One of those shining-star moments happens when the annual Women of Distinction Awards are presented during the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders and attendees get to listen to these incredible women tell their stories. The list of recipients is long and awesome; however, two come to mind as we pause to take part in the 2009 Blog Action Day and focus on the impact of climate change.
Melissa Poe Hood, founder of Kids for a Clean Environment, or Kids F.A.C.E, was a 2009 Woman of Distinction recipient. Her focus on air pollution targets a key factor of climate change. According to her bio:
Hood was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing to then-President Bush after watching a TV program that showed a frightening picture of what the world would look like if society didn’t do anything about air pollution.
When the president didn’t respond to her letter, Hood called billboard companies and convinced them to donate advertising space. Soon her letter appeared on more than 250 donated billboards across the country, which led to appearances on the Today Show and Good Morning America. And the club Hood started at her elementary school in Nashville in 1989 with just six members now has a global membership. Kids F.A.C.E. members have distributed and planted more than one million trees.
In 2008, Majora Carter, founder and executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, received her Woman of Distinction Award. According to Carter’s bio:
Sustainable South Bronx is an organization devoted to environmental urban revitalization. Awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship “genius grant” in 2005, Carter works with government, businesses, and neighborhood organizations to improve the lives of the citizens in her community. She has helped to create riverfront parks and green roofs, to increase the number of trees in the South Bronx, and to replace an underused expressway with positive economic development.
Carter has served on former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s Energy and Environment Transition Team and the Clinton Global Initiative’s Poverty Alleviation Panel. She received New York University’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Award for Humanitarian Service and the National Audubon Society’s Rachel Carson Award.
The New York Times did a great interview with her last December in an article called the Green Power Broker, highlighting her viewpoints on, among other things, “why global warming affects not just polar bears but people around the globe.”
I remember serving on the mayor’s conservation committee when I was in high school. We cleaned a local creek for the day. It was nothing compared to what Hood or Carter continue to accomplish on such a large scale, but it does point to one important fact: Each of us can contribute to lessening our ecological footprint, one step at a time. If you haven’t already, start taking action today. The world depends on it.
Clearly the issue is underrepresentation in Congress. “Out of sight out of mind” is a truism. Any blueprint for 2010 must include more women in politics. We have 360 men in the House of Representatives and only 75 women. In the Senate there are 83 men and only 17 women. So, we do need to “Tell Men to Listen” first and foremost.
http://www.thenewuswoman.com/_blueprint_for_2010plus.html
BUT (and I say this at the top of my voice ) that’s cannot be the WHOLE plan. We have to wake up and smell the smoky burning residue of coffee left on a back burner, and know that the residue has been WOMEN.
We have to remember that we have population on our side. There are 147.8 million women in the US and only 143.0 million men. So the question is: Why aren’t we using our clout locally and pressuring our male and the few female rep’s in Congress to advance equity across the board for women. What have we been occupying our time and energy with, if not this?
We really cannot say we do not have the facts. That’s untrue. “The Status of Women in the States” report by The Institute for Women’s Policy Research clearly delineates all of the issues in every state. I would encourage all women to read it online, for no state is safe for women.
The vote was not won by asking “pretty please,” and neither will pay parity, maternity care, reproductive rights, etcetera. The issues that impact women have been steamrollered, flattened beyond recognition. And, to some extent we’ve ALLOWED that to happen by focusing on which Glade candle to buy, and which pair of shoes matches the latest hemline. And which coffee or yogurt will keep us slimmer. Senseless minutia that keeps us from doing the HARD WORK of fighting for change for ourselves, our daughters, and our granddaughters to come.
No, the facts are all before us; we know the full extent and ramifications of doing nothing. So, my call is for women who know better to find their voice and be a part of the solution. Exert tremendous pressure on your lawmakers to VALUE WOMEN. Put down those women’s magazines and roll up your sleeves!
Sincerely,
Rosanne Ferreri-Feske, CEO
Uniting Entrepreneurs with Activism and Philanthropy in a Win-Win Strategy to Change the World
http://www.thenewuswoman.com