Diane DeBella and I Am Subject: Women sharing their stories to become “subjects” in the 21st century
“You raise your consciousness to a level where you feel that you must do the right thing, because it is the only right thing to do.” ~ Wangari Maathai As I left the theater after the screening of the documentary Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, her words kept running through my..
One step forward, two back. Every wave of momentum is followed by a backlash. We’re seeing a bit of that backlash now in the wake of the #metoo movement. I’ve engaged in numerous discussions recently regarding the naming of perpetrators. People seem to be searching for a litmus test of some sort. How far back..
My daughter is home from college for winter break, and the other night we sat down to watch Losing Sight of Shore, a documentary that followed a team of women taking on the challenge of rowing across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco, California to Cairns, Australia—no small feat. In fact, it took four..
Over the years, as a teacher of women writers, and as a woman writer myself, I have taught and written about countless women, their lives, and their works. I don’t shy away from a challenge. After all, I have taught Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I have examined the demons that pursued Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath,..
One of the messages I have consistently shared since putting my own story out into the world four years ago is that by sharing our truths, we can heal ourselves and help others. That is why I started the Healing Stories Project. Yesterday afternoon I was lucky enough to attend an extremely moving storytelling..
There is so much to like about living near a college town, including the opportunity to stretch my mind and expand my knowledge base. While I get to do that every time I step on campus, last week I was lucky enough to share ideas with Janell Hobson and Katha Pollitt, two of the..
Earlier this month, I had to fly coast to coast for a brief appointment. I actually spent more time traveling than I did in Los Angeles. However, my timing couldn’t have been better. Since my appointment at UCLA was only thirty minutes long, I had the rest of the day to explore the surrounding..
I have read the transcript of the Education Secretary’s prepared comments regarding her intent to change how sexual assault cases are handled on college campuses under Title IX. Let me be clear. No one should be raped or sexually assaulted, and no one should be falsely accused of rape or sexual assault. Both..
It has happened to me three times prior to this most recent incident—three times that I vividly remember. I imagine there have been other incidents over the years. The first time that I was told it was ‘all in my head’ it was actually in my ovaries—more specifically, an ovarian cyst that had..
First came the shock. The stunned silence. The disbelief. Then came more anger and rage than I felt I was capable of holding within the confines of my body. Yet that quickly dissipated, leaving me a mere shell, empty of feeling, devoid of hope. I have been advocating for the rights..