Showing posts with label equality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label equality. Show all posts

Sunday, August 26, 2018

The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America by Sarah Kendzior

https://catalog.dubuque.lib.ia.us/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=214016
Sarah Kendzior is a journalist writing from St. Louis, Missouri, a city firmly tucked in "flyover country," that large swathe of the United States between the east and west coasts that tends to get little attention. Kendzior sets out to correct some of this neglect in her new book, The View from Flyover Country, composed of short pieces she wrote for Al Jazeera between 2012 and 2014.

All is not well in flyover country, although many of the issues Kendzior writes about affect the entire nation and the globe. Her overarching theme is social and economic justice -- the growing chasm between the haves and have-nots -- which she explores by looking closely at race and religion, the media, higher education, and what she calls the post-employment economy.

With years of journalistic experience and degrees in history, Central Eurasian studies (an MA), and anthropology (a PhD), Kendzior knows her stuff. She's also a clear and graceful writer. One of her primary contentions is that, increasingly, those in positions of influence -- in government, business, policymaking, and mainstream journalism -- belong to an affluent and self-selected set who, due to their privileged backgrounds, cannot possibly comprehend, assess, or report accurately on economic issues. But entry into their professional circles is too often barred to the rest of us by the sky-high cost of elite private schools and the fact that so many influential positions are now filled by those who were able to spend years in under- or unpaid internships and fellowships gaining access to those in power.

Kendzior hits hard on the surreal situation that exists in our public universities too, where student costs have shot through the roof, yet, in many cases, over 70% of tenure-track faculty has been replaced by poorly paid adjuncts. She also examines student-loan debt, stagnant and declining wages, the exorbitant cost of living in big cities, the gender gap, the shootings of unarmed black men, the surveillance state, and so much more. It's not a heartening collection to read, but Kendzior's candor is refreshing, and hope springs eternal that heightened awareness may eventually lead to solutions.

~Ann, Adult Services

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, one of the most memorable events of the Civil Rights movement. On August 28th, 1963, around 200,000 gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in support of Civil Rights, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who famously told the world about his dream of a better and more equal world.

2013 is, in many ways, very different from 1963, and even more so than 1863 when President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. There are many great resources available for you to learn about the ways in which our nation has changed, and the stories of those who participated in the 1963 March. Stop into Carnegie-Stout to check out our display of books and DVDs on the first floor, or explore some of these great online resources:

C-SPAN is offering live coverage of today's celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, both on their television channel and through online streaming: officialmlkdream50.com








Monday, August 26, 2013

Women's Equality Day

Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971
Designating August 26 of each year as Women’s Equality Day

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and

WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.

Thanks, Bella!

Start your Women’s Equality Day by checking out some of materials available at Carnegie-Stout Public Library, and if you have time to go exploring online, try these websites:

The Iowa Women’s Archives

The National Women’s History Project http://www.nwhp.org/resourcecenter/equalityday.php

Bend,not break: a life in two worlds by Ping Fu with MeiMei Fox.  Fu’s autobiography covers her time as a child soldier in China through her selection as Inc Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Dearsisters: dispatches from the women’s liberation movement by Rosalyn Baxandall and Linda Gordon.  This anthology collects original documents of the feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s.

Ironjawed angels directed by Katja von Garneir with screenplay by Sally Robinson and story by Jennifer Friedes. A dramatization of the lives of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, this DVD is a favorite of League of Women Voters members.

Alittle f’d up: why feminism is not a dirty word by Julie Zeilinger.   Try this “primer on feminism for teenagers” (so described in a review in Library Journal) by a blogger who was born in 1993. 

Notfor ourselves alone: the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony directed by Ken Burns and produced by Paul Barnes from a book by Geoffrey C. Ward.  The friendship of two leaders of the women’s rights movement serves as the backdrop for this history lesson.

Onewoman, one vote written and produced by Ruth Pollak and Felicia Widmann.  The documentary originally aired on Public Television’s series, The American Experience

Strong-mindedwomen; the emergence of the woman-suffrage movement in Iowa by Louise R. Noun.  Des Moines resident Louise Noun, who died in 2002, wrote this history of suffrage in Iowa and its sequel, Morestrong-minded women: Iowa feminists tell their stories.



~Michelle, Adult Services