We’ve already had two elections this spring, and we’re gearing up for the “big” one in November. I hope women realize their votes can make the difference in how this state and country is governed. One hundred years ago, women in America were protesting the fact that they could not cast a vote on their own. It was often said, by men of course, that the women’s opinions were registered by their husband’s votes.

Cuesta College Tennis Team Title IX violations: We held a very successful event on May 6 presenting the timely issue of Title IX violations at Cuesta College. Title IX, passed in 1972, requires all educational institutions receiving federal money to ensure that women receive equal opportunity to participate in sports. Cuesta has been in violation of this requirement before, in 1994, and made changes to its athletic programs to bring it into compliance. However, in January 2010, Cuesta abruptly cancelled the women’s tennis team, despite the acute interest and participation …

Here’s some news of note about mothers and August 26th marks the day the 36th state legislature ratified the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, making it official: all women have the right to vote. Beginning in the 1840’s as a whisper among women abolitionists and temperance supporters, women took the tactics and strategies developed in those fights and used them to advocate for suffrage for themselves. However, it took 72 years from the First Women’s Right Convention in Seneca Falls, in 1848, until that date in 1920 for our goal to be realized.

It has been three years since the Supreme Court’s conservative majority abruptly departed from precedent to uphold a federal ban on a particular method of abortion. Emboldened, foes of reproductive freedom are pressing new attacks on women’s rights and health.

The display at the SLO public library in March to commemorate Women’s History Month got lots of attention for NOW and women. For those of you who didn’t get a chance to see it, here are a couple of pictures. The Board of Supervisors issued a proclamation in honor of Women’s History Month as well, with a roomful of San Luis Obispo County’s distinguished women in the audience. It was quite a thrill!

May 1: birthday of Mary Harris (Mother Jones) labor activist, 1830
May 1: International Workers’ Day
May 6: International No Diet Day
May 18: NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
June 1: Equal Pay Act becomes law, 1964
June 12: US Women’s Air force established, 1948
June 15: NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
June 18: Sally Ride, first woman in space, 1983
June 19: birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese activist, 1945
June 19: Juneteenth, anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation
June 22: birthday of Dianne Feinstein, 1933
June 22: Amelia Earhart files solo across Pacific Ocean, 1932
June 23: Title IX becomes law, …

Here’s some news of note about mothers and working families:
1. Maternal deaths are down for the first time in decades. Researchers are reporting a significant drop worldwide in the number of women dying each year from pregnancy and childbirth, to about 342,900 in 2008 from 526,300 in 1980. The findings, published in the medical journal The Lancet, challenge the prevailing view of maternal mortality as an intractable problem that has defied every effort to solve it.
The study cited a number of reasons for the improvement: lower pregnancy rates in some …

An historic event occurred during Black History Month—a black woman was appointed to lead the California National Guard. Brig. Gen. Mary Kight is the first black woman to head the National Guard in any state, and is the first woman to lead the 21,000 members of California’s Army and Air National Guard.
Kight was sworn in by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a former Air Force base outside Sacramento. Speaking during a change-of-command ceremony at the California National Guard Mather Flight Facility, the Republican governor called Kight a pioneer for breaking gender …

Traditionally, the fourth Thursday in April (coincidentally, around the same date as Equal Pay Day) has been marked as a special opportunity for parents (aimed initially at women when the event premiered in the 1970’s and now expanded to include fathers) to take their daughters to work with them for the day (now expanded to include sons). Whatever your job might be, let your child shadow you for the day to see what you do and help them see how many career options are available to them. If your job does not permit “visitors,” arrange with someone to show your child the “ropes” at their work.

National NOW encourages each chapter to review the history and workings of the organization with their membership every year. We have usually used the March issue of the Women’s Press to outline how NOW works because that’s Women’s History Month. Briefly, there is a national membership organization that takes action in the political arena to bring women into the mainstream of American society, as our mission statement declares. These local grass root chapters decide national policy at an annual convention, and the executive board carries out those policy directives.