Tag Archive for "Thank You Thursdays"

Posts Tagged Thank You Thursdays

Thank You Thursdays: Ruthie Ackerman

Ruthie Ackerman has written a lot of amazing work about Liberia–both past and present–as well as Liberian immigrants in the U.S. I had the good fortune of having coffee with her a month or two ago and was so struck by what a committed, courageous journalist she is, but even more, a truly incredible person. In her bio she explains:

It was following my second trip to Africa that I decided I had to do something. I could no longer just write and photograph people in communities far away from my own and then slip back into my comfortable life as if nothing ever happened. There had to be a way to show the world what I had seen, ...

By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Filmmaker Ela Thier

When I was a little girl, my mom, along with her friend Donna Guthrie, started the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival in my culturally-deprived hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado. They had no idea what they were doing. Neither had ever studied film. Neither was a producer by-training. They just knew that my town needed more art and images of women by women, and so they went about making that happen. It’s still one of my most inspired models of feminist activism at work. And there’s no question that it is a huge part of why I am a feminist and a writer today; after all, I grew up watching diverse stories about women play out on the television ...

By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursday: Omega Institute

We’re all back to our busy lives after a great few days of retreating up at the Omega Institute’s Service Week (an opportunity for nonprofits and community organizations to get away and have much-needed respite and retreat). A more comprehensive update will come soon, but we just wanted to express our gratitude to Omega for the chance to pause and catch up to ourselves (we all work so hard to keep content fresh and frequent that we rarely get a moment to really think big picture and long term).
We saw bunnies and what we initially thought were beavers, and then decided were hedgehogs, but I now think must have been woodchucks (pictured here…can you tell there aren’t too many ...

By Courtney • 14 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: The Wisdom of Experience (College Grad Edition)

We’ve gotten a few emails from you college kiddos making your final jaunt across that stage for the very coveted and damn expensive diplomas. You’re excited. You’re scared. You’re maybe a little hungover. You’ve asked us for advice on getting jobs in the feminist/blogging/writing worlds, and so I thought I would offer a few little things that I’ve learned the hard way in case they can be helpful:
1. Don’t just apply to law school because it feels like something that you can tell your aunts and uncles at your graduation parties or makes you feel safe in this economy. Do it if you really want to be a lawyer.
2. You’ve heard it before from us. You’ll hear it ...

By Vanessa • 15 years ago

Thank You Friday: Volunteers

Since we didn’t have a Thank You Thursday this week, I thought I’d take today to give some special Friday props for what happens to be National Volunteer Week.
It’s hard just being employed in the nonprofit sector; I remember oftentimes while working at organizations, I would get so frustrated and depressed for dedicating my life to such important work and, well, getting paid so little for it. After all, so many of my friends had jobs that paid them three times as much for simply helping CEOs get richer. But that frustration and anger seemed to just float away whenever I encountered our volunteers.
So many grassroots nonprofit organizations doing real groundwork towards social justice are largely ...

By Courtney • 15 years ago

Thank You Thursday: Teen Mom Counters Cliches with Badassery

Check out this amazing profile of 20-year-old Charlie Rose, a teen mom and Smith student who is doing amazing work countering old, tired stereotypes about teen moms. An excerpt:

When she decided to have a child at 15 years old, Rose says that her biggest obstacle was not the physical pregnancy itself, which she describes as “easy,” “wonderful” and “delightful,” nor was it the financial burden – all of Cae’s clothes and cloth diapers were handed down, and Rose made her own baby food. Instead, the hardships came from the labels and stigma attached to her decision.
“For some reason,” she says, “people have very visceral responses to teen pregnancy. It’s sort of the unifying issue, because everyone thinks that ...

Check out this amazing profile of 20-year-old Charlie Rose, a teen mom and Smith student who is doing amazing work countering old, tired stereotypes about teen moms. An excerpt:

When she decided to have a child at ...

By Courtney • 15 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: A Heroine Written out of History

Check out this awesome guest post by my former intern and good friend, Krystie Yandoli. She’s currently a first year at Syracuse University and a Women’s Studies major (who-hoo!).
Too often, the winners write history. Unfortunately even the women’s rights movement is tainted with this reality–important people get shoved aside when it comes down to who receives credit and becomes a part of the history books. Matilda Joslyn Gage is a victim of this, but as far as I’m concerned she’s going to make a comeback.
Gage was one of the original suffragists in the 1800’s fighting for her and every other female’s full citizenship and right to vote. She was a part of the unstoppable friendship trio that ...

By Courtney • 15 years ago

Thank You Thursdays: Conchita Cintrón

Thank you to the late, great Conchita Cintron. As you might guess, I’m not a big bull fight fan (spearing animals=sad to these wimpy urban eyes), but I was totally blown away when reading Ms. Cintrón’s obituary a week or so ago in the Times:

A headline in The New York Sun on Sept. 4, 1940, captured accurately, albeit with amused condescension, the startling anomaly embodied by Conchita Cintrón: “She’s a Timid Blue Eyed Girl But — She Kills Bulls Without Qualms.”
Ms. Cintrón was 18 years old then and, as the headline went on to announce, had never been on a date, but she was already an international star of the bullring, a prodigy who was on her way ...