Sunday, February 15, 2004

The White House Project

Update
February 2004

In this issue:
The White House Project and V-Day premiere their new campaigns
President's Day Newsflash
Marie C. Wilson to release her new bookon the leadership gap
HBO's Iron-Jawed Angels
The White House Project in the News - O Magazine and Glamour
Support the White House Project

Marlo Thomas, Jane Rosenthal, Whoopi Goldberg, Nora Ephron and Tina Brown Co-host Campaign Premiere

Susan Sarandon, Tina Brown, Marlo Thomas and Marie C. Wilson

Marie C. Wilson and Rha Goddess

Loreen Arbus and Pamela-Thomas Graham

Davia Temin, Mary McCormick and Wini Freund
The White House Project and V-Day premiered their campaigns to get women to the polls and onto the path of political leadership on February 9th at the home of Marlo Thomas.

Generously co-hosted by the award-winning actress and activist, Ms. Thomas, a founding mother of the Ms. Foundation for Women, introduced the event by talking about the critical importance of women's political participation.

Marie C. Wilson, president of The White House Project, followed by telling the crowd of almost 90 high-level media and guests about Vote, Run, Lead, The White House Project's new initiative to make women a force in the 2004 election and beyond.

"Through our campaign, we will train 1,000 young women this year for political leadership and engage over 25,000 new women activists across the country," said Wilson.

The nationwide campaign will center on leadership trainings, public service announcements, get-out-the-vote efforts, grassroots meetings, a sweeping internet campaign and events in over a dozen states.

V-Day's V is for Vote taps into the power of young women across the country on and off college campuses through innovative and creative action. Eve Ensler, award-winning playwright and V-Day founder, talked about the power of women's votes and women's voices. Spoken word artist Rha Goddess performed a short piece from her new monologue "I Got Issues."

Both organizations collaborated in the development of their campaigns and will build off of the inspiration and actions of each other.

Additional White House Project Vote, Run, Lead partners (lists in formation) include: Youth Vote, Rock the Vote, Declare Yourself, Lifetime TV, and Starbucks. Advisory Board Members so far include: Geraldine Ferraro, singer Melissa Etheridge, comedienne Kathy Najimy, super model Amber Valletta, and soccer star Julie Foudy.

PRESIDENT'S DAY NEWS FLASH!
Almost 40,000 girls have earned theMs. President Girl Scout patch, which was created in collaboration with The White House Project. Activities girls can do to earn the patch include: interviewing someone they admire as a leader, writing an essay about what leadership means to them, designing their own campaign and campaign announcement, identifying community issues they believe are important.

CLOSING THE LEADERSHIP GAP: WHY WOMEN CAN AND MUST HELP RUN THE WORLD
In her provocative new book, Marie C. Wilson argues that since women have had to learn to lead without the authority typically conferred on men, women are even more prepared to lead with the qualities that our country and companies urgently need.

"Leading without authority has forced women to think outside of the box, to build consensus, and to bring people together across communities," said Wilson.

She contends that now more than ever we must make changes to strengthen our democracy so that women have the authority and voice to help run the world. Go towww.closingtheleadershipgap.com to read the latest newsletter and to order the book to be released March 8th by Viking/Penguin

TUNE IN TO AN AMAZING STORY
IRON JAWED ANGELS


On HBO on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. you can see the amazing story of Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and other brave women who pushed for a constitutional amendment in the early 1900's so that women can vote. Yet, in the 2000 election, according to the census bureau, more than 15 million young women between 18 and 34 year olds did not exercise this hard-won right and stayed home from the polls. When you see the story of how women sacrificed so that we could have a say about who gets into public office, you will never miss another chance to draw the curtain and pull the lever.

The film, which was premiered to women's groups, vividly shows how Paul, Burns and other women laid their lives on the line for our right. They were attacked by mobs and imprisoned under trumped-up charges for picketing and protesting. During her prison term, Paul is forced into solitary confinement for breaking a prison window for air, put in a strait-jacket and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Diagnosed as mentally stable, she is allowed back into the general prison population where she leads the suffragettes on a hunger strike. In a gut-wrenching moment in the fight for women's rights, the women are force-fed under orders from the warden. An earnest prison guard secretly furnishes Paul with pen and paper where she details their mistreatment. When word of their awful conditions become known, they are dubbed"iron-jawed angels" and public support turns in their favor.

Tune in and learn more about the incredible work and sacrifice of our foremothers. www.iron-jawed-angels.com

Click here to register to vote

White House Project in the News
The March issues of O Magazine and Glamour feature Closing the Leadership Gap and The White House Project's initiatives to move more women into leadership positions.

Click here to read the O Magazine article



Help us Hurry History - Click here to make a donation to The White House Project

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