Ideas, Actions, and Inspiration for a Better Tomorrow - August 18 Edition

Women, Voting Rights

Today in history:

19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote

Image from the National Archives website

Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920.

NFL, LGBTQ, Employee Program

NFL launches LGBTQ employee group, NFL Pride

The NFL today internally announced the launch of an LGBTQ employee affinity group, called NFL Pride. The new organization, which will officially launch Aug. 16, will be used to support LGBTQ employees and advise NFL executives on best practices for engaging on diversity issues.

The internal league memo, written by the NFL Diversity Council, was sent to all NFL staffers, including people at the league office and the NFL Network.

“Through networking events, speakers, community outreach and employee education, NFL Pride will serve LGBTQ employees and their allies as they support a culture of inclusion,” the memo read. “All employees are invited and encouraged to join and participate in planning and/or attending events.”

The group will be led by executive sponsors Julie Haddon (senior vice-president of marketing), Dawn Hudson (chief marketing officer) and Troy Vincent (vice-president of football operations).

The NFL started employee affinity groups around 2010, with current groups focusing on women and black employees. According to NFL Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer Robert Gulliver, NFL Pride is launching now because the NFL has received what he called a “critical mass” to ensure the group thrives.

NFL Pride kickoff event at the League office in New York City on August 16. From left to right: Moderator and author of the article above,  Cyd Zeigler; Ryan O'Callaghan (former NFL offensive tackle who came out publicly in June); Jason Collins (the NBA's first openly gay player, 13 seasons at the NBA, now retired); Billy Bean (MLB Ambassador for Inclusion and former professional baseball player. It was a wonderful event and made me proud to be a part of the NFL family. This is a new program for LGBTQ employees and their allies that will make a difference, as have other diversity and support initiatives implemented over the years for NFL employees.  

Solar Eclipse, DIY, Pop Culture

Make Your Own Eclipse Viewer

“Hundreds of years before solar viewing glasses were readily available, scientists and casual spectators could still enjoy these rare celestial events without frying their eyeballs. They'd use a combination of pinholes and mirrors to redirect the sun's rays onto a screen.

It took a while to figure out how to build the so-called camera obscura. Ancient Chinese and Greek scholars puzzled over pinholes for centuries before an Arab mathematician and scientist came up with a design.

You can rig up your own version with simple household items. It's easy. Skunk Bear's latest video shows you how.

And remember, never look directly at the sun without appropriate eye protection.”

Watch

And for some fun, one of my fave songs from the '80s will be sung during the total solar eclipse:

Bonnie Tyler Will Sing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ During the Actual Eclipse

A universal pop song and the universe are about to align.

Guests aboard the Royal Caribbean's Total Eclipse Cruise have an extra surprise in store for their once-in-a-lifetime viewing experience: Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh songstress of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" fame, will be on board to perform her 1983 hit just as the moon sails across the sun. (The cruise ship will be positioned in the path of totality for this critical moment. “Bonnie Tyler was a natural choice for this once-in-a-lifetime moment," said the president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, Michael Bayley.)

Tyler's song launched her to stardom and remains a classic today, especially as a karaoke favorite. But this is the first time she'll be performing it during this highly anticipated astronomical event.

"It’s going to be so exciting," Tyler told TIME, speaking from a brief stopover in Wales. "It doesn't happen very often, does it?"

Mental Health, Social Media, Activism

Constant Anxiety Won't Save the World

“For people looking to protect their own mental health and not get so overwhelmed that they disengage from the issues they care about, Woodruff advises “differentiating worry and anxiety from positive action, and separating productive worry from unproductive worry.”

Ultimately, your personal anxiety has no effect on the world around you. Worry is not action, and knowledge, while important, is not action either. Randall cautions against getting caught up in following every minute detail of an issue.

“Whatever the issue is, once you’ve found out about it, stop,” she says. “That’s enough. You know about it. Then you need to decide what you’re going to do.” As an activist she interviewed once told her, she said, “‘Action is the antidote to despair.’””

Secretary Clinton and Me: Role Models

This past weekend, my niece Alexa shared her latest social studies project with me. She is in fifth grade, and they are learning about the amendments to the Constitution. She told me when she was assigned the 19th Amendment, she immediately thought of me. (She knows I'm all about empowering women and making our voices heard.) 

I hope that by my example of being a single, independent, and outspoken woman my nieces—and nephews too—recognize and envision the various possibilities for women's lives. Their mothers who are my sisters, are wonderful role models too, as are their grandmothers. I like to think, because of all the amazing female role models surrounding them, my nephews will be more accepting of outspoken females as they become men than many of the male species who've preceded them.

Tomorrow, this gal heads to the polls to cast her vote for the first woman candidate for President. The thought brings tears to my eyes. It is emotional for me. After 44 men, 43 of whom were white men, finally, hopefully, a woman will occupy the Oval Office. Many Americans are holding their nose while voting for Hillary Clinton because Donald Trump is even more unpalatable to them. For me, however, I am voting for the best candidate, the one most suited and qualified for the job, hands down, not the lesser of two evils. 

Hillary Clinton became one of my role models during the 1992 presidential campaign of her husband, Bill Clinton. Many people were offended by her comment: "Well, I suppose I could've stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life."  

I loved it. She spoke to me, a young woman ready to take on the world with or without a man, wanting a career, and living life on her own terms, which I certainly do to this day. A different sort of first lady emerged, one that wasn't just set decoration for her husband's administration, but an active participant in government. That nontraditional role made her unpopular in some circles, and after her failed healthcare reform attempt that resulted in relentless criticism, she decreased her public profile. 

Mrs. Clinton's tenacity, her willingness to get back up time and again after being knocked down, her refusal to take no for an answer, her ability to let all the vitriol and verbal attacks slide off her back, and her intelligence are what I admire most about her. I still hope to one day develop that level of tenacity, strength, and perseverance. 

Secretary Clinton was forced to develop those traits having served in public life for many decades. Her list of accomplishments and credentials is extensive. She had been 1 of just 27 women among the 200-plus students in her law school class at Yale. She was one of only three [women] on a staff of 44 attorneys on the Watergate Impeachment team. She was the first woman hired at the prestigious Rose Law Firm in Little Rock. 

As First Lady of Arkansas, she created the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth and led a task force to reform Arkansas's education system. As a senator (elected twice), she was instrumental in passing the State Children's Health Insurance Program; she served on five senate committees (Budget; Armed Services; Environmental and Public Works; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and the Special Committee on Aging); she had a leading role investigating the health issues faced by 9/11 first responders and worked closely with Senator Charles Schumer to secure $21.4 in funding for the World Trade Center site's redevelopment.

After losing a bruising run for president in 2008, President Obama appointed her his Secretary of State. As Secretary of State she set a record visiting countries, she brokered a cease fire deal between Hamas and Israel, and played a role in killing Osama bin Laden. She made LGBT rights a focus of U.S. foreign policy. Clinton has also worked to integrate women's issues into foreign policy, instead of relegating them to a separate sphere of policy making. This has come to be known as the Hillary Doctrine. 

Researchers have found that there is more civil unrest and war, failed economies, and sexual abuse of and domestic violence against girls and women in countries in which women are impoverished, uneducated, and considered property. The premise of the Hillary Doctrine is that countries are more stable and secure when women are educated, employed, earn money, and contribute to the economy, and are treated as equals. There is more much more work to be done in this area. However, it appears that these issues, initiatives, and ideas only get enacted or move forward—or at least have a better chance of it—when women are at the table, making their voices heard, raising awareness, and creating policies. I believe Hillary Clinton will make even more strides toward global equality and education for women and girls. 

Here's some inspiration from women who were born before the 19th Amendment was passed:

I Waited 96 Years!

Mrs. Clinton has solid foreign policy knowledge and experience as well as a firm grasp on domestic issues. She is smart, she wants to learn, she listens. She worked well with her senate Republican colleagues, many of them have said so. The Secretary knows how to roll up her sleeves, put her head down, eschew the limelight and focus on the work. She wants to lead this nation, she is ambitious, and there is nothing wrong with that. Men are never criticized for being ambitious. She has every right to own her ambition, as does every woman.  

It has been lamented during this general election campaign that there has been little focus on the issues. In reality, it has focused on issues—issues we prefer to ignore, sweep under the rug, pretend do not exist. Those issues are racism, sexism, and xenophobia. At least now, thanks to Donald Trump, these things cannot and should not be ignored. Hillary Clinton is not perfect, nor are—or were—any of the candidates running against her, not even Bernie Sanders. I guarantee had he been the candidate, the GOP would have had vast amounts of opposition research on him too, and because he resides further to the left on the political spectrum than Clinton, they would have painted him as a leftist kook. (I do not think he is, but conservatives would have certainly framed him that way.)

So, tomorrow, we Americans vote for the next leader of this great country. Alexa and her brothers know for whom I'll be casting my ballot. It is no secret, and they know my reasons, explained to them in generalities and age-appropriate language. Alexa and I are very close, so it is important to me that I am an excellent role model, that I am the kind of person she can and will respect and trust throughout her life even when we disagree. I think I'm doing a decent job so far. She told me this past weekend that she has two dance teachers and one she really likes. "She is fun, and nice, and I realized why I like her so much," she said.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because she reminds me of you. She even kind of looks like you, and she's sassy!" Alexa replied, laughing. That is one of the greatest compliments for which an aunt could receive. 

I've attached a few articles below for this last day before we elect our next President. They are good reads, should you feel so inclined. Before you tackle those though, read Alexa's comic. I think you'll find it to be a little sassy. 

• What it Took
• Hillary Clinton's Record of Accomplishments
• This Election Was About the Issues