Grab a pen and paper and get in touch with your inner writer.

Welcome to Global Women’s Caucus Feminist Reading Group Writing Drop-Ins!

Every week during the month of October during our inaugural Literary Fest, we will hold space for writing. Come one week or come every week!

 

What is a writing drop in?

 

Used by Creative writing programs, workshops, and writing groups across the world, a writing drop-in is a creative space that reminds us that writing is for everyone. You don’t have to be a published writer or an industry professional. You just need a pen, paper, or anything you choose to write with and an open mind!

How it works:

 

Facilitator Joy Notoma will provide a writing prompt. Participants can use the prompt or write on a subject of their own choosing. We turn off cameras. We write for 30 minutes. At the end of the period, we come back and share what we have written. Sharing is optional and only positive feedback is given.

 

Our drop-in are inspired by The Amherst Writers & Artists workshop method. As stated on their website, “The method creates a space in which all participants can write, if they choose, and where everyone will be encouraged in their writing. This method was developed by Pat Schneider, and is described in her powerful book, Writing Alone and With Others (Oxford Press, 2003).” Visit the website here to learn more.

 

About the facilitator:

 

Joy Notoma is a fiction writer and journalist. Her reporting, essays, and fiction have appeared in  CNN, Al Jazeera, Quartz Africa, Longreads, Epiphany Zine, and Zora Mag, among other digital outlets. She lives in Toulouse, France, where she is working on a short story collection that deals with African American women navigating life outside the U.S.

Other resources:

 

Read about The New York Writers Coalition Drop-Ins which our drop-ins will closely mirror here.

 

Diane Johnson with Alan Riding 

The Global Women’s Caucus Feminist Reading Group welcomes Diane Johnson to our inaugural Feminist Literary Festival!

Diane Johnson’s latest book, Lorna Mott Comes Home, follows a middle-aged American woman living abroad in contemporary France, who needs to reclaim her professional identity. The heroine leaves France where she lives with her French husband and returns home to California. Where does she belong today? To her country of origin? To herself? Diane Johnson leads readers to ponder many pivotal questions facing people who live between two cultures.

A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her heroines grapple with money matters, children, husbands, lovers and careers in seemingly light, but deeply penetrating, stories. Le Divorce, a ’90s sensation, was made into a stunning movie (2003) by James Ivory.

If you haven’t read Diane Johnson before, check out her bibliography, listed below, to familiarize yourself with her body of work:

Novels

• Persian Nights (Knopf, 1987)
• Le Divorce (Dutton, 1997)
• Le Mariage (Dutton, 2000)
• L'Affaire (Dutton, 2003)
• Lulu in Marrakech (Dutton, 2008)
• Lorna Mott Comes Home (Knopf, 2021)

Non-fiction

• The True History of Mrs. Meredith and Other Lesser Lives (Knopf, 1972)
• Dashiell Hammett: A Life (1983)
• Terrorists and Novelists: Essays (Knopf, 1982).
• Flyover Lives: A Memoir (Viking, 2014)

Writer Alan Riding will be in conversation with Ms. Johnson, followed by audience Q&A.

Alan Riding was the New York Times Paris bureau chief before becoming the paper’s European Cultural Correspondent. He now devotes himself to writing. And The Show Went On, published in 2010, depicted the cultural life in Nazi controlled Paris. It was translated into at least 6 languages, Alan writes plays and is a devotee of Shakespeare!

The Global Black Caucus is hosting an open roundtable discussion once every three months for DA leaders and volunteers, and you are invited to be a vital part of the collective advocating on issues of African-Americans not just in the U.S. but all around the world.

During these meetings we CONNECT, LISTEN, SUPPORT & EMPOWER each other, exchange thoughts and ideas, plan possible co-sponsored events and ultimately strengthen our community.

The meetings will be of duration of 90 mins and be held on Zoom.

The first Global Black Caucus Global Meeting will take place on November 30th, 7 AM EST Zoom (next meeting dates: 2022 -Jan. 30th, Mar. 31st, May 31st…)

We are looking forward to having great conversations with you all.

Please RSVP for the Zoom Meeting information!

2021 Global Annual Meeting

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and Save Our Democracy!

A fundraiser in celebration of the life and work of the late Georgia Congressman and Civil Rights leader, John R. Lewis.

Democrats Abroad is commemorating Congressman John Lewis with two online screenings of the documentary "John Lewis - Get in the Way" on July 11, various actions days after Congress resumes legislative business, and a Forum on July 17, the one-year anniversary of his passing.

Often described as the conscience of the Congress, John Lewis was a friend to Democrats Abroad. To raise funds for DA’s GOTV efforts, we ask everyone—whether you attend or not—to donate $19.65—or for those who wish to be a Gold Star Supporter, $80 representing the 80 years of John Lewis’ extraordinary, courageous life.

Please join Democrats Abroad to honor the memory of John Lewis and carry forward the flame of his dedication to voting rights for all.

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#BlackLivesMatter

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We have come a long way, but we still have not reached the finish line. In the United States Constitution women do not have equal rights under the law. Well over 80% of other nations do! When I tried to be an architect major at a state university in Ohio, in 1962, I was discouraged. Not because of grades but because of my sex. In 1963, my sister was denied the opportunity to complete her student teaching, when she revealed she was pregnant. A woman could not appear in front of a class “in that condition”. For my first car loan for a moderately priced car in 1967, which was repaid in 6 months, I had to find a man that would co-sign, even though I had an adequate stable income. While the situation has improved the current legal and judicial systems, often have a negative impact on women. The majority of legislators & judges that make critical decisions, have been male; thus, the male perspective & experience is the norm and not the female perspective & experience. This has affected wages, family planning access, views on violence against women and harassment, childcare options, maternity leave, promotions in the workplace, and much more. It is time women, be not just viewed as equals, but are equal under the law. We owe this to our children and grandchildren, both female & male. Christina - lives in Oslo Norway, and votes in Ohio.

Highlights of the March 8 events in Oslo

There is an irony in the fact that Norway, which is ranked as the second most female friendly nation (2018 ranking*1), is so dedicated to the International Women’s Day. Have they not already achieved equality? The strong engagement is a good barometer for Norway’s general commitment to support women’s rights. The laws here do support women both in the workplace and home. Norway, traditionally a farming nation, recognized the contributions of farmer wives, decades ago, by giving them the status of a regular workers, entitled them to increased social security and workman’s benefits. Now girls are taken over farms since the law on inheritance has changed, favoring the first-born child, replacing the first born “male” as the heir. The law now also states that all corporate boards must be minimum 40% female; however, women tend not to rise as rapidly as men on the corporate ladder. A major newspaper recently reported that more men are going into female dominated vocations, such as nursing and teaching, and a larger percentage of women now seek higher education than men. 

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