If you haven’t yet seen the HBO documentary The Janes, don’t miss it. The film tells the story of a group of women in Chicago in the ‘60s. These women, now seventysomething, assisted others who were in need of abortion services in pre-Roe America. Watching it brought to mind this quote from Rebecca Solnit’s powerful 2004 book, Hope in the Dark. Solnit writes “Resistance is first of all a matter of principle and a way to live, to make yourself one small republic of unconquered spirit.” Please let us know how your unconquered spirit is faring.
Copies of my 2019 essay collection, Twilight Time: Aging in Amazement, are available directly from me (signed) or from Amazon or your local bookseller.
I haven’t seen the doc—no HBO. But after I spend the last few days feeling defeated—utterly—I searched some sites and decided to make a monthly pledge to the national abortion fund to help women access abortions. You can donate to the national or choose a state. Chicago is doing some good work—according to a PBS Newshour. That’s one step forward. I’ll keep my eyes open for others.
Thank you for responding and for rising up out of defeat. Watching "The Janes" was so poignant and so inspiring at one and the same time. Those women were so courageous and so creative. Their energy doesn't go away. It's part of the long journey of back and forth, gathering voices of indignation and resolve along the way.
This unconquered spirit has always resisted tethering to another. It has taken me a lifetime to understand that this spirit enjoys the struggle of going alone, despite living in a world that isn't particularly understanding nor happy with an untethered woman on the loose. And as if I needed to be reminded, on the 29 of June 2022, I must acknowledge that SCOTUS has waged its unapproving finger right in my face to say: not so fast, missy.
I loved seeing The Janes, and it brought up so many memories of my involvement in the women's movement back in the early 1970s. I'd thought I was an adult (you became an adult so young back then) but then within the movement I really grew up and came into myself, supported in self-expression and in seeing the world through new eyes, with a strong imperative to make a difference. How is "that unconquered spirit" faring? It has been tested, seasoned, educated, transformed, and more - but still unconquered because I still believe in all the potential we have to organize, work together, and make things right - at whatever level.
Unconquered seems like just the right framework for looking at it. All over the world, there are people who the powers that be have attempted to conquer. The appropriate response is Just Say No, right?
I haven’t seen the doc—no HBO. But after I spend the last few days feeling defeated—utterly—I searched some sites and decided to make a monthly pledge to the national abortion fund to help women access abortions. You can donate to the national or choose a state. Chicago is doing some good work—according to a PBS Newshour. That’s one step forward. I’ll keep my eyes open for others.
Thank you for responding and for rising up out of defeat. Watching "The Janes" was so poignant and so inspiring at one and the same time. Those women were so courageous and so creative. Their energy doesn't go away. It's part of the long journey of back and forth, gathering voices of indignation and resolve along the way.
This unconquered spirit has always resisted tethering to another. It has taken me a lifetime to understand that this spirit enjoys the struggle of going alone, despite living in a world that isn't particularly understanding nor happy with an untethered woman on the loose. And as if I needed to be reminded, on the 29 of June 2022, I must acknowledge that SCOTUS has waged its unapproving finger right in my face to say: not so fast, missy.
Well, I got some news for them. Right, ladies?
I love the word untethered. I think this moment will energize women, maybe in particular older women. These guys won't know what hit them.
It speaks to how I'm feeling. As I age, I find I am in the midst of looosening the binds that have restrained me.
Take care.
I loved seeing The Janes, and it brought up so many memories of my involvement in the women's movement back in the early 1970s. I'd thought I was an adult (you became an adult so young back then) but then within the movement I really grew up and came into myself, supported in self-expression and in seeing the world through new eyes, with a strong imperative to make a difference. How is "that unconquered spirit" faring? It has been tested, seasoned, educated, transformed, and more - but still unconquered because I still believe in all the potential we have to organize, work together, and make things right - at whatever level.
Unconquered seems like just the right framework for looking at it. All over the world, there are people who the powers that be have attempted to conquer. The appropriate response is Just Say No, right?