Daily Archives: February 27, 2023

Authors Luncheon April Program

Authors Luncheon April Program By Angela Scarlett

Hi Lovely AAUW Members!

Due to the lack of a program director this year, scheduling an Authors Luncheon has been more challenging.

However, Charmen Goehring, our Funds director and CHAR president, generously offered to share CHAR’s authors luncheon in April.

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023, 11a.m.-2 p.m.,

Location: North Ridge Country Club, 7600 Madison Ave., Fair Oaks

Menu: Choice of Chicken Marsala with roasted potatoes and grilled vegetables or Pasta Primavera with marinara sauce and grilled vegetables. Choice of Limoncello Cake or Fruit Cup. Bread. Coffee, iced tea, hot tea and water.

Reservations: Price $30. Checks made payable to AAUW CHAR or electronic payment accepted. AAUW Sacramento Branch reservations should be sent to Charmen Goehring (address in directory). Members may also send payment and RSVP via Venmo to @Charmen-Goehring (send it as “personal”). RESERVATIONS DUE BY APRIL 19. PLEASE INDICATE MENU CHOICE in “memo” section of check.

Come hear local author Christine Hunter talk about the women and stories she encountered when writing her recent book, “We Can Do This!: Sacramento’s Trailblazing Political Women and the Community They Shaped”.

Chris is a former Sacramento City Planning Commission member and volunteer lobbyist. She has worked on many political campaigns. In her book, she took a deep dive into the women serving Sacramento from 1972 to 2014. Her book is available on Amazon if you want to read it before our lunch date. We may even have a special guest joining Chris to further add to the discussion.

Interest Group/Book Group Happenings

Interest Group Happenings By Vicki Nicholson

Art & Architecture: March 3, 10 a.m., contact Deborah Dunn
Board Games: March 31, 7 p.m., Ruth Werner’s home
Great Decisions I: March 20, 7 p.m. on Zoom, topic–Economic Warfare, contact Cathy Locke
Great Decisions II: March 9, 6-8 p.m. on Zoom, contact Lynn Wood for topic.
Great Decisions III: March 20, 1 p.m., contact Kathy Schrumpf for topic
Healthy Heart: March 17, Fabian’s (corner of Fair Oaks and Madison), noon, contact Jane Cooley to confirm time.
Readers’ Theater: March 14, 10 a.m., Mary Williams’ home
Scrabble for Fun: March 27, 1 p.m., Vivian Counts’ home
Singles Dining: March 5, 6 p.m., contact Nancy McCabe for venue

Book Group News By Sharon Anderson

March Book Groups

Book Group 1:
The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich, on March 9; coordinator is Joy Clous

Book Group 2:
Magnolia Palace, by Fiona Davis, on March 7; coordinator is Carol Hayes

Book Group 3:
This is How it Always Is, by Laurie Frankel, on March 22; coordinator is Carolyn Meeker

Book Group 4:
A Beautiful Country, by Qian Julie Wang, on March 8; coordinator is Pat Morehead

Book Group 6:
Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro, on March 20; coordinator is Kim Rutledge

Book Group 8:
The Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams, on March 27; coordinator is Diana Squire

Book Group 10:
The Five Wounds, by Kristin Valdez Quade, on March 16; coordinator is Sandi Schoenman

Book Group 12:
West With Giraffes, by Lynda Rutledge, on March 2; coordinator is Linda Cook

Membership News

New Member Orientation Meeting By Marty McKnew and Donna Holmes

Sat. March 25, 2023, 10:30 am
Arcade Library Meeting Room
2443 Marconi Ave, Sacramento

All members welcome!

Celebrating March Birthdays! By Donna Holmes

Happy Birthday to All!

PJ Missman 3/1
Patricia Morgan 3/5
Sharon Norris 3/6
Marjorie Patzer 3/6
Julia Maclay 3/8
Vicky Lovell 3/9
Alice Bauer 3/14
Mary Lou Lentz 3/17
Carolyn Meeker 3/17
Tracy Ramondini 3/17
Janice Chung 3/19
Cecilia Delury 3/25
Elizabeth Jordan 3/28

Two Recent Obituaries By Linda Sparks

We lost two 50-year members this year: Georgia Richardson in September and Dorie Bracchi in October. Both were educators. Georgia taught for the San Juan Unified School District, working with Continuing Education High School students. Dorie was a nursing educator for Sacramento City College students.

Georgia’s community involvement was mainly through her church. She started the Great Books interest group for our branch and was the leader until she moved away from Sacramento. She was always ready to help in any way that the branch requested. She decided she did not want to permanently live in such a hot place so she purchased a home facing Glass Beach in Fort Bragg and moved there. Her daughter still lives in this home.

Dorie’s community involvement was mainly with the Sacramento Jazz Festival. She and her husband, Alex, were involved from the outset of this festival, working in several venues, but spent the most years working at the Firehouse Court Courtyard until the festival ended. After retiring from teaching nursing, she started playing bridge frequently. She earned many Master points at competitive events.

Both will be missed.

Scholarship /Legacy Circle

Scholarship Filing Period Extended By Cathy Locke

Due to technical difficulties that delayed posting the application on our website, we have extended the filing period for our 2023-24 branch scholarships to April 1, 2023.

A downloadable application package, including academic and other criteria for applicants, is now available at http://sacramento-ca.aauw.net/programs/scholarships.

We are offering $3,000 scholarships to Sacramento County women age 25 or older who are pursuing their first baccalaureate degree at American River College, Cosumnes River College, Folsom Lake College, Sacramento City College, California State University, Sacramento, or UC Davis.

Prospective applicants may direct questions about the program and application process to the Scholarship Committee at aauwsacramentoscholarships@gmail.com.

We encourage branch members to share this information with individuals and other organizations that might be interested in our scholarship program.

Legacy Circle by Charmen Goehring

By making a planned gift to AAUW National, you become a member of the AAUW Legacy Circle and affirm your commitment to equity. These gifts — or bequests — are donations that you designate in your will, estate, or trust.

There is no minimum gift requirement to join the Legacy Circle, and the benefits are many. For example:

Planned gifts afford you flexibility to provide for your family and support AAUW.
Certain planned gifts may reduce estate or capital gains taxes.
Planned gifts need not affect your cash flow during your lifetime.
Certain types of planned gifts allow you to support AAUW while also providing income for the rest of your life — or a fixed income for a loved one.
The joy of knowing that your legacy gift will sustain AAUW’s programs for years to come is the ultimate benefit!

To learn more, contact Nadia Daghistani at daghistanin@aauw.org or 202.785.7766. You can also contact Charmen Goehring, Northern CA Legacy Circle Liaison, at charminme@yahoo.com or Judy Horan, Southern CA Legacy Circle Liaison, at queenjah@pacbell.net.

https://www.aauw.org/resources/member/support-aauw/leave-a-legacy/

Tech Trek/Gov Trek

Tech Trek Has Trekers!! By Lori Franz

Thanks to the diligent work of our wonderful Tech Trek committee recruiters, Gloria Yost and Kathleen Deaver, the applications for the July UC-Davis camp are starting to arrive. Gloria and Kathleen have done a great job with contacting principals and teachers, and working with parents to produce completed applications for another quality class of young women with interests in STEM fields.

We have all had to learn the new application and tracking software, CampDoc, and adapt as we have the fun of being first-time users of a newly developed system. Chair Mary Miller has diligently interacted with the state coordinators to keep our process and data responsibilities moving forward. We are excited to be able to meet the applicants soon.

For those members who would like some limited, but very fun, interaction with the camps and campers, we have been asked to recruit some volunteers to help out during the Davis camp week. Please consider!!

Gov Trek By Charmen Goehring

Gov Trek is AAUW CA’s newest state project. We aim to encourage high school junior and senior girls to consider running for office and/or working on campaigns in the future. This program has been executed over five sessions on Zoom, running every other Saturday. All previous sessions were recorded and can be found on the AAUW CA website.

Please see below for the link to the Gov Trek Finale and Campaign Competition, and attend if you are interested to see what Gov Trek was about. Times are PST for those of you out of state!!

SESSION 5: Gov Trek Finale & Campaign Competition 3/25 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Join us for an exciting morning to include video opening remarks from Senator Toni G. Atkins and eight campaign teams who have been selected to participate in the state finals, with live judging and awards. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RRG-IJI5QUCHyojxaFQe-g

Living Our Mission of Equity

Living Our Mission of Equity By Charmen Goehring

We hope you will join us in a monthly equity conversation looking at our own biases and what actions we can take to attract diversity to our branch and become better people in the process. Each month, we read a section of our selected book then meet to discuss what we have learned, along with exploring other issues related to race and equity. We generally meet the first Wednesday of each month from 7 to 8 p.m. on Zoom. This book group is a joint AAUW Sacramento and CHAR event and open to all.

The Zoom meeting code is 737 420 3780 or you can join using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7374203780

We will be discussing chapters 1-4 of our latest book, “The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein, at 7 p.m. on March 1. If you have questions and to RSVP, please email Charmen at charminme@yahoo.com.

Equity Book List

The joint AAUW Sacramento/CHAR Equity book group has been reading and learning together for more than two years now. We have read thought provoking, frustrating and poignant research and stories around the topic of race, inclusion, equity and systems in America that continue to be problematic. We would like to share our list and encourage you to take yourself on an equity journey as well. Confronting our own biases and understanding how privilege affects our lives is a first step toward a more just and equitable branch as well as world.

Waking Up White – Debby Irving
How To Be An Anti-Racist – Ibram Kendi
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together – Heather McGee (one of our faves)
Caste– Isabel Wilkerson
Sister Outsider – Audre Lorde
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning – Cathy Park Hong
You Are Your Best Thing – edited by Tarana Burke and Brene Brown
So You Want To Talk About Race – Ijeoma Oluo
Feminism is For Everybody – belle hooks
The Color of Law – Richard Rothstein

16th Annual Speech Trek Contest Celebrates Its Winner

16^th Annual Speech Trek Contest Celebrates Its Winner By Ann Arneill

On Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, the Speech Trek Committee held its Speech Trek contest at Cosumnes River College, its first in-person contest after two years of virtual contests, with great success. An audience listened to three high school students from three Elk Grove Unified School District high schools speak on the topic: “How can communities, organizations and citizens of all ages help protect and expand voting rights?”

First-place winner was Lauren Secreto, a senior at Laguna Creek High School, receiving $500. Second-place winner Maren DeMille, a junior from Pleasant Grove High School, received $300. The third-place winner was Lauren Richie, a junior from Cosumnes Oaks High School, who received $200.

The Sacramento Branch’s winning speaker is entered in the AAUW CA Speech Trek Semi-Finals. If Lauren Secreto makes it into the top three, she will be invited to compete in the finals for $1,500. She will also present her speech at the May branch meeting — something to look forward to because she is a very dynamic speaker.

Virginia Kidd, Ph.D., communications professor emeritus at CSUS, and our very own members Liz Jordan and Linda Patterson judged the event. AAUW member Kathleen Deaver served as timekeeper for the contest. Thanks to branch member Karen Burley for technical assistance and Gloria Yost and Cathy Locke, who also helped with the contest.

Reproductive Choice Committee Update

Reproductive Choice Committee Update By Liz Jordan

The Reproductive Choice Committee is reading “Lady Justice: Women, the law, and the Battle to Save America”, by Dahlia Lithwick, in three steps over the next three months. This book tells the stories about 10 women who, since 2016, responded to issues of inequity with action, including Sally Yates, the acting U.S. Attorney General, who refused to sign off on the Muslim Travel ban; Becca Heller, the founder of a refugee assistance program who brought the fight to the airports; Roberta Kaplan, the litigator who sued the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville; and Stacy Abrams, who fought to protect voting rights of millions of Georgians.

This text includes substantial notes and references that may be of interest to one or all of us. Following is our assignment for all who wish to participate:

Read and/or listen to the book up to Chapter 4 or to page 67 by the next meeting, March 13 at 1 p.m.
Select a passage in any part of the assigned reading we wish to discuss with the group.
Look over the reference notes for the three assigned chapters and find a reference to investigate and share your findings with the group on March 13.
We will ask one of our attending members to write a brief paragraph about one passage discussed and one reference that could be of interest to others for the April issue of Capital Ideas.

If you would like to join us for our discussion, please contact Liz Jordan. Her contact information is available in the Directory.

AAUW CA And National Tidbits

AAUW CA And National Tidbits

National and state elections are around the corner. If your email address is correct in the Community Hub (National’s Members Only page) you will receive an online ballot.

National Election Details	California State Election Details
April 5 \|voting opens (online voting is encouraged) May 15 \| Online voting ends at 5:00 pm ET May 17 \| Vote results announced online	April 22 \|voting opens (online voting is encouraged) May 13 \| Online voting ends at midnight PT May 17 \| Vote results announced online

Annual State meeting features ACADEMY AAUWARDS!

SAVE THE DATE: April 22, 2023, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 over Zoom

AAUW California’s Annual State meeting, open to all members, is on April 22, 2023, from 9-4 on Zoom. This year’s theme is the Academy AAUWards! Join the re- carpet interviews, listen to inspiring keynote speakers, and watch the Speech Trek and Gov Trek finalists. Cheer on your fellow members and branches for all sorts of AAUW awards, get a public policy update, and meet the board candidates. And, every awards event worth its swag bag has after–parties! Join our Zoom-style parties to hang out with your friends! Look for more information soon!

Celebrating AAUW California, its branches, and its members will be the most fun event of the spring! Don’t miss out on the Academy AAUWards on April 22nd! Get ready to mingle!

VIRTUAL GOV TREK HAS BEGUN!

On January 28th we launched our inaugural virtual Gov Trek session with just over 60 future leaders and 40 volunteers in attendance from across California!

AAUW California 2023 Gov Trek’s inaugural session started with a video address from fellow Californian SPEAKER EMERITA NANCY PELOSI. We were privileged to have the first woman Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives greet us as we begin our journey together to explore careers in public office and elected positions. https://youtu.be/szcsrAj0Ir4

Five distinguished women leaders addressed Gov Trek participants in the Women in Leadership Panel. They discussed elective office and public service at different levels of government, including the skills and challenges involved with them, and other related career paths in leadership and political participation. The speakers were:

Kathleen Van Osten, AAUW California Advocate and Lobbyist
Ellen Montanari, Deputy Campaign Manager, Rep Mike Levin
Regina Luzincourt, Lobbyist and Former Press Secretary, State Senator Parker
Shana Hazan, VP San Diego Unified School Board
Griselda Ramirez, Senior Director of Community Engagement, Partnerships, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of San Diego County Board of Supervisor Chair, Nora Vargas.

Click HERE to watch Gov Trek Session 1. The speaker sessions will be recorded and available to AAUW California members on the website HERE in the Student Program Materials section.

Ratify the ERA!

On February 1, lawmakers introduced new legislation to remove the arbitrary ratification deadline preventing enactment of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. You can lend your voice by becoming a Two-Minute Activist. This link will take you to the national website where you can send an email directly to your representatives, urge congress to act, once and for all, to ensure women and men are guaranteed equality under the law.

Urge Congress

Also, you can sign up to be mobile activist! To be a Two-Minute Activist Mobile, text “AAUW” to 21333 to receive timely, targeted action opportunities straight to your cell phone via text message.

Spring Shopping with AAUW

Check out the cool new branded items in the online ShopAAUW store, including stainless steel tumblers, wireless charging pads, pens, journals and more!

Power Partnership: AAUW & Ms. (free one year subscription!)

As part of a special partnership, a free, one-year subscription to the legendary Ms. Magazine is available to all members. Sign up to get yours today.

· Special Panel Event: Closing the Digital Gender Gap

Join AAUW on Wednesday, March 15, at 2 p.m. ET. for an engaging online panel discussion about the “digital gender gap.” Learn from an expert panel how women are still being left behind from pursuing the most promising tech fields of the future—and how we can work to change that. The event is part of the 67th NGO Committee on the Status of Women and UN Commission on the Status of Women.

· Two Can’t-Miss Inclusion & Equity Webinars

AAUW’s national Inclusion & Equity Committee is pleased to offer two engaging and informative webinars this spring. On Thursday, April 6, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET, we’ll share information with local branches and states as they prepare to celebrate Diversity Month in April and the World Day for Cultural Diversity on May 21. Then, on Wednesday, May 10, from 7:30 pm–9:00 pm ET, we’ll provide a hands-on learning opportunity for AAUW members to explore aspects of diversity and intersectionality. Please join us!

Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month, a Fitting Time to Observe Transgender Day of Visibility

By Melissa Maceyko, Member AAUW California Public Policy Committee

Each year on March 31, the world observes Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) to raise awareness about transgender people. It is a day to celebrate the lives and contributions of trans people, while also drawing attention to the poverty, discrimination and violence the community faces.

We understand how women’s history tells the story of misogyny, which is the systemic mistreatment of women, girls and feminine peoples through forms of physical and structural violence. But we rarely consider how it is linked to transmisogyny, which focuses on the complex intersections between transphobia and misogyny that are faced by trans women and girls, as well as transfeminine and gender non-conforming peoples. It is a term that attempts to capture multiple layers of gender-based marginalization and systemic mistreatment. If misogyny and transmisogyny are not combatted together, then the root of the problem will never truly be eradicated.

Although the past decade has seen a more vocal public push for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives around gender, the current sociopolitical climate in the United States is not supportive of, and is often openly hostile to, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Under this sphere of increased hostility is the explicit targeting of trans women and girls and transfeminine peoples with words, actions and legislation. It is particularly important for women’s organizations who seek to combat gender-based forms of oppression to build coalitions and take a stand against misogyny and transmisogyny in all its forms, because misogyny and transmisogyny come from the same place. They both describe gender-based oppression that results from the prioritization of masculinity alongside the degradation of femininity.

Targeted hostility against trans women and girls and transfeminine peoples can be seen not only in the alarming uptick in physical violence against this community, but also in the increasing persistence and intensity of public debates over whether or not trans women and girls and transfeminine peoples are “real women” that belong in “women’s spaces,” including gender-specific bathrooms, women’s sports teams and locker rooms. These debates prioritize misplaced and misunderstood claims of biological authenticity. They are dehumanizing and cannot be disconnected from other forms of violence as they normalize widespread and explicit marginalization and exclusion.

As a women’s organization, the increasingly hostile environment for trans women and girls and transfeminine people should be at the forefront of our collective education and activism — let’s help ensure that history doesn’t continue to repeat itself. Visit the Public Policy website to learn more.