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BALI News
and Events
June 2008
New York Citywide High School Debate Competition for Girls
On June 8,
we hosted a “Citywide BALI Leaders of Tomorrow” debate competition at the
Beacon School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Five New York City Public High School girls debating teams squared off in a
day long series of very exciting and competitive rounds of debate.
The two resolutions that were debated:
1)
Does the internet expand the gap between men and women in society?
2)
Has sexism played a big part in the Presidential campaign primaries and in
the media coverage?
The
finalists and winning debate team was from the New York City High School of
Innovation and Cooperative Education (ICE).
The winners received two prizes:
Gift
Certificates to Best Buy electronics and BALI’s commitment to treat the
winning team to a restaurant of their choice.
We also had the very great honor and fortune of having our BALI girls and
team competitors filmed for an upcoming one hour special, Women and Power,
which will be aired on PBS television on the program NOW PBS across the
United States on September 16th and at 8:30 pm in the New York tri-state
area. Award winning Senior Correspondent for PBS Maria Hinojosa interviewed
several of the girl debate teams and the girls individually. She asked the
girls what it meant to them to be considered a leader, how they got involved
in debating and what they hoped to do with their lives in the future.
BALI
President Liz Abzug also asked Ms. Hinojosa to speak to the girls as a mentor
and to share with them how she became a television journalist, as well as
what ideas she could give the girls to pursue future leadership roles and
professions.
BALI First Annual Awards Fundraiser
— The Bella Award and
Bella-Fella Award
We will hold our first awards fundraiser at the beautiful CITY HALL
Restaurant located downtown in TRIBECA at 131 Duane Street (between Church
and West Broadway) on Tuesday September 16th from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
This year we will honor Erica Forman, Esq. and partner at Bryan Cave LLP as
the very first award recipient of the “Bella Award” for her outstanding
leadership as Chair of the BALI Board of Directors and someone who was there
from the very beginning helping to form and create our organization and
Institute.
The first
Bella Fella Award will be awarded to one of our very strongest male
supporters, Hon. Council Member and Chair of the New York City Council
Finance Committee, David Weprin.
Come meet new and old friends of BALI and some “star” leaders, surprise
guests and all sorts of fun supporters.
We will offer some great Hors d’oeuvres and wine as well as a cash bar.
The levels
of supporters are the following:
TOP HAT - $500.00
FEDORA - $400.00
COWGIRL/COWBOY - $300.00
BERET - $200.00
BEANIE - $150.00
Of course
students and moderate income supporters will also be welcome at a much
reduced fee.
You can contribute and pay to attend this event by going to the Donate
page on our web site and paying by any credit card on PayPal. Or you can
reserve a
ticket(s) for the event by leaving your name and number on our BALI event event
reservation line: 212-346-9699.
In The News
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Liz Abzug Named One Of The 21 Leaders For The 21st Century
2008 By Women's E-News
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 Run Date:
12/24/07
By Sarah Seltzer
WeNews correspondent
Liz Abzug decided that a
monument was not enough to honor her mother, pioneering feminist and
beloved New York City Congresswoman Bella Abzug, who died in 1998. She
wanted a living tribute to continue her work and "pass it on to the
next generation."
With a colleague Abzug
designed a leadership training institute to give young women and girls from
disadvantaged backgrounds the tools "to achieve the dynamic leadership
skills of my mother."
Abzug felt there was a
lack of outspoken, courageous female voices in the public sector, so the
first program of the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute was a two-week
session for New York City high school girls to learn about political and
issue advocacy, debating skills, researching and how to deliver a speech,
and not-for-profit management. After two weeks of training, the trainee
participants from several different New York City public high schools
compete in a city-wide high school debate competition.
The Institute's intense
focus on giving back sets it apart from other enrichment and leadership
programs and is the first aimed specifically at female teens, Abzug says.
Young women return to their schools and communities to hold forums on
everything from housing to education policy. "We want to see them
follow through as emerging leaders in their own communities as well as in
society at large."
The Institute recently
launched a mentoring system for the trainees and is developing paid
internships for them to build on their new skills.
Many of the young women
who enter the Institute know there is something unfair or un-equitable
about their lives, Abzug says. Their experiences provide "a concrete idea
of what gender discrimination is and that there's triple discrimination
against women of color."
In November 2007, Abzug
hosted the Freedom on Our Terms conference in New York to mark the 30th
anniversary of the original National Women's Conference in 1977. More than
650 women and girls of all ages from 8 to 90 years old, and from all races,
religions and backgrounds from 21 different states, attended the two-day
conference. Abzug says it was deeply moving to watch young women become
inspired and realize how important it is for them to pick up the mantle of
leadership as well as to watch older women get excited about reigniting the
fight for true gender equality.
"Young women need to
assume their roles as the next generation of 21st century leaders," Abzug
says. "They should never be afraid to ask for a seat at the
table."
Original
article
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Recent Events
Freedom Conference Summary
The Freedom on Our Terms, National Women and Girls Conference
was held on November 10th and 11th, 2007 at Hunter College. BALI served
as the lead organizer and host of this truly intergenerational conference. By
the accounts of many of the participants and attendees'
evaluations, the two day conference and the pop rock Freedom
concert, was a terrific success. Many of the young high school
and college girls who participated said it had a "life
altering impact" on them.
 Over 625 women and girls of all races, ages,
(from 8 years old to 90), religions and backgrounds coming from 21
States attended. More than 70 national and local women's and girls'
organizations endorsed our conference. The older feminists who attended said
that the conference re-ignited their faith and spirit to fight for and
achieve full equal rights for women in the 21st century. Many Conference
attendees and other observers suggested and hoped that the
National Women and Girls Freedom conference, be held annually or
bi-annually. Stay tuned!
"The
National Plan of Action: Then and Now" document
which was created at the request of the Bella Abzug Leadership
Institute and other conference organizers, and was written by BALI
Board member Lala Wu and Columbia University graduate student Kate
Collier, outlines the progress or lack thereof of the 26 planks plan
of action which constituted a National action agenda for
women, that came out of the Houston '77 conference. The report contains
comparative and up to date data on Economic Justice,
Education, Women in Elective and Appointive Office, The Equal Rights
Amendment, Media, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and
Violence Against Women. A copy of this report is downloadable
on our Web site.
 Also, in the final
Open Forum session of the National Women's and Girls conference, attendees
suggested that we communicate our major concerns regarding the lack of
progress for women and girls in a number of areas to all of the Presidential
candidates. Below you will see the specific concerns raised with respect
to women and girls full equality in the 21st century.
Summary
of Conference Priority Issues for Achieving Full Equality for Women
and Girls
On
November 10th and 11th, the Bella Abzug Leadership
Institute (BALI) sponsored an intergenerational Conference entitled Freedom
on Our Terms to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the National
Women's Conference (Houston '77) and create a 21st Century Agenda
for Action for Women and Girls. We are pleased to say that over 600
people from 21 states attended the Freedom on Our Terms Conference and over
70 women's and girls' organizations endorsed it. Attached you will find
a document distributed at the Conference as an overview of the status of
American women in 1977 and in 2007, The National Plan of Action: Then and
Now, co-authored by Lala Wu and Kate Collier. Sadly, it confirms
the lack of fundamental progress in achieving full equality and justice for
American women and girls. The facts clearly show that:
· One in four women will experience domestic violence during her
lifetime and one in six women will be the victim of sexual assault;
· Women today earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes;
· Among the world's parliaments, the United States ranks number
68 with only 16.3% women members;
· 185 countries have ratified the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the United States is NOT one of
them;
· The United States has failed to ratify the Equal Rights
Amendment which would ensure full equality for women under the Constitution;
· In 2007, the United States Supreme Court reversed 30 years of
precedent to eliminate protection for women's health in abortion procedures;
and
· The poorest group in this nation is older women.
 These are
only a few powerful examples of the continuing discrimination that limits the
potential and possibilities of over half this Nation's population. Those
attending the Freedom on Our Terms Conference demand full equality for women
and girls in our lifetimes and we ask what specific steps you will take as
President to end sex discrimination on every level and under every category?
What will you do to see that the Equal Rights Amendment finally
becomes part of the United States Constitution? What will you do
to ensure that the United States ratifies the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women? What will you do
to protect reproductive freedom rights for all women? What will you
do to provide fully affordable and accessible health care for every
person in this country? What will you do to support Caregivers,
the overwhelming majority of whom are women, as they take care of the
frailest among us? What will you do to end the terrorism of
rape, incest and domestic violence against women and girls? What
will you do to make equal pay for equal work real?  What will you do to expand nontraditional work
opportunities for women as well as help blast through the glass ceiling that
limits women's advancement? What will you do to preserve and
expand Title IX? What will you do to help the nation understand
the interconnections of oppression, so that sexism, racism, homophobia,
ageism and all the other forms of discrimination are part of the same
fight? What will you do to see that every little girl born in
this nation has the same chance of fulfilling her dreams and potential as
does every little boy? We look forward to receiving your answers to
these important questions which reflect the concerns of the majority of the electorate.
Signed by The Freedom Conference Organizers.
Freedom
on Our Terms: A New Agenda for Women and Girls 30 Years after the National
Women's Conference
(held
on November 10-11, 2007 in New York City)
We guarantee that you have
never attended a Conference quite like this one. Because we start from an
historical base that includes lessons learned from Seneca Falls in 1848,
Mexico City in 1975, Houston in 1977, Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in
1985, and Beijing in 1995, we have traveled far beyond the
necessity of discussing if Women's Equality will occur because we know
it must if this world is to survive. We start from an activist's perspective
that refuses to be diverted by those interested in promoting and prolonging
discrimination against women and girls. In the words of the National Women's
Conference, we are here to "move history forward" and we
will do so at breathtaking speed. Fasten your seatbelts because when we
say "Freedom on Our Terms," we mean just that.
When Elizabeth Cady Stanton proposed at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention
"that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to
themselves their sacred right to elective franchise," how could she have
guessed that it would take seventy-two more years of fierce struggle before
women won the right to vote? When Alice Paul unveiled the Equal Rights
Amendment in 1923, how could she have guessed that eight and a half decades
were destined to pass without adoption of the ERA and its constitutional
guarantee of full equality for women? When women from across the
country, led by Bella Abzug, met at the 1977 National Women's Conference in
Houston, how could we foresee that thirty years later so many of the
resolutions in the National Plan of Action would still be unfulfilled?
When the United States still refuses to ratify the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly in 1979, what does that say to the international
community about how serious this country views sex discrimination?
When women today still earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man
makes, how much longer will it take to achieve equal pay for equal
work? When 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during
her lifetime and one in six women will be the victim of sexual
assault, how long will that terror continue? When a recent report
on women in the world's parliaments ranks the United States as number 68
with 16.3% women members, it's clear how many nations are far ahead
of us in recognizing women's leadership. When in 2007 the United States
Supreme Count reverses 30 years of precedent to eliminate protection for
women's health in abortion procedures, how much longer will it be until Roe
v. Wade is totally overturned? How many more generations of women
will have to keep fighting for equality on these and other issues? The
time is now. We demand full equality for women in our lifetimes and on our
terms. We must fight back with a new 21st Century Agenda for Action for
women and girls.
For those unaware of the lessons of history or the statistics of present
oppression, let us refer you to the groundbreaking work of women historians
who show us how to rethink the past and reshape the future. Let us also
urge you to read the never-ending series of reports and studies
stacking up on shelves all over the world that document the oppression of
women and girls. Recent reports like "The World's Women 2005:
Progress in Statistics" by the United Nations Statistics Division,
"Women, Work and Poverty" by the United Nations Development Fund
for Women, "Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap" by
the National Women's Law Center and the information from the
"Because I Am a Girl" Campaign in Britain (which estimates
that nearly 100 million girls die each year because males are more
valued in their countries) are especially relevant.
We have studied such documents all our lives. Now it's time to ACT. Since
this is the first National Conference for women and girls, we offer a
truly intergenerational approach. Since this is one of the only Conferences
to ask each participant to submit a questionnaire along with her
registration, we have a head start in formulating recommendations for action.
Since in the span of little more than two days, we will offer roundtable
discussions, plenary sessions, videos, oral histories, interactive
components, workshops, issue caucuses, music and receptions—this
Conference will require all the stamina and spirit the attendees can muster.
In return, we offer you, as Jill Ruckelshaus said at the 1977 National
Women's Conference: "Your pride in being a woman...your future and a
certain knowledge that at the end of your days you will be able to look back
and say that once in your life you gave everything you had for justice."
Some of our major conference endorsers include:
American Association of University Women-New York Chapter
Asian Americans for Equality
Barnard Center for Research on Women
Center for Advancement of Women
Center for Law and Social Justice, Medgar Evers College
Center for Women Policy Studies
Code Pink
Feminist.com
Girls Learn International Inc.
Hunter Women's Center
Legal Momentum
Living Beyond Belief
Minnesota Women’s Consortium
Ms. Foundation for Women
National Conference of Puerto Rican Women
National Council for Research on Women
National Organization for Women
NewYorkStateNOW
The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Trust
The Feminist Majority
The National Women’s History Project
The Transition Network
The Third Wave Foundation
The White House Project
The Women’s Media Center
Veteran Feminists of America
WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Women in Learning and Leadership (Will Program) at the College of New Jersey
Women's City Club of NY
Women’s Environmental and Development Organization (WEDO)
Carole Artigiani, Founder and President Global Kids Inc.
Carol Bellamy
Captain Brenda Berkman, (ret.) Fire Department New York
Gale Brewer, New York City Council Member
Karen Burstein
Ellen Chesler
Gracia Molina Pick
Barbara Ehrenreich
Gloria Feldt
Kamala Harris, District Attorney, San Francisco
Mary Lynn W. Hopps, Director, Women in Learning and Leadership-
College of New Jersey
Robin Morgan
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Anna Quindlen
Ms. Attallah Shabazz
Gloria Steinem
Looking Forward to 2008
We look forward to a busy year of organizing and collaboration with our
partners to build on the success of the Freedom on Our Terms Conference of
November 2007 as well as our past High School Debate Trainings and
Competitions. We are also hard at work to create an innovative leadership
training program for college age young women. We are also exploring
collaborations with corporations, not for profit organizations and government
in terms of mentorship and peer counseling programs as well as international
linkages with girls and women around the world.
We are driven forward by the belief that, as former Representative Bella
Abzug used to say, “women will change the nature of power rather than power
changing the nature of women” and that “it will be the young women who will
lead the way in the 21st century.”
As an adjunct professor at Barnard College/Columbia University, BALI
President Liz Abzug developed and taught a new undergraduate level course
offered to Barnard and Columbia students for the first time last fall,
entitled "Women and Leadership," which concentrated on the 20th and
21st centuries. This "case studies" course studied significant
women leaders in politics, business, media, journalism and the military, in
both the United States and internationally. Liz will be teaching this course
again in fall 2008 to Barnard College and Columbia University students, and
encourages BALI high school debate trainees to come up to Barnard College to
meet with students in the course to forge on-going peer relationships.
Help Change a Young Gal’s Life
We are always interested in recruiting dynamo interns and
mentors/career sponsors to inspire and engage our young dynamic BALI “leaders
of tomorrow.” If you would like to take on this challenge, one that will have
a life-altering effect on a young woman’s life as well as your own, please
contact Liz Abzug, President and Director of BALI, at www.abzuginstitute.org or 212-650-3071. Please
encourage others who may be interested to contact us as well. Talented
professionals have offered to be involved as trainers and mentors but we are
always like to expand our network and talent pool to reach all of our
trainees.
Prior BALI
Programs
BALI
Leaders of Tomorrow Debate Competition
In August of 2006, BALI debate program graduates participated
in a citywide high school debate competition. Students from numerous New York
City high schools debated complex issues such as the right to reproductive
choice, rap music’s portrayal of women, women in combat roles, and community
service as a requirement for high school students. Volunteer judges — professionals representing politics, government, academia and
advocacy — evaluated
the team’s arguments and assessed their advocacy and tactical skills.
Please check back for updated information about the next Citywide high school
debate competition in 2007-2008, and please contact us for more information
about debate trainings.
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