|
|
|
Expo '96 Speakers Include Over 160 Leaders, Thinkers, Activists
Expo '96 featured some of the most courageous feminist leaders
in the country, including the leaders of virtually every major
women's organization. Here is just a sampling of the over 160
speakers at Expo '96.
Carol Moseley-Braun, the nation's first African-American
woman U.S. Senator, has been an uncompromising advocate for women
and minorities in the Senate, especially for poor women and young
women. Moseley-Braun was the only woman Senator - and one of only
12 Senators - to vote against the punitive Republican-led welfare
reform bill. Moseley-Braun spoke on affirmative action at the
Expo '96 Opening General Assembly.
Barbara Ehrenreich brings her insightful, provocative feminist
viewpoint to mainstream audiences as a featured essayist for TIME
magazine. Her essays and articles have also appeared in The New
York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Ms., and The New Republic. She
is the author of nine books including The Hearts of Men: American
Dreams and the Flight from Commitment, For Her Own Good: 150 Years
of the Experts' Advice to Women, and The Snarling Citizen. Ehrenreich
was a featured speaker on developing a feminist budget.
Helen Reddy's Grammy Award-winning song "I Am Woman" inspired
and galvanized a generation of feminists, and became the anthem
for the feminist movement. In addition to a career that has included
gold and platinum records, worldwide tours, and starring roles
in film and theater, Reddy campaigned for ratification of the
Equal Rights Amendment, and now raises money for battered women's
shelters and breast cancer research. Reddy recently made her Broadway
debut in Blood Brothers. Reddy performed "I Am Woman" at the opening
General Assembly.
Prema Mathai-Davis, National Executive Director of YWCA
of the USA, is heading, in conjunction with the Feminist Majority
Foundation, the Campaign to Save Affirmative Action in California.
She also launched a national public education campaign - YWCA
Week Without Violence - to promote alternatives to violence in
everyday life. Prior to joining the YWCA, Mathai-Davis was the
first Asian to hold a cabinet position in New York City. At Expo
'96 Mathai-Davis spoke on affirmative action.
Riane Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade: Our History,
Our Future transformed our understanding of human history and
human possibilities. An international bestseller, it is described
by Princeton anthropologist Ashley Montagu as "the most important
book since Darwin's Origin of Species." Eisler's new book is Sacred
Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body. Eisler is a
feminist activist, human rights scholar, cultural historian, and
co-founder of the Center for Partnership Studies in Pacific Grove,
CA. Eisler spoke at the Envisioning the Future General Assembly.
Dolores Huerta, co-founder and Vice President of the United
Farm Workers, has been a leader in the struggle for a better life
for migrant farm workers. She has launched three boycotts of California
table grapes to force growers to stop using deadly pesticides
on the grapes, and to improve conditions for farm workers. As
a board member of the Feminist Majority, Huerta has traveled the
country encouraging more women, especially Latina women, to run
for political office. Huerta addressed affirmative action and
organizing for women in a time of economic and technological change.
Gloria Steinem has been one of the most visible feminists
of the last few decades, a brilliant writer, speaker, and motivator.
Founder of Ms. magazine and author of the best-selling books Outrageous
Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Revolution from Within, and Moving
Beyond Words, she is now the subject of a new biography by Carolyn
Heilbrun, The Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem.
Bella Abzug is a former member of Congress and co-chair
of the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).
Abzug was the first woman to be elected to Congress on a women's
rights and peace platform, in 1970. As co-chair of WEDO, Abzug
presided over the World Women's Congress for a Healthy Planet,
and has led women's caucuses at UN Conferences on Environment
and Development, on Population and Development, and a linkage
caucus at the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Mary Frances Berry, Chair of the US. Commission on Civil
Rights, is an outspoken advocate for civil rights and women's
rights. After she was fired by President Reagan from her post
as a commissioner on the Civil Rights Commission for criticizing
his civil rights policies, she sued Reagan and won reinstatement.
Berry was also one of the founders of the Free South Africa movement.
Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority and the
Feminist Majority Foundation, conceived the idea of a National
Feminist Exposition to showcase the work, ideas, leaders, activists,
diversity, and organizations of the women's movement. "The power
of the movement as a whole is electrifying and is changing our
nation and the world. The more we work together, plan together,
dream together, and organize together the sooner women will realize
equality," said Smeal. Smeal was the only three-term president
of the National Organization for Women and was the first political
analyst to identify the gender gap in voting.
Marcia Ann Gillespie, Editor-in-Chief of Ms. Magazine
since June 1993, has been a trailblazer in the publishing world
for over two decades. As Editor-in-Chief of Ms., Gillespie
has brought an exciting multicultural dimension to the most widely
read feminist publication in the world. Gillespie served as Editor-in-Chief
of Essence Magazine during the 1970s, boosting circulation
of this new publication for African-American women from 50,000
to over 2 million.
Charlotte Bunch, feminist author and organizer for over
25 years, is currently the Director of the Douglass College Center
for Women's Global Leadership, which was awarded a 1993 Feminist
of the Year Award for its work coordinating the Global Campaign
for Women's Human Rights. This coalition of 900 women's groups
achieved classification of violence against women as a human rights
abuse at the United Nations International Human Rights Conference.
Bunch addressed Envisioning a Feminist Human Rights Policy.
Lydia Camarillo is executive director of the Southwest
Voter Registration Education Project, which educates the Latino
community about participatory democracy and leads voter registration
drives and get out the vote campaigns. She was previously the
National Director of the Leadership Development Program for the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Maude Hurd advocates for low and moderate income people
as president of the Association of Community Organizations for
Reform Now (ACORN). Hurd leads campaigns for affordable housing,
community reinvestment, and increasing the minimum wage -- issues
that she knows first-hand. Years ago when she was widowed with
five children in a housing project, Hurd sued the Massachusetts
Housing Authority and won enough money for a down payment on a
house.
Gloria Johnson is president of the Coalition of Labor Union
Women, a coalition to unify all union women and to encourage unions
to be more aggressive about bringing unorganized women under collective
bargaining agreements. Johnson has been a feminist labor activist
for over 40 years and is a leader in the movement for pay equity.
She serves as chair of the Board of Directors of the National
Committee on Pay Equity. Currently Johnson is Director of the
Department of Social Action at the International Union of Electronic,
Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers. Johnson addressed
affirmative action and organizing for women in a time of economic
and technological change.
Maria Jonas has been indefatigable in spreading the idea
of gender quotas in the selection of candidates for political
parties. Largely due to her work promoting gender quotas for the
Social Democratic Party, women's representation in parliaments
worldwide has increased dramatically. Jonas is currently with
the Women's Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party
of Austria. Previous to that she was the General Secretary of
Socialist International Women in London.
Just Economics Collective can help you understand the
U.S. Budget. This collective of multicultural women lead workshops
at Expo '96 to demystify economics and help us take a more active
role in advocating for a feminist budget. The fourteen women who
make up Just Economics have experience in public policy, international
finance, ethics, community development, women's loan funds, and
more.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) is now in her
third term representing the District of Columbia in Congress.
She is a vice-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues,
and has long been recognized as a civil rights and women's rights
leader. She chaired the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
under President Jimmy Carter.
New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams started
two and a half years ago to provide girls 8-14 with an alternative
to the fashion and rock star magazines targeted to this age group.
Run by a Girls' Editorial Board with help from publisher Nancy
Gruver and editor Joe Kelly, New Moon has won numerous awards
including the Utne Reader's Alternative Press Award, the
Parent's Choice Award, and the Feminist Majority Foundation's
Feminist of the Year Award.
Nicole Newton, 23, is the Campus Contact and Right-Wing
Response Coordinator for the Center for Campus Organizing. CCO
is a national clearinghouse that supports progressive campus organizations
and counters right-wing activity on campus. A student at Michigan
State University, Newton has also founded feminist groups on campus.
Frances Fox Piven, an internationally-known author and
activist, is a leading advocate for poor people. She founded and
co-chairs Human SERVE, which leads campaigns to register voters
at public assistance agencies. Piven is the acclaimed author of
many path-breaking books including Regulating the Poor, The New
Class War, Poor People's Movements, and Why Americans Don't Vote.
She is a professor of political science at the Graduate School
of the City University of New York.
Kathryn Tyler Prigmore is the Associate Dean of the School
of Architecture and Planning at Howard University. She is one
of approximately 80 women of African descent registered to practice
architecture in the United States. Prigmore's architecture experience
includes award-winning residential, commercial, institutional,
and transportation projects. A member of Black Women in Architecture
and Related Professions, Prigmore coordinated a conference of
Black women architects. Prigmore was one of the judges for the
Feminist Architecture contest held at Expo '96.
Linda Chavez-Thompson was elected executive vice president
of the AFL-CIO in October 1995 a part of an insurgent campaign
to reinvigorate the American labor movement. A second-generation
American of Mexican descent, Chavez-Thompson is the highest-ranking
woman in the labor movement, and the first person of color elected
to an executive office of the AFL-CIO.
Margaret Wertheim, a science writer with a background
in physics, math and computer science, exposes the parallels between
the marginalization of women in the sciences and the marginalization
of women in religion in her new book, Pythagoras' Trousers:
God, Physics, and the Gender Wars.
Jennifer Williamson is student government president at
the University of Oregon. A former Feminist Majority Foundation
intern, Williamson is a leader on the issue of financial aid.
She is also a member of the Unwanted Sexual Behaviors Task Force
at the Dean of Students Office.
Expo '96 brought together some of the best feminist mystery writers.
When she started writing her Kate Fansler mysteries 30 years ago,
veteran writer Carolyn Heilbrun felt the need to hide her identity
by calling herself "Amanda Cross" for fear that her English department
colleagues would deny her tenure. Also on the panel are award-winning
writers Joan Hess, author of the Claire Malloy and Arly Hanks
mystery series; Sandra Scoppetone, author of Lauren Laurano mysteries
and co-author of mysteries under the pseudonym "Jack Early"; Marilyn
Wallace, editor of Sisters in Crime anthologies and author of
a number of novels including Lost Angel, forthcoming in
1996; and Annette Meyers, vice-president of the organization Sisters
in Crime and author of Smith and Wetzon mysteries.
Some other speakers include:
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
Marian Kramer, President, National Welfare Rights Union
Patricia Ireland, President, NOW
Janet Benshoof, leading reproductive rights litigator and president
of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy
Carmen Delgado Votaw, Director for Government Relations at Girl
Scouts of the USA
Barbara Bergmann, economist
Diana Pearce, Wider Opportunities for Women
Jan Goodwin, author of The Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift
the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World
Barbara Arwine, Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights Under the Law
Parvin Darabi, President, Dr. Homa Darabi Foundation
Marie Wilson, President of the Ms. Foundation
C. Delores Tucker, President of the National Political Congress
of Black Women
The music group BETTY
Libby Rodderick, musician
Karen Narasawki of the Asian Pacific Legal Defense Fund
Eileen Applebaum, Economic Policy Institute
Gloria Randle Scott, President of Bennett College
Ellen Bravo, Director of 9 to 5
Heidi Hartmann, McArthur Genius Award recipient and President
of the Institute for Women's Policy Research
Robin Morgan, poet, writer and international consulting editor
of Ms. magazine
Ronnie Steinberg, sociologist, leading expert on pay equity
Kathy Rodgers, President of NOW Legal Defense Fund
Amy Conroy, Director of the Women's Campaign Fund
Anita Perez-Ferguson, President of the National Women's Political
Caucus
Mary Ellen Capek, Director of the National Council for Research
on Women
Loretta Ross, Director, Center for Human Rights Education
Judy Mann, Washington Post columnist
Mary Chung, Executive Director of the Asian Women's Health Project
Kate Michelman, President, NARAL
Lisa Silverberg, National Lesbian and Gay Health Association
|
