Art of the Week
“The Sound of their Names”
Praise their grit and gospel, their glistening
brains, their minds on fire. Neurons, numbering the stars.
Praise their bones. Their spines and skulls,
the axis, the atlas: I will not and I shall.
Their mouths, praise. Ridged palates
and smart muscular tongues, teeth, sound or pitted,
their wit and will. Their nerve,
and founded within the body. Honor
now their wombs and hearts, biceps and blood,
deep mines of the flesh where passion is tested.
Thank all twenty-six bones of their feet,
arches, heels, bunions, sweat,
marching the streets in high buttoned boots. Praise
the march. Praise justice.
Though slow and clotted.
Their hands at the press. The grease and clatter,
the smell of ink. Feel the sound
of their names in our mouths:
Susan B. Anthony
Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Wilhelmina Kekelaokalaninui Widemann Dowsett
Praise their eyelids that close
and give rest
at the end of each long day.
Praise the work that goes on.
Poem by Ellen Bass, an American poet from New Jersey. “The Sound of their Names” is part of The Project 19 Initiative, the largest women-only commissioned collection in history.
The initiative was created and released in March 2020 to celebrate the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which provided women with the legal right to vote.
Upcoming Events
Q&A
Q: Am I an ally by simply having BIPOC friends?
A: No. An ally is someone who makes the intentional decision to understand, empathize and act in support of others.
This oftentimes looks like using one’s own place of privilege, through voice or action, to invoke change for Black and African American communities.
Allyship does not have to be complicated, but it should be intentional. Read more on allyship from the NIH.
Inspiration: Switzerland Breaks 500 year-long Neutrality
During disagreements, people who desire to stay neutral have often used the phrase “I’m going to be Switzerland on this issue.” Well, those people will have to find something else to say.
For the first time in over 500 years, Switzerland has broken its neutrality in favor of adopting sanctions against Russia.
Switzerland president Ignazio Cassiss has stated, “To play into the hands of an aggressor is not neutral. Having signed the Geneva convention of human rights, we are bound to humanitarian order.”
This is a powerful and inspiring reminder of Dr. King’s message that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Imagining and creating a world of equity and kindness requires us to help our fellow neighbor during times of distress.
Sustainability Tip: Coming to terms with anti-racism
As we continue to seek equity and justice in our world, there are many new terms that have entered our everyday vocabulary.
Some of those words include: anti-racism, intersectionality, unconscious bias and micromessages.
To promote a better understanding, Bing has created a short anti-racism glossary to help us. Check it out here.
Weekly e-Newsletter
March 9, 2022
Editors: Rae’Jean Alford & Terry Gips
At the Alliance
Women's History Month Spotlight: The woman who created the Nike swoosh
Food for Thought: The true cost of accessibility vs. health in food deserts
Family Dollar stores have long served as pillars in low-income communities. Offering consumers everything from toothpaste to cleaning supplies and even refrigerated food products such as milk, these stores have often been the only accessible places for many living in food deserts. They have also served as an important source of employment.
While their convenience, affordability and accessibility have provided stability for many families, the unsanitary conditions of their stores has been a known and common experience for many years.
Most recently, Family Dollar was forced to shut down over 400 locations across Minnesota, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. During an inspection at a warehouse in West Memphis, Arkansas, FDA officials found inexplicable conditions.
“Live rodents, dead rodents in various states of decay, rodent feces and urine, evidence of gnawing, nesting and rodent odors throughout the facility, dead birds and bird droppings.” Foul stenches and odors and droppings “too numerous to count.”
While appalling, the conditions of this Family Dollar warehouse are neither shocking or a new occurrence. In fact, OSHA officials have commented how this chain has had repeated sanitation violations. In Memphis, specifically, there have been city-wide protests since 2019 asking for a change in stores.
Many are now posing the question: would this have been allowed to go on in a more affluent community?
But the more important question may be, what do we do to ensure that those underprivileged have access to stores that are clean and safe? Source: CNN
Take Action: Stop Environmental and Humanitarian Disaster in Ukraine
Song of the Week: I Am Woman
Listen to Emmy Meli’s “I Am Woman.” In 2021, it topped charts after going viral on social media. It is a song full of affirmations that encourages women to acknowledge and celebrate all of their many various qualities.