It Takes a Woman, W-O-M-A-N!
Women have been fighting to break into the highest ranks of government long before they had achieved the right to vote. It started in 1864 when Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association, and they have been making great strides ever since.
Victoria Woodhull was nominated for President of the United States by the newly formed Equal Rights Party in 1872, on a ticket with Frederick Douglass.
Belva Lockwood ran as the candidate of the National Equal Rights Party in 1884 and 1888. Her running mate in the first election was Marietta L. Stow – an all female ticket! (more…)
Toward a Dream Realized
Watching Barack Obama accept the nomination at the Democratic National Convention, I was stunned by how proud I felt to see people of every race, gender and creed taking part in the process – speaking, debating, protesting, nominating, conceding, championing, building, educating…and making history
Regardless of your politics, today is a day to celebrate. We have turned a new corner as a nation, and it will have deep and lasting implications.
Today, our country, a symbol of freedom and equality to many beyond its borders, breaks through a new boundary – taking that symbol to new heights.
Today is a day of historic import, commemorating civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr’s landmark speech describing his dream of justice and racial equality. It is a momentous day, as Barack Obama became the first African-American nominated by a major political party for the Presidency of the United States of America. It is a meaningful day, as we renew the self-evident truth that all men are created equal.
Today, we are offered a reminder of our responsibility to wake ourselves up, to dream beyond what others think possible, to be courageous, to break down walls, to build up others, to scale new heights, to never accept “impossible”, to face the odds, to remember our strength, to seize the day. And we are offered a challenge of mutual responsibility to build communities and lives worthy of the opportunity before us.
Or to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
A Corporate Revolution: Downsizing with Respect
Often when companies are faced with the grim task of downsizing, focus is placed on the details of headcount, organizational charts and numbers, while the basics of how to communicate the change is given the short shrift.
In a recent New York Times article, After Downsizing, How to Motivate?, Kelley Holland explores this issue.
The wobbly economy is producing a steady stream of layoff announcements — the number of extended mass layoffs rose 8 percent in the second quarter, based on preliminary numbers, versus the period a year earlier. So it’s more important than ever for managers to understand how best to handle these downsizings, not just for those who lose their jobs, but also for those who are still working.
