Women of Note
Jo Freeman Reviews Undaunted: How Women Changed American Journalism by Brooke Kroeger
In Undaunted the author tells the stories of numerous women who have made their mark on the profession of journalism. Reaching back to the early 19th Century, she begins with Margaret Fuller, who “unstuck the gate” in the 1840s. She carries that history to the current era, exploring several themes. Her own years as a journalist shine through in her writing. Undaunted is a good read. more »
Jo Freeman Reviews The Everyday Feminist: The Key to Sustainable Social Impact - Driving Movements We Need Now More Than Ever
"This is a complex book. It combines social theory, several personal stories, and a little bit of memoir into a very readable text. The title certainly catches your attention, as you ask what is an everyday feminist. The author offers an answer in the first chapter – several answers. She’s an activist. She works for her community, not just herself. She leads but doesn’t think of herself as a leader. She is an ordinary woman with a passion for transformational change. She mostly comes from marginalized communities. She is politically astute. She takes risks to do the right thing. She is transparent and accountable, caring and generous." more »
Sheila Pepe, Textile Artist: My Neighbor’s Garden .... In Madison Square Park, NYC
"The artist’s mother taught her to crochet in the 1960s. Pepe discovered women artists working in America who were a generation or two older and associated with the feminist art movement — Lynda Benglis, Eva Hesse, and Nancy Spero — as a crucible to launch her sculptural investigations. Those women responded to the fury of the Vietnam War and became agents of activism for Pepe who overturned hoary assumptions by responding to gender, identity, and civil rights. She also questioned the materiality in sculpture, so closely linked to gender. Pepe radicalized the grandmotherly constitution of crochet into a paradigm of feminist action." more »
Jo Freeman Reviews Shirley Chisholm, Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics
"Best known for her 1972 campaign for President, where she received over 400,000 votes in multiple primaries, she always represented the views of her constituents in Brooklyn – poor, Black and disadvantaged. Neither the first woman to run for President nor the only woman to run that year, her campaign was highly publicized at a time when the emerging women’s liberation movement was making waves. It put her into the history books." more »