Column Archive

When It’s Personal, It’s Possible

Reprints used by permission only. Clueless at the Top. Harriet and Charlotte Childress.

A time to celebrate, David Paterson becomes governor. Yes, it is a momentous day for African Americans and people with disabilities. But it’s much more than that.

David Paterson furthers my hope that we as a country can finally abandon the puppet strings we have danced to for over two centuries – the false belief that following the people on top of our hierarchies will create a healthy country that truly operates for all of us and for the good of the world.

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Marriage – They Can Have It
Reprints used by permission only. Clueless at the Top. Harriet and Charlotte Childress.

Betty Friedan: “If divorce has increased, don’t blame the women’s movement. Blame the obsolete sex roles on which our marriages were based.”

Andy Rooney: “Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage.”

The institution of marriage is out of the closet. Despite decades of Cinderella-story cover-ups and “happy-ever-after” gloss-overs, the hierarchical roots of marriage are surfacing for a wide audience to see. This exposure presents us with an opportunity to advance equality worldwide as we stop listening to the people at the top of our hierarchies.

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George Wallace Calling
Reprints used by permission only. Clueless at the Top. Harriet and Charlotte Childress.

Microsoft Corporation withdrew support for benefits for same-sex couples when a former football player turned minister called and threatened a boycott against them. If Microsoft had been contacted by George Wallace, would they have decided to oppose Civil Rights bills decades ago? Where would we in the United States be today if we had waited around for Wallace to see the light?

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Hierarchy 101: Summers, Women, and Math
From Women’s enews (womensenews.com - 03/16/05 ) and reprinted on Working Assets website: workingforchange.com

To find out how to increase women's participation in math and science, don't ask a guy at the top of the academic and social hierarchy. Ask people who are routinely discouraged by the way math and science are made to seem out of their reach.

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Two Sides of the Same Coin
Reprints used by permission only. Clueless at the Top. Harriet and Charlotte Childress.

What do right-wing Christians and progressive liberals have in common? The answer to this question can change our country.

This recent story from two neighboring cities – Springfield and Eugene, Oregon – could happen in any state.

WHAT’S IN COMMON
Both situations started with a committee that worked long hours preparing recommendations to improve equity in their school district. The school board was expected to pass the plan. But then, a large group of like-minded citizens stormed a school board meeting to object the proposed plan, and wanted to be part of a new solution.

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