Barbara Ehrenreich – USA

Linked with When Pastors go Postal, and How Positive Thinking Wrecked the Economy.

Barbara Ehrenreich (born August 26, 1941, in Butte, Montana) is an American feminist, socialist and political activist. She is a widely read columnist and essayist, and the author of nearly 20 books … (full text). Her Biography.

Her Bio on her own website.

She says:… No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots … and: America is addicted to wars of distraction … and: If men were equally at risk from this condition – if they knew their bellies might swell as if they were suffering from end-stage cirrhosis, that they would have to go nearly a year without a stiff drink, a cigarette, or even an aspirin, that they would be subject to fainting spells and unable to fight their way onto commuter trains – then I am sure that pregnancy would be classified as a sexually transmitted disease and abortions would be no more controversial than emergency appendectomies … (more quotes on think exist.com).

Barbara’s Blog: Barbara Ehrenreich comments on working in America. And Her official website.

She writes: In a culture where credit rating is the key measure of self-worth, the increasing response to huge debts is « Just shoot me! » … // … The alternative is to value yourself more than any amount of money and turn the guns, metaphorically speaking, in the other direction. It wasn’t God, or some abstract economic climate change, that caused the credit crisis. Actual humans – often masked as financial institutions – did that, (and you can find a convenient list of names in Nomi Prins’s article in the current issue of Mother Jones.) Most of them, except for a tiny few facing trials, are still high rollers, fattening themselves on the blood and tears of ordinary debtors. I know it’s so 1930s, but may I suggest a march on Wall Street? (full text of Suicide Spreads as One Solution to the Debt Crisis, July 29, 2008).

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Barbara Ehrenreich – USA

Watch the video: Ehrenreich – This Land is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation, 44.17 min, added July 16, 2008.

Announcement: A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County will discuss a book that chronicles a women’s experience with the working poor on Nov. 13, 2008 … Associate sociology professor Ann Herda-Rapp will discuss how author Barbara Ehrenreich took low-wage jobs in three different states to detail struggles that prevent workers from fulfilling basic necessities … (full text, November 5, 2008).

UWMC to perform Nickel and Dimed, Nov. 4, 2008.

… Nickel and Dimed is Joan Holden’s stage version of Barbara Ehrenreich’s first-person story Nickel and Dimed, on (Not) Getting by in America. The play, like the book, is about Ehrenreich’s experiences working in low-wage jobs and trying to survive for a year … (full text, November 5, 2008).

Do You Think Americans Reject The Notion Of Spreading The Wealth? October 18, 2008.

She writes also: … So happy birthday, Communist Manifesto – although I’m hoping that capitalism survives this one, if only because there’s no alternative ready at hand. At the very least, we should get some regulation and serious oversight out of any bail-out deal, meaning that, yes, the economy will look a little less like free enterprise. But one thing we should have learned in the last week, if not the last year, is that, when applied to enterprise, freedom can be just another word for someone else’s pain. (full text).

Find her and her publications on The Nation; on Alternet; on her blogs; books on her official website and articles on its archives; on wikipedia: see her books, her essays, and translations made in many languages; on Barbara Ehrenreich Quotes; on Google Video-search; on inauthor Google-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

… And yet, once the microphones were on, Barbara Ehrenreich spoke movingly about America’s infuriating blindness to our poor. Tom Friedman (Hot, Flat, and Crowded) spoke rousingly about our crucial need to be as imaginative about ET (environmental technology) as we’ve been about IT (information technology) … (full text).

She is member of United Professionals.

… Featured speakers include Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Nickle and Dimed,” and William McDonough, an architect known for his sustainability efforts. Other things to look out for are a green film festival, a reggae concert Saturday morning and a closing celebration on Saturday evening … (full text).

… Class warfare is what the wealthy and their puppets have been waging against the rest of us. One day, if unchecked, it will boil over and the McCains and Bushes and Cheneys of this country will learn what class warfare is– like the French aristocracy did. Meanwhile, perhaps they could get a glimmer from the introduction to This Land Is Your Their Land, the fantastic new book by Barbara Ehrenreich. She writes that « we’ll need a new deal, a new distribution of power and wealth if we want to restore the beautiful idea that was « America » … (full text).

… Speaking several years ago from the perspective of the newly diagnosed, Barbara Ehrenreich waged war in the pages of Harper’s against the « cult » of cheery pink consumption. She insisted that breast cancer survivors have all too readily taken up the role of complacency, embracing everything from pink teddy bears to pink angel pins while sacrificing what Ehrenreich clearly believes is well-placed anger … (full text).

… Based on Barbara Ehrenreich’s 2001 book of the same name, « Nickel and Dimed » follows the author’s real-life quest to try to survive on a minimum wage. Ehrenreich, in the New York Times best-seller, lived in three different states over a few months in the least-expensive lodgings she could find and worked a series of poverty-wage jobs – house cleaner, hotel maid, Wal-Mart salesperson and waitress among them … (full text).

Report from the Socialist International Conspiracy, Oct. 21, 2008.

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Ricky L. Jones – USA

Raised by his maternal grandmother in the hard-scrabble housing projects of Atlanta, Georgia, Ricky L. Jones not only became the first member of his immediate family to graduate high school, but by age 29 he had also earned a Ph.D. Currently, Jones is associate professor, past chair, and Director of the Center for the Study of Crime and Justice in the Black Community in the Department of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville. Continuer la lecture de « Ricky L. Jones – USA »

Maria Varela – USA

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Maria Varela has been a community organizer for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1962 when she joined the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee. Assigned to Selma Alabama, Varela’s job was to teach literacy. Instead she found herself a student of the rich African American culture of the black belt south. Dissatisfied with existing literacy materials, Varela began to create filmstrips and photo books that proved useful both in training community leaders and teaching literacy … (full text).

She says: « Breakthroughs are possible only if we can gather the courage to risk stepping outside our colonized worldviews » … and: … She argues: »Collaboration can provide the opportunity for the kind of cross-cultural communication that is necessary to address social, economic, and environmental problems … But unless the issues of race, class, and culture are faced head-on, I question whether collaboration can make a dent in deeply held ethnocentrism, rooted in still deeper historical legacies. Breakthroughs are possible, but only if we can gather the courage to risk stepping outside our colonized worldviews » … (both on 1000peacewomen).

Her profile on LinkedIn.

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Maria Varela – USA

She works for Rural Resources Group.

… TOPPENISH – The Yakima Valley’s economic future does not rest on the shoulders of farmers, ranchers or tourism developers. National rural resources expert Maria Varela says it rests, instead, in each Valley community’s ability to teach a diverse population the ABCs of economic literacy. The lessons are worthy of people of all ages and cultures, and could start being taught as early as middle school or junior high, she adds. Varela’s message was directed to the graduating class of Heritage College last weekend. In an interview, Varela says she gained as much from the graduates as they might have gained from her … (full text).

The book: Rural Environmental Planning for Sustainable Communities, by Frederic Sargent, Paul Lusk, Jose Rivera, Maria Varela.

Find her and her publications on amazon; on Google Book-search; on Google Group-search.

The Google download-books:

Women of Color, By Lillian Comas-Díaz, Beverly Greene, 1994, 518 pages;

Encyclopedia of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, By Matt S. Meier, Margo Gutiérrez, 2000, 293 pages.

… As a community organizer, Maria Varela specializes in small miracles. « What I do is to unlock people’s hopes and abilities, » she says of her part in the work of establishing a series of successful self-help ventures that have improved the lives of the people of her community without compromising their cherished rural traditions. While Varela prefers to go about her business without fanfare, her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Last summer she was honored with a prestigious MacArthur Foundation fellowship, a so-called genius award with a $305,000 no-strings-attached stipend that left her flustered and—no use denying it—thrilled. « I was stunned that they chose a community organizer, because community work is not often recognized » … (full text).

She writes: Definitions by Maria Varela:

  • 5. nikojunkie – One smitten with, obsessed by, in love with Nikolai Fraiture, bass player and god-like beauty, of the Strokes. NOT me…  Jun 23, 2006
  • 4. Paul Banks – Lead singer of dirge band Interpol. Blonde, blue-eyed and beauty marked this man is a Slavic-looking stunner. His v…  Nov 15, 2003
  • 3. Julian Casablancas – Incredibly gifted Puerto-Rican looking singer and songwriter for NY band the Strokes. His dad was a creep; he’s not….  Nov 15, 2003
  • 2. the libertines – Ostensibly an English band comprised of four members but only two are ever seen: look up Carlos Barat and Pete Dohert…  Nov 15, 2003
  • 1. nikolai fraiture – Franco-Russian soft-haired and soft-spoken bassist for the Strokes. Often found in the background of photos and obsc

… (on Urban Dictionary).

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Barbara Smith – USA

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Barbara Smith is an author, activist, and independent scholar who has played a groundbreaking role in opening up a national dialogue about the intersections of race, class, sexuality, and gender. She was among the first to define an African American women’s literary tradition and to build black women’s studies and black feminism in the United States. She has been politically active in many movements for social justice since the 1960s. Currently, her focus is on neighborhood and community organizing, especially regarding youth issues, in the poor black community where she resides. She says: « We are not hated and abused because there is something wrong with us, but our treatment is absolutely prescribed by the racist, misogynistic system under which we live ».  (on 1000peacewomen).

Barbara Smith (born December 16, 1946) in Cleveland is an American, lesbian feminist who has played a significant role in building and sustaining Black Feminism in the United States. Since the early 1970s she has been active as an innovative critic, teacher, lecturer, author, independent scholar, and publisher of Black feminist thought. She has also taught at numerous colleges and universities over the last twenty five years. Smith’s essays, reviews, articles, short stories and literary criticism have appeared in a range of publications, including The New York Times Book Review, The Black Scholar, Ms., Gay Community News, The Guardian, The Village Voice, Conditions (magazine) and The Nation. Barbara has a twin sister, Beverly Smith, who is also a lesbian feminist activist and writer … (full text).

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Barbara Smith – USA

She works for:

History and activism.

Her Bio on NOW.org.

She is one of the 37 Women Named Bunting Institute Fellows for ’96-97.

She is also a Betterworld Heroe, see Her Bio.

Some of the Google download-books she authored or co-authored:

She says also: « What I really feel is radical is trying to make coalitions with people who are different from you. I feel it is radical to be dealing with race and sex and class and sexual identity all at one time. I think that is really radical because it has never been done before ». (on Betterworld Heroes).

Find her and her publications on wikipedia /writings; on inauthor Google-search; and on Google Blog-search.

Many persons have the same name, disambiguations are often uncertain.

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Index October 2008