March 10, 2017 Hello ,
I'm giving away three copies of Fannie Never Flinched in
celebration of Women's History Month.
Please share news of my free giveaway with people who'd be interested in Fannie's story, by forwarding this e-mail or sharing via Facebook. People can also enter on the blog page of my website.
To enter you have to give your name and e-mail (so I can get in touch with the winners) or you can sign in
with Facebook. Thanks so much!
If Fannie Sellins were alive today, where do you think you'd find her? I'm thinking she might be working along side Ai-Jen Poo, shown
below. Four years ago, Newsweek named Ai-Jen to it's 150 Fearless Women list. TIME called her one of 100 Most Influential People in the World.
What does she do? Something many people said couldn't be done. In 2000, she started organizing domestic workers, mostly women, who work in homes carrying for the young and the elderly, cooking and cleaning.
Ai-Jen brought together workers spread out over many
private homes, co-founding
Domestic Workers United in New York City.
Her work led to the New York State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, passed in 2010, it guaranteed domestic workers
lawful rights to vacation and overtime pay.
Under Ai-Jen's leadership the union grew into the National Domestic Workers Alliance and expanded operations across the country. Like Fannie Sellins, Ai-Jen is motivated by compassion, saying, "I often compare great campaigns to great love affairs because they’re an incredible container for transformation."
But she is no push-over. "...when we’re trying to transform a fundamentally unequal society...there’s a level of discomfort and conflict that has to happen in order for us to achieve a more loving fate.” Ai-Jen says domestic workers are up for the fight.
Wednesday, thousands of them across the nation dressed in red and rallied in the streets, marking #DayWithoutAWoman by not shopping and skipping work.
Low wage workers take a hit to their budget skipping a day or work, and they could be fired, but domestic workers in America have a history of taking risks.
In 1881, black washerwomen went on strike in Atlanta and nearly shut down the entire city. Despite arrests and fines, the women held out, winning better pay, more autonomy in their work and inspiring other low wage workers to
strike.
Ai-Jen says many immigrant members of the Domestic Workers Alliance have already risked their lives fleeing poverty, violence and war to bring their children to the U.S., and in the current political climate, simply walking their children to school or going to the grocery store they risk getting caught and deported.
I think Fannie Sellins would be right at home with these women. She'd be asking us to consider the same challenge Ai-Jen's suggests. "Let's keep asking the question: 'How can I be more courageous in what I commit to, to match what's at stake?'"
I'm the second guest, so if you don't want to listen to Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, you can fast forward to 28 minutes into the hour program.
Click the image at right and that will take you directly to
your chance to win a copy of the book.
And I've finally got my calendar up-to-date, so check the link here for my schedule over the next couple months. I'll be in Moscow, ID, Pittsburgh,
PA, and Minneapolis, MN. Also in Seattle visiting my new little granddaughter. You won't see that on my calendar, but you might see some pictures when I get back! Until next week... Have you read a great book? Tell me about it. Have a burning question? Let me know.
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