The two of us have been celebrating International Women’s Day for nearly fifty years. Back then there were no proclamations in U.S. cities, no corporate hoo-hah. In recent years that’s all changed. We’ve seen McDonald’s flip the golden arches from an “M” to a “W”on March 8; Amazon declares they have five ways you can celebrate with them. So a quick reminder of the origin of the day. While it is, in fact, an international event, this holiday was inspired by garment workers in NYC, thousands of … [Read more...]
Standing Up as a Resource for Students
One thing we hear from workers who are organizing at places like Amazon and Starbucks is how much they wish they’d learned about the history of unions and organizing when they were in school. We were delighted that Linda Christensen, an extraordinary teacher and writer and one of the editors at Rethinking Schools, wrote this about our book: “A must read for anyone serious about working for change in the world and for anyone who loves a great story. It will be a wonderful addition to the … [Read more...]
The Stories We Need to Tell
When I started the search for a publisher for Again and Again, a high-profile friend referred me to a big name agent (we’ll call him Mr. Big). “He wants women writers,” she told me. “Your novel is just what he’s looking for.” Mr. Big worked the old-fashioned way: no electronic submissions. As directed by his website, I sent a single-page query via snail mail. Six weeks later I got a one-paragraph reply in my mailbox asking for the first 50 pages, which I shipped immediately. Another six weeks … [Read more...]
Behind the Book: Again and Again: Origins of a Novel
My friend “Carol,” a school principal, got the call at lunch time just as she was leaving for the hustle-bustle of the cafeteria. The caller identified himself as an investigative reporter who’d tracked Carol down because she’d been good friends in college with a woman raped by a fellow student. That guy had gotten off scot free and was now a candidate for the U.S. Congress. It was up to Carol to stop him, the reporter insisted. The reporter happened to be from a Republican news outlet; the … [Read more...]