We Get What We Pay For

A dear friend is moving her husband to a memory care residence because he can no longer function at home with only her loving care and part-time help. Another dear friend just lost her husband after negotiating his treatment through an acute care hospital, then a rehab, and finally a hospice facility..

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Britney Achin
GIVE IT UP!

We’ve talked a lot about the need for systemic, macro solutions to the problem of poverty in our country and the homelessness, food insecurity, education and health inequities that come with it. Until the causes are dealt with, the problems will continue.

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ActionBrenda Riddell
Hiding in Plain Sight

So here’s the thing about antisemitism in America. It’s always been here. When some of us were growing up in the 50s and 60s, there were neighborhoods where Jews couldn’t buy homes or join certain country clubs. Colleges and universities had quotas on the number of Jewish students who could be admitted. It was not unusual for Jewish children to be accused by their Christian friends of killing Christ. Or for a Christian boy to tell his girlfriend he couldn’t take her home to meet his family because she was Jewish.

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EqualityBritney Achin
Food Fight

An ad pops up between my turns on Words with Friends. It is a quiz about food insecurity. I search for the icon which will let me skip the ad and get back to my game.

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Britney Achin
Is the Republic Still Standing?

The polls closed last night but it will be days before the final tallies are in. We know there are already some disappointments as well as a few encouraging results, but we need time to dissect and analyze the outcomes.

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Britney Achin
Six Days and Counting

Leading Ladies refrains from endorsing particular candidates, but we do clearly support certain causes and positions. Indeed, our mission expresses our commitment to equal access for all to education, health care (including a woman’s right to choose), housing, food, jobs, and political representation, regardless of one’s ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual identity. We are also committed to common sense gun laws, humane immigration policies, and the sustainability of our planet.

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Brenda Riddell
They've Got the Whole World in Their Hands

“It seems preposterous that we would omit, as players, those who have the most energy, the most long-term interests, and potentially the best ideas, to change what is happening in the world, and the people within,” said Dr. Andre Morgan, Director of Opportunity, Access and Equity for Beverly Public Schools at our Students as Changemakers event last week at The Cabot. “In a time when students are seeking careers with impact, and employers are seeking graduates with core skills of problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork, it is important to consider how schools and communities, can equip every student with the changemaking skills, to tackle complex social issues, and future challenges that are not yet imagined,” he emphasized.

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ActionBritney Achin
Use it or Lose it

As the likes of Herschel Walker and his aggrieved son throw slings and arrows at each other while simultaneously singing Donald Trump’s praises, it can be tempting to question whether our election process is worth our time.

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GovernmentBritney Achin
Looking for World Change?

“Young people today just don’t know how to work hard.”

“Too many teens and young adults have been spoiled. That’s why there are so many unfilled jobs in restaurants and stores.”

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Britney Achin
Places to Go, Things to See & Read…

Because two of us have boarded jet planes for the first time in three years on extended vacations, we are offering an alternative to our usual missive: an annotated list of books to read, plays and movies to watch, and places to visit that may offer insights, stimulate thoughts and discussion, and encourage new activism.

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Britney Achin
This Is Our Fight to Win

We are not living in a democracy,” reproductive rights activist and women’s study professor Carrie Baker declared at the end of the Leading Ladies “Life After Roe v. Wade” Zoom event last Wednesday. “If you were ever going to get out and vote, this is the time,” she emphasized. Her strong statements capped an hour-and-a-half of some terrifying but elucidating information shared by Baker and the other panelists.

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Britney Achin
Who is Caring for Us?

A dear friend is lying in a hospital bed in a local rehabilitation facility after falling and fracturing her pelvis and shoulder. She is totally immobilized, unable to stand, walk, go to the bathroom, even roll over or use the commode. She is in constant pain.

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GovernmentBritney Achin
Being The Mama Who’s ‘Other’

The moms among us, particularly those who came to motherhood in the 80s and 90s, joined mothers’ support groups the way our mothers talked over their back fences. We met in each other’s homes or at the park or playground, at the Y or in a church basement. We talked about when or if we wanted to go back to work, even if we knew we had to; whether we loved or hated nursing and how we felt guilty for both; how our husbands were or were not disappointing us with their attempts at co-parenting; how we were going to be supermoms or if we even wanted to be; when we might ever get a full night’s sleep or feel sexy again.

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EqualityBritney Achin
When Plan A Fails

A few weeks ago, we wrote about Plan C and the possibilities of providing pregnant folks with the medications to terminate unwanted pregnancies through at least the first trimester. With some ingenuity and commitment from organizations and individuals, we hope Plan C will be accessible to people in states where surgical abortions are becoming more and more difficult to obtain.

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EqualityBrenda Riddell
More Unseen Victims of Roe v. Wade Downfall

Who can forget Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist? That endearing little boy who lived in a workhouse in London where there was never enough to eat and he plaintively asked, "Please, sir, I want some more" when he finished his bowl of watery gruel. Oliver and his mates hoped for something better in life when they became petty thieves for Fagin, but even Nancy’s kindness did little to change their lot.

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Brenda Riddell