California NOW

Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Don't Filibuster!

There's great news on the repeal of the destructive Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in our armed forces.  Yesterday a repeal of the policy passed the Senate Armed Services Committee by a vote of 16-12, and then the repeal passed a floor vote in the House of Representatives as well!

But the fight isn't over just yet.  Now it will go to a floor vote in the Senate in June, and Senator John McCain has threatened to filibuster the entire defense budget bill just to stop the repeal.  Although we may wish that the proposed repeal included an immediate end to DADT discharges, we strongly support a repeal of this policy that has harmed so many of our dedicated servicemembers.

Call your Senators NOW - especially if you are from a conservative state - and tell them we must end this policy now and forever: Call 202-224-3121.

Sign the President's pledge for repeal.

Stop Shackling Pregnant Prisoners! Support AB 1900 (Skinner)

Although the passage of AB 478 (Lieber) in 2005 ended harmful restraints on pregnant prisoners during labor, shackling of pregnant prisoners is still allowed at other times in ways which put them at greater risk for complications and miscarriage. For these reasons, AB 1900 (Skinner) is a necessary step in protecting pregnant inmates. 

California has the largest population of women in prison of any state, with tens of thousands of women in county jails every year, 4-7% of whom are pregnant at some point in their custody. Currently, pregnant women prisoners in California can be shackled by the ankles, wrists, and/or belly, and to another person, while being transported to or from a correctional facility. Studies have shown that the risk of minor traumas, especially falls, increases during pregnancy, and shackling of pregnant inmates increases risks to their health and the health of the pregnancy. AB 1900 would require that pregnant prisoners be restrained in the least restrictive way possible, consistent with the legitimate security needs of each woman.

Moreover, because clear model policies were not established by the Corrections Standards Authority (CSA), counties were left on their own to determine how to comply the the provisions of AB 478 regarding shackling during labor and provision of prenatal and postpartum health care.  Only 33 of California's 58 counties have written policies addressing these issues at all, and there is no consistency in how these policies are written. In fact, of the counties that have written policies, seventeen of them are not in compliance with AB 478 (Penal Code section 6030(e) subsections 1,2 & 3 and section 6030(f)), four years after it went into effect.

AB 1900 would require the CSA to set uniform standards for how pregnant prisoners are restrained throughout pregnancy, and for implementation of the provisions of AB 478. It will ensure that we maintain safety of correctional workers as well as pregnant prisoners, and will help in enforcement of provisions currently in the Penal Code.

Contact your state legislators and ask them to support AB 1900!

Author Dean King Talks With Us About the Women on Mao's Long March

 I interviewed author Dean King on his book, Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival which documents the story of the women on Mao's Long March.
(Photo shows Dean King with Wang Quanyuan, the last surviving woman from the Long March)

How did you learn about this piece of Chinese history, and what inspired you to write about it?



The Long March was called to my attention by my editor at Little, Brown, Geoff Shandler. The story had some nice similarities to my last book, Skeletons on the Zahara, which told the tale of American sailors shipwrecked on the West Coast of Africa in 1815 and enslaved there by desert nomads, but it also had some key differences. I liked the fact that the Long March put women in a perilous situation and offered a great way to explore their experience under such trying circumstances. And I liked the way it offered a chance to look at China and modern Chinese history from a unique perspective.

When an author chooses to write the stories of those from a different cultural background, there can be questions of authenticity and appropriation. How have you attempted to ensure that your book is true to the lives and stories of the women you are writing about?



It all starts with having the right motives. When you want to tell a story fully, objectively, and compellingly, the rest falls into place. Having four sisters and four daughters, a mother as a hero and a wife for a best friend, I immediately felt connected to this empowering story about women and wanted to present it in a way that would move readers. The female side was not hard for me because I really empathize with women. Crossing the national/cultural/temporal barriers was more of a challenge, but checking my preconceptions at the door and opening my mind wholly to a different way of looking at a situation, through someone else’s eyes, is something I’ve trained myself to do. As a middle child, I think it comes somewhat naturally to me as well. I work hard to put myself in the shoes of the people I write about, whether early-19th-century mariners or 20th-century Chinese women. It requires that I ask fundamental questions of myself and challenge my own views. I want the reader to do this when they read the story too; after all, I am asking 21st-century American readers to relate to pre-WWII Chinese Communist peasants; it’s a big leap. Thorough research, including extensive travels in China, interviewing Wang Quanyuan, the last surviving Long March woman, and spending two weeks with a Chinese woman about the age of these Long Marchers allowed me to improve my perspective in telling the story.

The women you profile came from very disparate backgrounds, what was the appeal of Mao’s cause for them?



While some of the women were educated and from merchant or intellectual classes, most were poor. All could see that a pervasive inequality and corruption existed in the recently fallen Qing Dynasty Chinese society. The hurdles to social mobility were smothering. The mass of people were largely destitute and oppressed. The outlook for peasant women was grim, usually an arranged marriage, little or no education, and domestic servitude with little or no public life in a rural village. When the Communists came through, they promised opportunity, self-determination, equality, and exposure to the world at large. They would, of course, fall far short in these goals, but the appeal was immediate and the change in life-style, the relative freedom and access to education and public life was transformative. For a bold young woman, the choice was easy.

Upcoming Events for Women

“Their Rights and Nothing Less”: A Celebration of Women’s Suffrage
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, June 5 to September 26, 12 to 4 p.m.
Heritage Square Museum 
3800 Homer Street, Los Angeles, California 90031
Tel. 323-225-2700

The California Commission on the Status of Women public hearings on the proposed budget
Friday, June 11th, 1 PM to 5 PM * Submit sign-up form by June 3rd
Pasadena Central Library, Donald Wright Auditorium
285 East Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA
Friday, June 18th, 11 AM to 3 PM * Submit sign-up form by June 10th
Redding Library, 1100 Parkview Avenue, Redding, CA
Thursday, August 12th, 1 PM to 5 PM * Submit sign-up form by August 4th
State Capitol, Room TBD, Sacramento, CA
Can’t attend a hearing? Submit your recommendations in writing by August 12, 2010. For more information, sign-up to testify, or submit your recommendations in writing, please visit www.women.ca.gov .

Thursday, June 17, 6:30 p.m., Sacramento
Voices for Change is Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte's annual reception honoring several distinguished individuals for their efforts to protect reproductive rights. You can reserve seats online now! 

Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival showcases the best of American and international cinema. The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival takes place June 17-27, 2010 in downtown Los Angeles. Passes on sale now. Tickets on sale June 1. For full Festival details, please call 1.866.FilmFest or visit www.LAFilmFest.com
California NOW will be sponsoring:
Tiny Furniture, DIR Lena Dunham
CAST: Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Alex Karpovsky, Jemima Kirke, David Call, Merritt Wever, Amy Seimetz
Writer-director Lena Dunham casts herself as Ella, an aimless film school grad who returns to New York to live with her artistic mother and high-achieving sister (played by Dunham’s real life mother and sister). Landing a dead-end job as a restaurant hostess, Ella reunites with an old friend, initiates no-win relationships with a couple of cloddish suitors, and quickly slips into old patterns that haven’t improved much with age. A frank and fearless autobiographical comedy exploring intensely personal content without a trace of self-indulgence, Dunham’s film may nail the anxieties of feeling unremarkable and unwanted, but this bold, stylish movie reveals the confidence and panache of a natural-born filmmaker.
Sat., June 19, 7:30 p.m., Regal 9
Mon., June 21, 10:00 p.m., Regal 11

California Common Cause and Democracy Matters Proudly Present: The California Student Democracy Training
July 23rd - 25th, 2010
Los Angeles, California
Sign up!

Eco-Feminist Action Checklist!

Last week, scientists revealed that BP's oil spill is much worse than we thought. The oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate somewhere between 25,000 and 80,000 barrels per day -- with underwater oil plumes stretching on as far as 10 miles. Oil-soaked pelicans, fishermen idled, coastal economies disrupted -- some have put the bill as high as $14 billion. Who will pay for all this? Click here to help make sure that BP is held accountable for every dime of this disaster.
Then click here to add your name to this petition: "Oil companies, not taxpayers, should pay for oil spill damages. Congress should get rid of the limits on oil spill liability." 
Yesterday, in an effort to prevent future oil spills, the Obama administration created three new agencies to regulate offshore drilling. Meanwhile the situation in the Gulf is deteriorating rapidly. Scientists are concerned that the oil may soon enter the much faster loop current, which would put Florida's beaches -- and then the Atlantic Ocean -- directly in the line of fire. We don't need new government agencies, we need a ban on offshore drilling.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is being loud and clear about his commitment to renewable energy and what it'll take us to move away from oil. This plan is a fantastic blend between preserving our natural places while developing renewables and creating jobs. Sign this petition to support Secretary Salazar in this bold move!
Then take action asking Secretary Salazar to ban drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off the coast of Alaska. This area is home to more than 3000 belugas, gray and bowhead whales, and endangered fin and humpback whales. This wild place draws seabirds, seals, and roughly half of America's polar bears. Can you imagine what a devastating tragedy an oil spill would be in this area? And even worse, the technology to clean up an oil spill in icy Arctic waters does not even exist. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar turns in his safety report on May 28. We need to contact him before then!

If Sen. Murkowski and her coal company cronies have their way, the biggest U.S. polluters will be free to poison our air and we'll lose 40 years of progress on clean energy. Sen. Murkowski and the coal industry will do just about anything to cut deals on their destructive plan. In recent days, they've managed to convince three Democrats to sign on as co-sponsors. That's why we MUST reach every senator – Republican and Democrat – this week, and tell them the truth about the "Dirty Air Act." It would: Let big polluters off the hook – by dropping requirements that power plants must use modern, pollution-reducing technology. Keep the U.S. dependent on old, polluting energy technologies that speed global warming and poison our air.Delay implementation of a clean energy policy that will create millions of new jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and address the climate crisis. Don't wait any longer. Tell your senators to vote NO on Murkowski's "Dirty Air Act"!
Then take action here as well to block this attack on the Clean Air Act! 

Last week, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman stood with environmentalists, clean energy CEOs, and yes, many businesses that had never before supported a climate change or energy bill and rolled out the American Power Act to create millions of good jobs and put America on the road to clean air and energy independence. Yesterday, the Peter G. Peterson Institute studied the effects of the American Power Act, and they found that it saved American consumers money on their energy bills. It would also add over 200,000 jobs every year to the American economy, and lower our imports of foreign oil by 40%. Here's a link to a short piece on TruthFightsBack about all of this. Put that up on your Facebook page, forward this email to your friends, do what you can to get the truth about the American Power Act out to your friends.