As I am about to move to another continent, I’ve found two sets of activities in America profoundly disturbing.  First, the condemnation of a proposed Muslim multi-cultural center several blocks away from Ground Zero ; second, advocates for repealing the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution enacted in 1878 to grant citizenship to Africans who had been brought [...]
As a member of the Executive Director’s Leadership Council for Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), what thrilled me the most about the Annual General Meeting (AGM) was the motivation, focus and determination of the multitude of young human rights activists. OK, having members of Amnesty’s International Secretariat, Country Directors, Board Members and Nicolas Cage sing Happy [...]
I was enthralled when Georgetown University Law Center Professor Emma Coleman Jordan gave the Fourteenth Annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society.  Her talk, “Race and New Economic Connection in Subprime Crisis” was the most coherent analysis of economic justice I’ve ever heard. Everything she spoke about relates to points I’ve made in [...]
I am keeping in mind exhortations for peace, especially Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s words, “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” As we commemorate the 37th anniversary of Salt II, Iran plans to build ten new uranium enrichment plants.   Many Americans have [...]
I often say my social activist life can be summed up, “from Selma to Soweto with a feminist perspective.”  So, to be with friends from many decades at The Feminist Press kick-off event for their 40th anniversary year was a sheer joy. Award recipients included: Arianna Huffington, the trailblazing founder of Huffington Post; Taslina Nasrin, [...]
Graham Bowley’s pieces in The New York Times “Bailout Helps Fuel New Era Wall Street Wealth” and “Bonuses Put Goldman in Public Relations Bind” and The Financial Times editorial “Public Needs More Bang for Its Buck” are among a rash of recent articles describing a disparity that virtually everyone is experiencing. I find great cause [...]
I’d worked with diplomats and women’s rights activists from several nations to promote the passage in 2000 of 1325, a UN Security Council Resolution that mandates the protection, participation and promotion of women and their involvement in all aspects of peace processes. Last week, during the opening of 64th UN General Assembly, I attended “Peace and Security through Women’s Leadership: Acting [...]
Today my husband Jerry Dunfey and I visited Arlington Cemetary to pay our respects at the graveside of Senator Edward M “Ted” Kennedy and his brothers US President John F. Kennedy and US Senator Robert F Kennedy. Having been at Ted’s funeral Aug 29, we wanted to say good sailing to our friend. I was struck [...]
Dear friend and champion of every issue of importance in the 20th and start of the 21st century, you will be so missed by so many.  The world knows you as the unmatched “Lion of the US Senate”: you are ONE in a lifetime and your loss is irreplaceable.  Those privileged to call you friend, know your passion and [...]
Women and girls are the key to sustainable development and have the capacity to resolve myriad crisis that plague our world. I applaud the many insightful articles in today’s The New York Times Magazine with the cover “Why Women’s Rights Are the Cause of Our Time” (emphasis my own). I have been an advocate of [...]