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Jo Freeman: There’s Plenty To Do at the RNC – If You Have the Right Credentials
by Jo Freeman
Every national nominating convention has plenty of auxiliary events, some authorized, some not. Getting space can be a challenge; getting the word out even more so. But they do it nonetheless. Press were given a RNC 2024 Master Event Calendar, which was updated a few days later. Events began on Sunday and ended on Thursday. The actual convention sessions were just one item on the list. The calendar said if an event was Open or Closed to press, and also whom to contact to register. I’m going to describe some of the events, including a couple I went to, and a couple I was turned away from.
Since my focus is on women, I obviously wanted to go to those events – if I could.
The National Federation of Republican Women is the largest grassroots Republican women's organization in the country with hundreds of clubs. Founded in 1938, its members made the phone calls and knocked on the doors that elected Republican candidates for decades. It’s Tuesday luncheon featured Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders. The Master Calendar said it was SOLD OUT and they wouldn’t let me in. I was able to get into their lounge at the Fiserv Forum Wednesday evening, where I was repeatedly asked if I was a member, and if not, would I join. “I’m press,” I said. “I can’t join anything partisan.” I then said: “What brings you here?” On hearing that, finding anyone willing to chat with me was like pulling teeth.
Moms for Liberty met in a concert hall that afternoon. I had pre-registered, and I got in. From high in a balcony seat I listened to several people talk about the evils of transgenderism. It’s webpage says WE BELIEVE Power Belongs to the People. Sound Familiar? With a focus is on parental rights, it wants to “STOP WOKE indoctrination.”
Tuesday I went to “The New Mavericks” reception co-hosted by the Black Republican Mayors Association and the Georgia Republican Party. They honored Sen. Tim Scott, four Congressmen and two Georgia delegates – all male. There was only one mayor on stage, from Aurora, IL. The chair of the Georgia Republican Party was the one white man on the stage. At that event, women served; they didn’t speak. The RNC reported that 55 delegates to the 2024 convention are Black, up from 18 in 2016.
I missed the Independent Women’s Forum toast to “Women Who Make Our Country Great” because I went to Convention Fest: The Official Delegate Experience, which was held in the streets outside the Fiserve Forum and Baird Hall as well as some space inside Baird. To get to that one you not only needed a credential of some sort, but a USSS pass (which I have).
Concerned Women for America parked its pink bus across from the Baird Center the week before the RNC. No one was home. When Convention Fest opened on Tuesday afternoon, they set up a pink tent, from which its leaders preached to whomever passed by. It calls itself “the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization” but its focus is evangelical Christian. The slogan on the side of its pink bus captures this emphasis: “She Prays, She Votes.” A prayer precedes each sermon.
Jo Freeman Reviews: Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX
Jo Freeman Reviews: As women tackled employment discrimination, they discovered more and more inequities. The University [of Michigan] intentionally admitted more men than women, even though women had better qualifications. Among those admitted, men got more money. Women were not allowed on the marching band or into several clubs. Job ads called for "student wives." Capturing the essence of the traditional view toward women was a bas relief sculpture on the side of a major building. One side was called "The Dream of the Young Girl." It featured a woman holding a baby while a young child clutched her skirts. The other side was called "The Dream of Young Men." It featured an ocean voyage. It took 34 years to get it relocated to someplace less obvious. This [book] is an excellent case study of a nation-wide problem. more »
Rose Madeline Mula Writes: Look Who's Talking
Do you talk to your dog? Apparently that’s fairly common, especially with human contact reduced during the Covid 19 pandemic; and there’s no need to be concerned — unless your dog talks back. Just yesterday I had a heated (no pun intended) argument with my air conditioner. “Are you kidding me? You picked the hottest day of the year to quit?! Then, of course, there’s Alexa. She’s great, and always available to answer my questions, serenade me with my favorite music, play games, or just chat. I also talk to my blood pressure monitor (“That can’t be right!”); my check book register (“Wait a minute! I’m sure my balance is way higher than that!”); and my smart phone and smart watch, which are too smart for me. more »
Jo Freeman Reviews: Joni Ernst Daughter of the Heartland: My Ode to the Country That Raised Me
Jo Freeman Reviews: Joni Ernst describes herself as a "farmer, soldier, mother, Senator." Born in 1970, Ernst greatly benefitted from the doors opened by the 1960s women’s liberation movement, becoming the first woman to be elected to Congress from Iowa. Girls born in 1970 were still expected to be wives and mothers and not much more. During the Iraq War she was sent to Kuwait where she experienced combat first hand. All these experiences put serving veterans high on her personal priority list. more »
Race and Woman Suffrage, an Excerpt from One Room At a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics
Jo Freeman wrote: The reluctance of men to allow women to participate in democratic decision-making stemmed from many sources, not all of which were consistent. One of the biggest deterrents was the importance of race in American politics, especially in the South. According to Southern historian Anne Firor Scott, "Because many of the early suffragists were abolitionists, the idea of woman's rights was anathema in the South." ... Once suffrage was won, black men and women took greater interest in what women could do with the ballot. more »
