Sor. Juana Tells It All to Current Feminists

The National Museum of Mexican Art (www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org ) in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago is best known for its exhibits of Mexican art and history. The museum has become a focal point for the community offering classes and celebrating many milestones, events, and people in the Mexican-American community. The neighborhood surrounding the museum is home to many outdoor wall murals such as the one in the picture below which are themselves worthy of a visit.

                                                              

One of their events coming soon is the Sor. Juana Festival. Never having heard of Sor. Juana before, I was intrigued by the notices about her on the museum’s walls. Sor. Juana Ines de la Cruz, who lived from 1651 to 1695 in Mexico, is often considered the first feminist of the Americas. Unwilling to live under the restrictions placed on married women of that time, at age 16, Sor. Juana joined a convent where she was better able to study, learn, and achieve. She became a renowned writer and scholar writing many plays, comedies, historical vignettes, essays, and poems.

Intrigued about this woman who had achieved so much despite all the obstacles which she faced, I sought her works in the library. The one I found that had been translated into English was a A Sor Juana Anthology translated by Alan S. Trueblood with a forward by Octavio Paz. This book contains her famous answer to the Bishop of Puebla who denounced her endeavors and urged her to restrict her activities to Bible reading only. In the letter, Sor. Juana talks about the difficulty she had learning when there were no teachers or classes available to her. Almost all of her knowledge was self-taught. Despite being able to overcome the obstacles herself, she advocated for girls to have the opportunity to get an education.

In addition to this letter, many of Sor. Juana’s poetry is in this volume. While I’m sure much of it was lost in the translation across centuries, worlds, and languages, Sor. Juana still has something to say. Many of her poems have a feminist theme such as “52” which extols an 18 year old girl’s achievements and decries the obstacles in her life that the powers of the time placed in her path.

I have to marvel at all that Sor. Juana did and be grateful that I live in this era instead of then. Despite all that we have achieved in securing women’s rights, however, there are those who wish to take them away. I think that we can all learn from Sor. Juana about how to fight that.

For more information about the Sor. Juana Festival, you can contact the National Museum of Mexican Art (www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org )

Our Tax Dollars At Work - Can't We Get An Itemized Bill!

For most of us, writing checks to the IRS is a painful experience worthy of really deep procrastination. Maybe that’s why last year on April 15^th when I went to the post office to mail a package, the line was out the door and around the corner. For many, paying taxes is a major hardship so people wait to file until the last possible minute.

With that in mind, Moveon.org organizes a protest each Tax Day [the last day that tax return forms are due] at post offices throughout America. They hope to reach people as they run into mail their last minute tax return forms. This year, I joined Moveon.org at the main post office in Evanston, Illinois.

We distributed literature with information about where our tax dollars are going. According to Moveon.org and The War Resisters League, 29% of the Federal budget is being used for the current military and 18% for past military – 47% of the budget.

Besides the human tragedy of people killed and severely wounded, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing us all a lot of money. According to a Brown University study, the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost a combined 3.7 trillion dollars thus far. According to the COSTOFWAR.com, the cost has been $802, 833, 805,000 for the War in Iraq and counting and the War in Afghanistan has cost $502,655,230,000 and counting. These numbers are so huge that I can’t relate to them. I doubt if many other people can either. Maybe that’s one reason why we allow our government to do these things in our name with our money.

                                                          

Here’s a number to which most people can relate, however: These above groups estimate that the wars have cost each American about $12,000 thus far. While the War in Iraq is officially over, we are still paying contractors. The War in Afghanistan goes on. I don’t know about you, but my husband and I have already spent at least $24,000 on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and will be continuing to pay for it until these wars can be ended. I can think of a lot of places that I’d prefer my money to go. We have to remember that this is our money that’s being spent. We have to remember that not only when we file our tax returns but also on every Election Day. 

 

A Bowl of Oranges On My Seder Plate

Is 2012 the year of the women in America or the year of the backlash against the progress that women have made in being able to shape their own lives and participate in the world? Hoping that it’s the year that women unite to protect and reclaim their rights, I attended the Women’s Seder at Beth Emet Synagogue. It was a wonderful event that was hosted by Beth Emet and Temple Emanuel and attended by women from several Jewish Congregations and Churches. We shared our own stories after reading the Women’s Haggadah and realized how much more we have in common than we have issues that divide us.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, women’s seders were more popular. They celebrate the contributions that women made to Jewish survival and the flight from Egypt and slavery. At most women’s seders, an orange is added to the Seder plate. Many reasons have been given as the orange on the seder plate has joined our many myths and folk lore. This explanation is taken from a women’s seder that was done at Temple Shir Shalom in Buffalo Grove, Illinois in 1997:

 “Years ago, when women were first ordained rabbis, Susannah Heschel gave a speech in Florida.

After Heschel spoke of women’s emerging equality in Jewish life, a man arose in anger exclaiming, “A woman belongs on the bimah (pulpit) as much as an orange belongs on the Seder plate!”

Since attending that Seder, I have added an orange to our family Seder plate every year. This year, the orange will be a poignant reminder of all the rights women stand to lose if we are not vigilant and organized. This year I will put out a bowl of cuties (mini tangerines) instead to remind us of how people fail to take women seriously. I will cut them with my E.R.A. knife, the knife I used many years ago to open a box of fliers in Bloomington, Illinois where some of us had gone to publicize a rally in Chicago for the E.R.A. We’ll remember that 36 states are proposing laws to outlaw contraception and that affirmative action is under attack. We’ll remind ourselves that the E.R.A. was never ratified and so constitutionally, women were never granted full citizenship. We’ll remind ourselves that we have to strive to further and protect freedom in our own time and place.

At the same time, we’ll feel united with people around the world. We’ll rejoice with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who was recently elected to Parliament in Myanmar formerly known as Burma after almost two decades under house arrest. We’ll pray with the women of Saudi Arabia that by next year at this time, they will all have their driver’s licenses. We’ll pray that women everywhere are safe. We’ll pray for a peaceful and safe world for all people.

I want to wish everyone a blessed and happy holiday Passover/ Easter season. Let’s all remember what we have in common and work together for a world where all people are treated with respect and fairness. Happy Passover. Happy Easter. May the coming year be a better one for America and all the world.

The War Against Women Widens

When I saw it on a Goodreads.com discussion, I couldn’t believe it. On March 20, 2012, had the Supreme Court really voided a provision of the 1993 Family Leave and Medical Act? Before I jumped into the fray, I verified that the Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Tribune, and several blog sites had in fact, reported it. So I guess it’s true that the Supreme Court ruled that state employees don’t have the right to sue the state or state colleges/universities if they are denied unpaid medical leave. The Court has ruled that individuals have no right to sue a sovereign state on this matter. Employees of private companies can still seek redress so all is not lost but once again, protections under our fragile, crumbling safety net have been whittled away. Ruth Bader Ginsburg felt strongly enough about it to read the dissenting opinion aloud in the Court’s chambers.

First people in many states wanted to pass restrictions on abortion. Next came the attacks on contraceptives. (In 36 states, bills are being discussed to outlaw contraceptives.) Now the Supreme Court has just made it more difficult for a sector of workers to take the 12 week unpaid family leave for health conditions including pregnancy and giving birth. This only makes it more difficult for women to hold on to their jobs after having a baby, further eroding support for working families many of whom need two incomes or a single mother’s income to survive. “Welfare as we know it” was done away with in the 1990's and now, people are losing another semblance of job security. What’s next? Perhaps there’s a legalistic reason to strike down child labor laws, the eight hour work day, and OSHA. If there is, let’s do it. After all, we have to do everything we can to protect “the job creators.”

When I first started writing this blog, I intended to give nutritious, tasty, and above all quick recipes so that we could spend less time in the kitchen and more time making the world a better place. As a refrigerator magnet I once received says, “Cook your own damn dinner.” For the time being, as a symbolic protest to the assault on women’s rights, I will not be sharing any recipes. We all have too much to do out there to be spending much time in the kitchen.

Thank you, everyone, for allowing me this rant. 

Looking for Comfort Recipes and a Return to the Past

Tuesday was Primary Day in Illinois and this year, people were trying to shape the future by returning to the past. I am referring to two issues: contraception and school desegregation.

First contraception: What are they thinking? That women are having sex by themselves? Why aren’t men being held partly responsible? In other posts, I’ve decried a nostalgia for the ‘50’s. The thinking here goes far past that to 1916 when Margaret Sanger organized the first birth control clinic.

In 1960, the birth control pill was first approved by the FDA making it possible for many people to decide how many children they would have and when they would have them. At this point, women (but why not say couples? Is there a political plan in talking about women’s contraceptives) were, able to actually plan their lives. Now many powers that be want to take that empowerment away. In 36 states, laws are being discussed that would curtail couples’ rights to use contraceptives. Republicans, who talk of limiting the role of government in controlling our lives, are often spearheading this return to the bad old days when contraceptives were illegal and back alley abortions were one of the few family planning alternatives available.

Now school desegregation: In the Skokie-Evanston School District #65, we voted on a school funding referendum to build a new elementary school in a low-income mostly minority neighborhood. Since we did not live in the district when our children were school age, we aren’t as familiar with all the history behind this, but for the past 40 years, busing has been used in this district to achieve racial balance in the schools. The referendum was for building a neighborhood school that would have essentially resegregated the children in this neighborhood. It felt wrong to vote against a referendum for school funding but it felt even more wrong to vote for school resegregation. It didn’t work before 1954 and I see no reason why it would be successful now. With a sad heart, I had to vote NO. Hopefully, a better plan will be devised for next year to educate all the district’s children in a way that will promote maximum academic achievement and good citizenship in our multi-ethnic world.

There are many aspects of modern life that are frightening and perhaps that’s why many long for a return to a simplistic past – which I believe is for the most part over-idealized. Maybe you have some thoughts about it readers. I’d love to hear them.

At any rate, yesterday was an upsetting Election Day. At times like these, many reach for comfort foods. This is a family recipe for meatloaf. It’s simple food both to eat and to cook and feels really good. Prep time is 10 minutes. Serves four.

                                                                      Meatloaf

1 ½ pounds ground beef
¼ pound bread crumbs
catsup, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley to taste
¼ pound mushrooms sliced
½ package of onion soup mix
water

Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit.

Mix the ground beef with the breadcrumbs, catsup, and seasoning in a big mixing bowl.
Put in a baking pan and shape into a loaf. Put mushrooms and onion soup mix on top of the meatloaf. Add water to bottom of the pan. Cook for about 45 minutes.

  

So Good to Be Back In the U.S.A.

“We need to see your passports,” said the person at the door.

We showed our passports and the contents of our backpacks. The door cracked open. “Where are you from and what do you want here?”

“We’re from Chicago and we’d like to come in.”

He opened the door and warily let us in. We were at the main synagogue and Jewish Museum in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Having lived in the United States for most of our lives, we couldn’t have anticipated that reaction to our request. We take for granted the ease with which we can enter a synagogue anywhere in the U.S. We can do this without fear because for the most part, we are safe here. Our trip to South America was a jolting reminder that that is not the case for Jews in many other parts of the world.

Even passing inspection, we were not allowed to walk through the Museum freely. Rather, we were taken on a guided tour by a guide who wouldn’t let us out of her sight for more than a minute or two at a time. Twenty years ago, the Jewish Federation building in Buenos Aires was bombed and 85 people were killed. The Jewish community of Argentina, which used to number about 500,000, is now about 250,000. Many Jews left during the Argentine economic crisis 10 years ago. Others had left earlier during their Dirty War (1976-82) during which 1900 Jews were among the 30,000 Disappeared. Now, although Jews seem to be free to enter professions and live in Argentina anywhere, the community is still extremely fearful.

A few days later, we had a tour of their federation (AMIA) building and had to pass through a similar inspection. Once we passed it, however, we were treated cordially. Their organization is strong, reaching out to all the subgroups of their community. I would show you pictures of the synagogue, but we were emphatically told by an armed security guard not to take pictures of it. We did take pictures at the AMIA and here is one of a memorial created by Agam, the abstract artist, to those who perished in the bombing 20 years ago.

                                                      
Sometimes, in the process of advocating for America to be even better, we forget what is good here.  There were many wonderful things to see in Argentina and Chile and we had a great trip. I’ll talk about some more of them in the next week of two and share a couple of recipes I got there. Nevertheless, I wasn’t kidding when I said it was good to be back in the U.S.A.

Another good thing was having access to working appliances. We got home early enough to defrost leftovers for dinner. A working refrigerator, washing machine, and dryer. Yeah!!

                                  Chicken in White Wine with Capers and Mushrooms

Boneless skinless chicken breasts

Italian flavored breadcrumbs
Olive oil
Water
Mushrooms sliced
Minced garlic
Onion chopped
Oregano
Parsley
White wine

Dip the chicken breasts in water and then breadcrumbs. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the chicken breasts. Then set aside.

Use the rest of the olive oil to sauté the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the skillet and bring sauce to a boil.
Add the chicken breasts back and turn down the heat to low-medium. Cook for about 45 minutes.  

Now From the Other 1% - An Interview With John H. Sibley

Today my guest is John H. Sibley, painter, writer, and author of Being and Homelessness.
Q.What do you think is the most pressing problem in America today?

A. Wealth and income disparity. We are talking about 400 wealthy Americans that have more  aggregate wealth than 150 million Americans

 As I state in my book, blacks are still reeling from the horrific effects of four hundred years of institutional racism. Released from slavery in 1865 -only 147 years ago, but without the ' fourty acres and a mule', without equity for centuries of free labor has had a devastating effect on black economic growth in US.

 Only twenty five years after Lincoln freed the slaves, much of American industry had merged into huge firms. In fact, of the fortune 500 largest corporations in 1994 more than half were founded between 1880 and 1930-----75 years after blacks were freed. Companies like Kodak, Johnson and Johnson, Coca Cola, Westinghouse, Ford Motor and Walt Disney.

 None of those American industrial colossus of the first decade of the twentieth century were owned or controlled by blacks. I think of black inventors like McCoy, Matzellger, Latimer, Carver and Garrett A. Morgan , who patented an automatic traffic signal which directed the role of the traffic. What if Morgan had retained his patent instead of selling it to General Electric Company for the paltry sum of $140,000.

Q. How do we introduce a discussion of class and poverty into the discussion of race?

 A. I think without the shackles of historic institutional racism, black's generational poverty' would not be as  persistent. The only way to introduce this volatile issue into the national discussion on race is education in schools. Which would increase the awareness of the economic impact of slavery on blacks. Black's have to also blame themselves for not making capitalism work for them rather than against them. Since 2008, 530 black youths have been killed in black on black genocide. The so called black leaders have been sold out via the allure of status, wealth, women, using entitlements as their bargaining tool. Black people must become more scientific, frugal, and abandon individualistic greed.

Q How did you end your downward spiral into hopelessness?

A. I was hired as a temp by a hi tech accoustic company. I have worked 23 years as a supervisor. A Polish production manager named Mark Sokolis hired me and changed my life forever. I made a vow I would never be jobless...... and I would pursue my creative impulse after working. Being homeless taught me not to have illusions about how the effects of depravity can happen because of  not understanding how to navigate in a brutal market driven capitalist system.

Q. Do you still paint?

A. I still draw and paint. But writing is so much easier. No turpentine. No brushes. No canvas. No mask from the carcinogenic toxins in paint. No pollution. Writing is more cerebral. Easier. When I say easier, I mean it is not as cumbersome. Not as subjective. A Jackson Pollock painting needs a narrative to understand it. You don't need that to understand the words I am writing.

I believe like the streetwise artist David Hammons that gallery paintings are just one of the objects that's in the path of your existence. The Chicago art world is a metaphor( globally) for galleries, art brokers, art magazines and agents. Unlike literature, too many people have to critique your work on a subjective level. The Chicago art world is so full if nepotism, cronyism, and racism it makes me ad nausea .

Q What supports do you think homeless people need to survive?

A. The essays in my book are meant to give a micro and macro view of Homelessness in the US and also grabble with the global impact. I hope this book, which is a plea to maximize this nation's resources,  both public and private, helps the wretched existence of the homeless.

 The homeless problems had become a Malthusian nightmare not just in Chicago but in urban areas across the nation and the world.

It would be disingenuous to state that the homeless only need shelter when the problem is much deeper than that. The government needs to invest in creating what I call IHRC integrative-holistic-rehab Centers that combat the multiple causes of Homelessness.

We must always keep in mind that the homelessness in the US is wretched. Yet when you consider that there are 2.4 billion people in the world living on $2 a day or in Uganda 25 cents a day, those problems are even more dire.

Thank you, John, for your thoughtful answers to these questions. Readers if you have any more questions for him, you can contact him at docsib@yahoo.com.