The Justice and Reconciliation Center March 2008 Events

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The Justice and Reconciliation Center March 2008 Events
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The Justice and Reconciliation Center
19 N. Pauahi Street
Honolulu's Chinatown 96817
mrjoy@hawaii.rr.com
808-741-4612

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

1908
Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910
At a Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen, an International Women's Day of no fixed date was proposed to honor the women's rights movement and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. Over 100 women from 17 countries unanimously agreed the proposal. 3 of these women were later elected the first women to the Finnish parliament.

1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honored the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labor legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

1913-1914
On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

1917
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.

1918 - 1999
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes.

1920 -- Women won the right to vote in the United States.

1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organizations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honor women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

2000 - 2007
IWD is now an official holiday in Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally!! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe, and rewarding.

To commemorate Women's History Month our window exhibit displays sculptures of women from various cultures, as well as living art.
We are featuring two women artists at the Pacific Traditions Gallery.

Burnice Breckenridge's new Katrina Series

About Artist: Burnice Breckenridge's art is the type that remembers a time when women worked the fields picking cotton, to recognizing the beauty in poor rural everyday life of the south. In 1988 Burnice started working full-time on her paintings, using a medium of oil paints on canvas. Burnice's back to basic approach to painting shows in her works such as "Tired Feet." The start of what Burnice calls "Home Gallery Showings" took off in Dallas with a great allure to her work. With articles in The Dallas Morning News and Plano Starr Courier, Burnice's art took off with a popular appeal Ads and features continued in the Black Pages and The Dallas Observer. During the 90's her popular style grew with her personal Home Gallery showings at clubs and events such as the Dallas Black Auxiliary Club.

Her greatest joy came from her love of teaching art classes at local elementary schools in the Dallas and Plano school districts, which she still does today from time to time. In 1996 Burnice began working with the publishing department of Univ. Of North Texas, where she did over 26 pencil sketches for a book on the history of Plano, TX called "My Remembrance". In 2002, Burnice was hired to do illustrations for a book about The Harrington House; this great Museum House has existed since the time of slavery. Burnice still creates specialized prints for numerous authors, for book covers. She has recently illustrated a novel for Howard Breckenridge, entitled " Rags to Rags" She's a catalyst for young artists that believe in capturing childhood memories and turning it into history.

Linda's Insight
About Artist: Civil Rights Activists and Photographer Linda Moses Dehnad Smith 1936-2006

Linda lived a life of value undefined by property and prosperity.
She lived a life in pursuit of the beauty nestled in everyone and everything -- a beauty
that is unrecognized by most of us.

Linda led an ever-changing life exploring the unthinkable and the unknowable. Finding
the magnificence that is buried deep beneath the surface.

Linda was compelled to give all that she had -- a burden not generally appreciated nor
understood.

"The Modern Day Harriet Tubman"
This Jewish woman with all the gifts that upper middle class in New York can bestow --
opened her household to anyone and everyone fleeing the south. Legends of the Civil
Rights Movement, the people who most of us only read about were real to her -- because they had stayed at her home.

October 2005, Linda, Scotty B, my son, Christopher, and I ventured down to Lowndes
County, Alabama. Me, complete with all of my fears and prejudices and Linda armed only with her camera -- she so loved everything about the place. The people who'd been involved in the Lowndes County Movement; the overgrown cemetery with its many secrets; the rustic homes that had provided shelter from the rage; the smell of autumn; and the chill in the air. With her photographs we are all privy to her view of Lowndes County.

Linda's father told her "even if you do not practice being Jewish -- always say you are
Jewish so that Hitler will not have won."

Linda lived and loved around the world -- from New York, France, Iran, London,
Hawaii, California, and "The Black Belt" being devoted to justice and equality - I think
when her father welcomed her into the hereafter his first words to her "thanks to you --
Hitler did not win."

Thursday, March 20 - Live Music in the Galleries, Shops, and Restaurants

Saturday, March 22, Join us for our Spring Sidewalk sale -- Plants, artworks and stuff will be for sale in front of the Pacific Traditions Gallery, 19 N. Pauahi Street.

A Hui Ho

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The Justice and Reconciliation Center March 2008 Events

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