Candidates for Office in Maryland Seeking Maryland NOW PAC's Endorsement
~click image to enlarge~How Might History Be Different If Women's Contributions Were Recognized?
Maryland NOW and the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, are jointly sponsoring a symposium on women's history on Sunday, June 6, 2010. The event will be held at the Maryland Women's Heritage Center in Baltimore at 39 West Lexington Street (corner of Lexington and Liberty) from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
The theme of the symposium is "Where Were The Women? How Might History Be Different If Women's Contributions Were Recognized?" and we have invited historians from across the state to review the role of women in America from the 16th century to the present day. This is going to be an AWESOME event.
The fee of $35 includes lunch and coffee breaks and is on a sliding scale (we invite attendees to pay what they can afford, if cost is an issue).
The event is FREE for students.
We urge everyone to come and show your support for this important discussion. Please share this information with everyone you think might be interested!
For more information, please contact Paulie Abeles at 301-340-7995 or spabeles@patriot.net.
We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!
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Maryland NOW Conference, Women of Color and Allies Summit and Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference a Success!
Thanks to everyone who attended the conferences and summit, for making them such a success. Congresswoman Donna Edwards was inspiring, as were all of our workshop presenters!
And a special thank you to the Bowie State Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women. Chapter President Sierra Roach and faculty advisor Dr. Anisha Campbell helped make the day such a success.
Elections were held for Maryland NOW and for board seats for the Mid-Atlantic Region. The results were as follows:
MD NOW
President - Linda Mahoney
Executive VP - Beth Corbin
Action VP - Sandy Bell
Treasurer - Holly Joseph
Secretary - Paula Abeles
MAR NOW
Linda Berg - Regional Director
Elisabeth Crum
Rosezella Canty-Letsome
Congratulations to our new leaders!
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Congresswoman Donna Edwards to
Keynote MD NOW Conference
May 1, 2010
Bowie State University
** NEW ROOM **
Martin Luther King, Jr. Communication Arts Center - Lecture Hall
14000 Jericho Park Road, Bowie, MD 20715
9:00 AM* - 6:30 PM
We are thrilled to share with you that on May 1, 2010, there are three exiting events taking place! The Maryland NOW State Conference, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference and a Women of Color and Allies Summit!
MD NOW CONFERENCE - 9:00 AM
The day will kick off with the Maryland NOW State Conference at 9:00AM, at Bowie State University. We will elect officers for 2010-2011, and talk about challenges still facing Maryland women. The events are co-sponsored by the Bowie State Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women.
MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL CONFERENCE - 10:00 AM
At 10:00AM we will be joined by feminist leaders and activists from around our region, as we hear from candidates hoping to represent our region for the next two years. We will elect three individuals from our region to represent us on the national NOW Board. Voting begins at 11:30AM and will end at 4:30PM.
*WOMEN OF COLOR AND ALLIES SUMMIT - 12:00 PM
At 12:00 noon we will kick-off our spectacular Women of Color and Allies Summit with a rousing keynote address by Congresswoman Donna Edwards. Congresswoman Edwards represents Maryland’s 4th Congressional District and has served in Congress since June 2008.
We have asked the Congresswoman to bring us up to date on the pending jobs bill, and other economic issues of concern to women.
Following lunch are two workshops -- on Real Health Care Reform, and Ending Violence Against Women. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was a step forward on many health issues affecting women, but there is still work to be done to offer women a full range of affordable health care. The Violence Against Women Act provided additional resources to deal with the pervasive violence that women face. While the impact of domestic violence and sexual assault crosses all social, economic, and racial lines, there are concerns that are unique to communities of color. We will explore both these important issues and work together toward creating a just world for all women.
Election results for the Mid-Atlantic Region will be announced around 5:30PM, and for the final hour we will talk about election strategies as we head into the 2010 mid-term elections.
You won’t want to miss this exciting day!
Bowie State University
14000 Jericho Park Road
Bowie, MD 20715-9465
9:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Martin Luther King, Jr. Communication Arts Center - Lecture Hall
CAMPUS MAP
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Communications Arts Center is building 16
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Maryland NOW Mourns the Death
of Dr. Dorothy Height
Maryland National Organization for Women mourns the death of Dr. Dorothy Height, a civil rights pioneer, who died today at the age of 98. Dr. Height was a key figure in the struggles for school desegregation, voting rights, employment opportunities and public accommodations in the 1950s and 1960s. She was also an early champion for women's rights. Dr. Height was energetic in her efforts to overcome gender bias, and much of her work predated the second wave of the women's rights movement.
Dr. Height was president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. She lobbied First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of civil rights causes in the 1940s. In the 1950s, she insisted President Eisenhower move more aggressively on school desegregation issues. Dr. Height was among those invited to the White House to witness President Kennedy’s signing ceremony of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. In 1994, President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2004, Dr. Height also received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest decoration Congress can bestow.
"Dorothy Height deserves credit for helping black women understand that you had to be feminist at the same time you were African ... that you had to play more than one role in the empowerment of black people," Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) once said.
In 1957 Dr. Height became the fourth president of the National Council of Negro Women. Over the next four decades, she established a national reputation as a graceful and insistent voice for civil rights and women's rights.
"If the times aren't ripe, you have to ripen the times," she liked to say.
Thank you Dr. Height, you inspired us to give our all for the cause of justice and equality. There will be a tribute to Dr. Height at our upcoming Women of Color and Allies Summit, May 1, at Bowie State University.
MD NOW Officers
Go to the About section and click on the officers link to contact any of them via email. You may use the contact form or call the MD NOW phone number.
Our Founding Mother's Scholarship Fund!
In 2006 we lost a Maryland NOW member who clearly left her mark on each of us and our organization. Dolly Yvonne Packard was an extraordinary feminist who graced our NOW world for 40 years. In 2007, a former Maryland NOW President and Maryland NOW Council Member, Dot Howze, lost a battle with cancer. We also lost a leader in our Frederick Chapter, Sandra West, who over the years had been Maryland NOW Treasurer and PAC Treasurer as well a leader in her own community.
We created a scholarship fund for contributions that were made in honor of Dolly three years ago, and we plan to move from this to create an ongoing fund from memorials we've received from members and friends honoring all these women. We hope to pass the torch in this way for others to benefit from the honors others gave in these womens' names. Please contact our President for more information if you are interested in applying for a grant from this fund. Contact our Treasurer if you'd like to donate.
