“In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed… to promote… the great and general interests of peace.”
That edict, issued by poet and activist Julia Ward Howe, was the inspiration for the Unitarian Universalists to begin the Women’s International Convocation in 2009 so that, in their words, “all women may find new paths to health, education, security, livelihood, and leadership.”
It’s a five-part platform that will be repeated in the third convocation at Asilomar Conference Center this week.
The IWC is open to all genders and faiths, and even atheists. Among the 18 speakers are Reema Nanavati of the Self-Employed Women’s Association, involved in microlending and education for Indian women, and Dr. Cecilia Conrad, managing director of the MacArthur Fellows Program. Christine Sleeter, professor emeritus at CSU Monterey Bay, talks about “The Curriculum for the New Majority,” with a focus on race and ethnicity and “whose knowledge” we teach in schools.
The big plenary speaker is feminist theorist, cultural critic, artist and author bell hooks. Saturday is neatly packaged with her talk, a Q&A, a wine reception, dinner, a music concert by Emma’s Revolution, late-night worship and protest songs, and the film Suffragette, all for $100 ($55 for students and military) with a reservation by noon Friday.
“I think [bell hooks] is going to talk about love,” says Laura Nagel, founding executive director of the IWC. “A lot of [what she writes] is about love.”
Food, entertainment and spirituality are built into workshops, talks, smaller group work; the reality of the political climate seems likely to inform those.
“As a nonprofit we have to be careful about partisan politics,” Nagel says. “It doesn’t keep us from educating people, or taking positions on public issues.”
The UUs were one of the organizing sponsors of the Women’s March on Washington. But Nagel’s not sure yet how to respond to Indivisible’s call for a nationwide strike this Friday.
They hope to make plans of action that attendees can implement in their respective communities.
Sleeter realizes the new U.S. Secretary of Education may oppose ethnic studies curricula, but says, “If something came out of [this] locally, I hope it would be to place this issue back on the agenda.”
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