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Top Twelve See Jane Do Stories of Extraordinary Women in 2009

"May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future"

In 2009 See Jane Do connected with everyday women who are fulfilling their dreams to create a better future for the planet and generations to come.  Despite a year of transition and change the women we met are consistent with their message; to persevere, to have hope, to connect with others, and to follow your passion.  

With over one hundred women we interviewed this year, we've shared our top twelve stories of everyday women who are doing extraordinary things for the planet and the lessons we learned from each of them.  We look forward to more stories and inspired action in 2010!

1.  Millions of people can come together peacefully to create change.

The See Jane Do team attended President Obama's inauguration and the Peace Ball in Washington D.C.  We also interviewed incredible women at the SYRCL's Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival

Extraordinary Jane's:  Woman's National Democratic Club, Multi-Racial book club, Rachel Barge of Campus in Power, Emma's Revolution, plus interviews with teachers, mothers, musicians, veterans, teen agers, soldiers, students, business owners, activists, and other concerned Americans.

2.  Renewing our relationship with food can also renew our community.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Wendy Van Wagner of In the Kitchen, Jo McProud of Riverhill Farm

3.  Sharing our stories can link generations and inspire a movement.

See Jane Do participated in Gather the Women's International Women's Day event.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Gather the Women and Jean Shinoda Bolen

4.  When you operate through your heart and passion, positive change is possible and others will join you.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Goldman Environmental Prize winners (four of which were women), Green Moms Carnival, Mable Yee, founder of Engage Her, Gloria Steinem  and Amy Goodman.

5.  I will not raise my child to kill another mother's child.

See Jane Do was invited to cover CODEPINK's annual mother's day peace event in Washington D.C.

Extraordinary Jane's: Medea Benjamin, Colonel Ann Wright, Iraq War Veteran and mother, Lindsey Cambpell, Women for Women Director in Afghanistan, Sweeta Nori, mother of Iraq Soldier, Cynthia Benjamin, Jodie Evans, actress and activist, Mimi Kennedy and many other incredible women.

6.  Our planet, our life, our health, our children are worth more than gold and coal.

See Jane Do features women who are taking planet earth off the market.  

Extraordinary Jane's:  Maria Gunnoe and Judy Bonds fighting Mountain Top Removal.  Lydia Olympic, tribal council member fighting open pit gold mining and preserving the largest salmon run.

7.  You're one click away from changing policy, sharing your story and connecting with community. 

See Jane Do attends BlogHer and features the pioneers of the online revolution.

Extraordinary Jane's:  BlogHer founders and Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org.

8.  The traditions of the past will support us in the future.  

Grandma Jane is rockin the world!   Standing up for conservation and peace these grandmothers are taking on multi-billion corporations to protect their health, the planet and their grandchildren.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Grandmothers for Peace, Alla Ivanovna Gafner and other participants of Pacific Environment.

9. We need to challenge assumptions that just because something has been done for many years (traditional school lunches), doesn't make it right.  One person has the power to create an impact (and kids love brown rice). 

We revisit school lunches that kids actually line up for and how the Slow Food movement can help.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Renegade Lunch Lady, Chef Ann Cooper, Aimee Retzler, Tania Carlone, and Erika Lesser, Director of Slow Food USA.

10.  With our purchase power we can change the world.

We featured women who are making the planet less trashy with less plastic.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish, activist and artist, Kathleen Egan, and educator Anna Cummins of Agalita.

11.  I want you to run for office!  Women might make up half the work force and half the population but we still don't have balanced leadership in the United States.

The United States is a long way from balanced leadership but we're half way to reaching the tipping point (30% representation is needed).  Numerous organizations have formed to train women to take the lead and run.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Marie Wilson, president and founder of The White House Project, Kristine Pagan, White House Project alumni and aspiring candidate, Mayor Reinette Senum, and Gloria Feldt, author, activist, and former CEO of Planned Parenthood.

12.  In order to have a healthy planet we must have healthy people.  

Women are taking their health into their own hands and putting the hope in healthcare.

Extraordinary Jane's:  Kim Robinson and Eileen Schnitger of Women's Health Specialists

Listen to Stories of Everyday Extraordinary Women at CODEPINK's Peace Vigil

What does an activist, a colonel, an Iraq War veteran, a mother, a woman living under occupation, and an actress all have in common.  They are all everyday extraordinary women who participated in CODEPINK's annual Mother's Day peace vigil and event in Washington D.C.

See Jane Do was there to capture the stories of these passionate women at this moving event.

Listen to the stories of CODEPINK cofounder, Medea Benjamin, Colonel Ann Wright, Iraq War Veteran and mother, Lindsey Cambpell, Women for Women Director in Afghanistan, Sweeta Nori, mother of Iraq Soldier, Cynthia Benjamin, actress and activist, Mimi Kennedy and many other incredible women.

If you missed our broadcast on KVMR,
Click here to become inspired and listen to our program.

Sweeta Noori Tells Us How We Can Help Women in Afghanistan

The CODEPINK Mother's Day event in Washington D.C. attracted incredible women from all over the world to promote peace and social justice.  The See Jane Do team had an opportunity to speak with an everyday extraordinary woman who has helped more than 8,500 women in Afghanistan. 

Sweeta Noori with Women for Women serves as the director in Afghanistan.  Women for Women is helping women survivors of war and rebuild their lives through an innovative and holistic approach.  One of the ways the organization is mobilizing women to change their lives is by engaging them in a one-year program that provides them with the tools, training, financing, and skills to empower them as leaders and help reconstruct their community. 

Ms. Noori launched a micro-credit program in Afghanistan, dispersing over $750,000 to 2,700 women.  And the recipients seem to be following through with their objective as Sweeta claims a 99% return rate on the money lent. 

Sweeta joined CODEPINK on Mother's Day to share her personal story as a woman from Afghanistan and urged women in America to get informed and involved in order to improve the lives of  women in her home country. 

Click here to listen to our interview with Sweeta Noori and learn how you can make a difference.

 

This is What Peace Feels Like: CODEPINK Mother's Day

See Jane Do Joins CodePink to Celebrate All Mothers & Women This Mother's Day

This Mother's Day, hundreds of women traveled from around the world to celebrate mothers and honor the original Mother's Day Proclamation made by Julia Ward Howe in 1870 calling for an end to war at CODEPINK’s 3rd annual 24-hour vigil in Lafayette Park across from the White House.  

Jesse Locks and Maya Parker Knitting With Other Women

On Saturday afternoon, women of all ages and backgrounds sprawled out along sidewalks around the park and in front of the main stage to participate in radical knitting circles.  They were sewing the more than 8,000 pink and green square cozies together to create a quilt with the message “We Will Not Raise Our Children to Kill Another Mother’s Child.”

 
Lindsey Campbell and Colonel Ann Wright

On many of them were messages pinned by the person who had originally knit the square to honor their own mother or child.  Women read these aloud, which would spark another woman’s story, followed by lively discussion, laughter, tears, and even singing.     

   
Rae Abileah, Group Coordinator at CodePink and Dana Balicki, Campaign Manager of CodePink

CODEPINK co-founders Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and Gael Murphy, actress Mimi Kennedy, Colonel Ann Wright, Sweeta Noori with Women for Women International Afghanistan, Cynthia Benjamin a mother of an Iraq deployed soldier, Iraq War Veteran and mother Lindsey Campbell, Veteran and spoken word artist Lori Perdue, among many others took the mic to share their own experiences as peace     organizers, former soldiers, and mothers and women living under occupation.                                                                                 

Jodi Evans of CodePink

Medea Benjamin of CodePink

Actress and Activist Mimi Kennedy

Lindsey Campbell Performing While Daughter Ruby Rose Watches

Attendees were encouraged to participate in learning circles with experts and facilitators on various issues including Gaza, Truth in Recruitment, Nuclear Disarmament, Economic Crisis, Women and War, Legislative Strategy and Being an Empowered Mama. 

No Nukes Workshop

Maya Parker and a Friend Enjoy a PediCab for Peace

Festivities continued on into the night with more music, poetry, a film screening of Kathleen Foster’s “Afghan Women: A History of Struggle”, and a Pink Pajama Party in the park. 

Sunday morning began with an Interfaith Ceremony lead by women of many ritual and religious traditions, which included singing, dancing and a silence for those loved ones lost at the hands of war.  Dr. Patch Adams entertained the children and those young at heart.

Elisa Parker Interviewing a Mom With Her Family From Philadelphia

After 24 hours of continuous knitting, the quilt had reached over 100 feet long.  In the closing ceremony hundreds of women, men and children singing “Peace Shalom Shalom” and chanting quotes like “We will march until our feet are pink” offered the quilt and a message of peace to President Obama in front of the White House along with thousands of roses.  Onlookers, some from as far away as Korea, were there to visit the White House, found themselves eagerly joining in by distributing roses, singing, taking photos, or writing the message “We Will Not Raise Our Children to Kill Another Mother’s Child” down, to share with others later.  We're sure Julia Ward Howe would be proud. 

The Quilt Too Long to Fit in One Photo  

Julia Ward Howe Would Be Proud

See Jane Do Makes Peace in D.C.

 

Considering our luck over the day I suggested we stop by the Peace Ball to see if we might get into the event with media credentials.  At the entrance to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum stood a dozen Code Pink activists.  They were very organized and attended many of the inaugural events decked out in pink and adorned with signs supporting peace.  I loved their can can dance.  I spoke with one of the very kind event managers who after waiting for twenty minutes said "it's your lucky day" and all four of us were invited in. 

 

 

Holly Near was playing along with Emma's Revolution.  Listen to our interview with Pat Murphies on KVMR this Wed. between 1:00-2:00 P.M.  Peace activist and performer, Harry Belafonte asked all of us to turn to a stranger and tell them what we were going to do to help renew America.  Comedian and activist Dick Gregory a VIP at the inaugural events said he received a call that the secret service was going to pick him up.  "Is that the same secret service in Dallas...?  I think I'll get my own ride". There wasn't a dry eye in sight when Joan Baez took to the stage and led a sing-a-long to Lennon's Imagine.  Eve Ensler of Vagina Monologues said this was a time for openings and Alice Walker shared brief but inspiring thoughts on new beginnings.  An absolute highlight of the Peace Ball was wrapping up the day dancing to Michael Franti singing his Obama song, his younger son by his side. 

 

Following interviews with Laura Flandersof GRITtv and Navasha Daya of Fertile Ground we left Washington D.C. at 1:30 A.M.  feeling an overwhelming sense of excitement and ready for a four hour drive to New York City.  After an amazing week I was ready to return home to my family and prepare the continuation of my plan of action to restore hope and unity within my community.

See Jane Do is featuring a special program on KVMR Wed. January 28th, 2009 from 1:00-2:00 P.M. highlighting our experience in D.C. and sharing the stories of the incredible women we met.  For a sneak preview listen to a recent interview with See Jane Do on the KVMR evening news . 

What does the inauguration mean to you and what are you going to do to make a difference?  Let us know at [email protected].