When Women Succeed, America Succeeds

Yesterday was Women’s Equality Day, a day set aside to celebrate the passage of the 19^th Amendment on August 26^th, 2910, which granted women the right to vote.  We don’t usually hear about it too much in our history books, but countless women and their supporters marched, petitioned, faced imprisonment, and showed great courage in the struggle for women’s rights. We’ve come a long way since then, but despite all of our achievements, women still lag behind men in several key areas:

• Although the statistics vary, women make on average, 78 cents for every dollar a man earns, and it’s even lower for women of color.
• It’s estimated that the wage gap won’t close until 2058!
• Although women are now earning more Bachelor degrees than men, women with a four-year degree make an average of $930/week, while men with the same degree make an average of $1,199.
• Only 5% of Fortune 500 companies have a woman CEO.
• According to the Status of Women 2015, which looked at the best states for women in terms of jobs, healthcare, childcare, etc,) five states still earned an ‘F’ and Indiana earned a ‘D.”

We are also bombarded with society's expectations of how a woman should look, think and act.  Beauty advertisements tell us we are too wrinkly, our hair is too dull and lifeless, and our bodies are just too fat.  Television commercials say we should be focused on what detergent gets our whites cleaner, what diapers keep our kids cleaner, and what we should make for dinner tonight.  We are taught from a young age that we need to aspire to be someone else.  To hear more on this topic, stated in a better way than I could ever say it, check out this speech by activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, made famous by Beyoncé:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc

So my question to you this week is two-fold.  First, ladies - I would like to know "How were you affected by society's standards for women growing up?"  Guys - This isn't just a female issue.  You all have mothers, some have sisters, and many of you will have daughters one day.  So for the men, I would like to know "How you think men contribute to these standards for women?"  Second, Hillary Clinton is running for President again in 2016.  In fact, we could possibly have another female candidate running for President in the next election.  So for everyone, I would like to know, "Do you think America could handle a female President?"  Answers are due no later than Wednesday, September 1^st, 2015.

This Is My Minority Report

I didn’t realize when I traveled to New Orleans last week that the 10^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was just around the corner.  On August 29^th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, causing over $1 billion dollars and damages, flooding over 90% of New Orleans, and ultimately killing close to 2,000 people.

Earlier this quarter, we watched a video on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Although I’ve seen that video countless times, I’ll be honest when I say that I wasn’t really thinking too much about it prior to traveling there.  I knew the government had been agonizing slow in its initial response to the disaster.  Even several years later, the lack of full-scale recovery efforts was obvious, but after all this time I just assumed they were pretty much back to normal – but I was wrong.

There have been many improvements since Hurricane Katrina hit.  The levees have been repaired and improved upon, and the city claims their water pumps can now pump millions of gallons of water out of the city in a mere matter of minutes. Job growth is up, crime is down and along the 9^th Ward – where the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was most devastating, you can see re-building going on.

That being said, what I found was a city – a most importantly a people – who have still not quite recovered.  Signs of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are still found everywhere – from the fading water lines you can still see on many public buildings, to the FEMA markings left on homes that designated whether or not a body had been found there.  There is literally water everywhere.  Lake Pontchartrain, which famously began draining into the city when the levees broke, is so much larger than I imagined.  It many places, the water table is just 16 inches below the ground! Almost every single native person I spoke to brought up Hurricane Katrina.  Many asked me to write my legislature and ask them to support recovery efforts.  For most of the people who had lived through Hurricane Katrina, the effects of their nightmare were still evident in the way they spoke about what life had been like before, and in the sincere fear in their eyes when they thought about the approaching hurricane season. 

New Orleans the city is older than America.  There aren’t too many cities in America that have more of our national history wrapped up within their city limits than New Orleans – certainly on par with Washington D.C. and Boston.  For a history junkie like me, it was hard to imagine our country without the multi-cultural, historic vibrancy of New Orleans.  It was also easy to see how we could lose New Orleans.  No matter how much I heard and saw about the levee improvements, I couldn’t get over the fact that we were literally on the edge of America.  The ocean is one of my favorite places on the planet, but even I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it wasn’t “safe” to be living in New Orleans.  So my question to you this week is, “Do you think we should be investing more into the recovery in New Orleans?  If so, who should be responsible for it – the federal government (our tax dollars), or private donations?”  Answers are due no later than Wednesday, August 26th, 2015.    

Heal the World

I was disappointed last week that I was unable to post something new on the blog.  I was even more disappointed that I missed class, in which you watched the movie, The Inconvenient Truth. I have a new post all ready to go about my recent travels, but since this topic is so important to me, I decided to go ahead and post what I wanted to last week.

 When I saw this movie almost 10 years ago, it literally changed my life.  Prior to watching it, I would’ve said I support environmental-friendly measures, but to be honest, I never spent that much time thinking about it.  I didn’t litter, I love animals and I support local artists, vendors and farmers.  In my mind, that was enough…until I saw this movie.  Suddenly, I realized that climate change was happening at a much faster rate than I had ever considered.  It wasn’t something that would be happening to my grandchildren’s, grandchildren – it was something that was happening right now – in my lifetime.  I’m ashamed to say, that made all the difference in the world to me.  Immediately, I started recycling.  I began donating my time and money to environmental causes.  I started educating myself on the topic.  When I bought my first home several years ago, the first thing I did was have an environmental assessment done to find ways to lower my home’s carbon footprint.  It has become such a big issue to me, that a few years ago, I started limiting debate on the topic in the classes I teach.  Those of you who know me, know that I rarely, if ever, censor someone.  For me to come out and say publically that I would no longer accept denial of climate change as a plausible point of view in class, was a very big deal for me.  To date, it is the only topic that I have ever done that for. I believe that no other issue we discuss this quarter will have more of an impact on your lives than climate change.

Right on cue, President Obama revealed his new Clean Power Plan this past week, which is designed to cut emissions from US coal-fired power plants and to accelerate renewable energy.  The President’s plan is to cut carbon pollution by 32% by the year 2030.  Republicans and others who oppose this plan say it will cause job-loss and make us unable to compete economically with China. So, I’m interested in knowing what you think!  “Do you support or oppose the President’s Clean Power Plan?”  If you don’t know much about it – look it up!  Just for fun, since I missed your discussion – “What was one thing that you found interesting in the movie?”  You must answer both questions for full credit.  Answers are due no later than Wednesday, August 19^th.