In this issue...
President's Message
March Featured Program
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Understanding Sexuality and Gender Identity Workshop, March 16
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Exploring Our Whiteness, March 25
State Updates:
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AAUW NJ Town Hall on Open Membership, March 10th
- Openings on the communications team for social media-savvy members
National News:
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A Conversation with Dr. Shanna Benjamin, March 4th
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Policy, Practice & Promise: Advancing Women’s Global Economic Power, March 17th
- Two-Minute Activist: Support Paid Family Leave
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Share your mission-related events and news with us!
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First of all, I want to celebrate a successful beginning - congratulations and thanks are in order for our Program Vice President, Jackie McGuinness, and our Diversity and Inclusion Chair, Edwina Sessons, for their very helpful, interactive presentation about how to have difficult conversations about racism. They were most generous in sharing their experiences and in facilitating conversations among the attendees at the February 27th workshop: “Difficult Conversations: How to Talk About Race.” If you missed this first opportunity, don’t worry, we look forward to the conversation being carried on in our branches in the coming months.
Our work to become a more inclusive organization will continue this month with another discussion among our members, this time about allowing anyone who wants to join AAUW to be allowed to join. Personally, I feel that dropping the degree requirement for membership in AAUW is long overdue, and it is an embarrassment to have to turn away anyone who wants to work with us. I also recognize that there are opposing viewpoints about how open membership might affect our organization. I hope that everyone will attend our town hall and share their concerns, so that the strengths of our organization can be preserved. I truly believe that the opportunity to engage in informed discussions among members, and to disagree without enmity, is one of the greatest benefits of belonging to AAUW – it’s how we learn from each other.
Let’s spring forward together and build an AAUW for the future on the strong foundation built by our founding mothers!
Karen
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March's Two Featured Programs |
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AAUW-NOCB Branch invites you to the annual Central District Inter-branch Meeting:
“Understanding Sexuality and Gender Identity Workshop”
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
6:30PM ET via Zoom
The program is designed to help attendees understand the basics of sexuality delineating the terms “lesbian”, “gay”, “bisexual”, “transgender”, “non-binary”, “heterosexual”, “cisgender” among others, as well as how these categories are “defined”. It begins by explaining the basic stages of sexual development regarding the general physical, cognitive and emotional milestones people undergo as they mature. It will also detail the four different components that make up sexuality: chromosomal sex, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
The program will be presented by Ashley Chiappano, MA, Safe Schools & Community Education Manager at Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s Largest LGBTQ Advocacy & Education Organization. Please contact Alice Tarlach at (732) 939-0547, [email protected] or Judith Hromoko at (732) 557-1945 or [email protected] with any questions.
There is no pre-registration for this program, follow this link to join on March 16th:
Join Zoom Meeting (on March 16th):
Meeting ID: 884 4443 5964
Passcode: 820645
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Join the Mountain Lakes Area Branch for Cocktails & Conversation
Thursday, March 25, 2021
7:30 PM via Zoom
Exploring Our Whiteness
Whiteness is meant to be invisible to white people. In this interactive presentation, we will reflect on Whiteness. In addition, we will discuss how characteristics of Whiteness show up in our world, on individual and systemic levels, with the goal of challenging racism by de-centering Whiteness.
Adena Cytron-Walker will lead us in the conversation. She is the Vice President of Programing for the Multicultural Alliance of Fort Worth Texas. MCA is an organization that builds inclusive communities through educational opportunity and shared experiences. Adena offers workshops and presentations on a wide variety of diversity, equity, and inclusion topics.
Please register in advance.
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AAUW NJ Town Hall on Open Membership
Wednesday, March 10th, 6:30 pm
Should AAUW membership be open to anyone who supports our mission? What advantages do we expect to achieve by opening AAUW membership to all? Is there any downside to the change? How would the change be implemented?
Members will have the opportunity to discuss their views in small groups and provide feedback to state and national leaders.
Whether your current position is for or against eliminating the associates degree requirement for membership in AAUW, all AAUW NJ members are encouraged to attend for an interactive and informative town hall meeting.
Please register in advance to attend.
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Join our team!
Love social media?
Want to help out AAUW NJ in an easy, fun way?
We are looking for two people to join our growing Communications Team and help keep AAUW NJ current and evolving. Email [email protected] if you are interested in learning more or to join our team! |
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March AAUW National Webinar:
A Conversation with Dr. Shanna Benjamin, author of Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy
of Nellie Y. McKay
Thursday, March 4 5:00 PM ET
AAUW fellowships alumna Shanna Benjamin, Ph.D, educator and scholar, will discuss her upcoming book, Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay. Shanna Greene Benjamin is a biographer and scholar who studies the literature, lives, and archives of Black women. Dr. Benjamin earned her Ph.D. in English (2002) and M.A. in Afro-American Studies (1996) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. McKay is best known as the co-editor of the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature.
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March 17th: Policy, Practice & Promise: Advancing Women’s Global Economic Power
The NGO Commission on the Status of Women Forum, which runs parallel to programs at the United Nations, includes more than 500 events to inform, engage and inspire grassroots efforts to empower women and girls.
NGO CSW/NY facilitates a platform for the voices and leadership of feminists and women’s rights organizations globally who lobby for their inclusion in the UN deliberations in pursuit of gender equality. Don’t miss the AAUW-sponsored program, titled Policy, Practice & Promise: Advancing Women’s Global Economic Power, on March 17.
Register for the NGO CSW Forum to attend virtually.
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Two-Minute Activist:
Support Paid Family Leave
Unlike the majority of developed countries, the United States does not guarantee paid leave for illness or family care, or paid parental leave—a problem that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Ask Congress to pass the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act (H.R. 804/S. 248), which would create a national self-funding paid family and medical leave insurance program.
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If your branch is forwarding the AAUW mission in some way, please share your activities with [email protected]. We want to celebrate you!
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See what's happening on our social sites |
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