a little bit of the “just because,” and it was a moment when Gloria Steinem was out there talking. Did I think ...

She’s got the unsexist job on the planet, in many ways, but damn if she isn’t trying to make the best of it and save the American economy in the process. Check out this excerpt from

By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Groundbreaking Legislation on Rape Kit Testing Proposed in Illinois

We’ve covered the tragedy of untested rape kits at some length. Well, Human Rights Watch investigator Sarah Tofte, who spearheaded the initial work in LA, is currently leading comprehensive research in Illinois. Good news: she may not have to deal with the same disappointing reaction from the police department.

Chicago Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced new legislation introduced on February 9th, sponsored by Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-40th) and Rep. Emily McCasey (D-85th), that would require all evidence of sexual assault to be submitted by the investigating law enforcement agency within 10 days of receiving it from the hospital. If the bill is passed, it also would require all law enforcement agencies to provide Illinois State ...

We’ve covered the tragedy of untested rape kits at some length. Well, Human Rights Watch investigator Sarah Tofte, who spearheaded the initial work in LA, is currently leading comprehensive research in Illinois. Good ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Judi Chamberlin

Judi Chamberlin is the kind of civil rights leader you’ve probably never heard of. She passed away last week, so it’s beyond time that we honored her legacy of fighting for the rights of those with mental health issues to be treated with dignity and respect.
Her story began in the 60s when she was just 22, and involuntarily hospitalized for depression after a miscarriage. According to the NYT:

There was a lack of activity, of fresh air. There were seclusion rooms and wards for noncompliant patients, even those who were in no way violent. The drugs, which she said made her lethargic and affected her memory, seemed more intended to control than cure. And she could not sign herself ...

Judi Chamberlin is the kind of civil rights leader you’ve probably never heard of. She passed away last week, so it’s beyond time that we honored her legacy of fighting for the rights of those with mental ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Howard Zinn


“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”

The authors of history, as we know all too well within the feminist movement, have inordinate power to frame the way people think about, not only the past, but their present. When one talks about the founding of the U.S. only in terms of a glorious new beginning, one erases the centuries of life that had already taken root on this soil. When one invisbilizes women’s work, women’s experiences, women’s leadership, one robs the current generation of understanding their own legacy of strength and innovation in spite of the most oppressive odds.
Howard Zinn, one of history’s most radical and thoughtful scribes, passed away yesterday ...


“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”

The authors of history, as we know all too well within the feminist movement, have inordinate power to frame the way people ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Ai-Jen Poo, Domestic Workers United

Check out this cool, albeit a little old, Ms. Foundation video on Ai-Jen Poo (who I’ve blogged a bit about before) and the incredible work of Domestic Workers United.

And congrats to the Ms. Foundation on their great new site.

If anyone’s got time to write a transcript in comments, please feel free. I’m buried.

Check out this cool, albeit a little old, Ms. Foundation video on Ai-Jen Poo (who I’ve blogged a bit about before) and the incredible work of Domestic Workers United.

And congrats to the Ms. Foundation ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Party People

Thanks to all of our amazing readers and friends who came out last night for the holiday shindig. A couple of my favorite moments of the night:

Meeting Miranda from the awesome blog Women’s Glib. It’s run by a crew of high school baby geniuses. Talking with my pal Ruthie about freelancing, the book industry, Liberia, and babies. Toasting Juan Carlos, a lawyer from Queens who did some guest lecturing in a women’s studies class and started with “I’m a feminist.” Talking about why feminism isn’t about women and it takes courage to be cliche with Martha (college panel planning juggernaut), Maya (community contributor), and Arnie (amazing). Toasting Samhita on finishing her master’s thesis. Now if we can just get ...

Thanks to all of our amazing readers and friends who came out last night for the holiday shindig. A couple of my favorite moments of the night:

Meeting Miranda from the awesome blog Women’s Glib. It’s run ...
By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Karen Kisslinger

A couple of weeks ago, my friend and mentor Karen Kisslinger died. Ever since I heard the news, I’ve been remembering some of my favorite moments with Karen–an acupuncturist, teacher, writer, organic gardener, artist, and activist. I’ve also been thinking a lot about the ways in which I’ve been blessed with so many different mentors who let me into their lives and essentially said, “Here Courtney, this is how I make sense of the world in my own little way. This is how I structure the overwhelming wealth of family, friends, work, care taking, day dreaming, eating, moving, and creating that is life.”
I want to thank Karen for teaching me the following about “composing a life,” as
A couple of weeks ago, my friend and mentor Karen Kisslinger died. Ever since I heard the news, I’ve been remembering some of my favorite moments with Karen–an acupuncturist, teacher, writer, organic gardener, artist, and activist. ...
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