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In honor of the tenth anniversary of Women’s History Month, I want to recognize the work of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness, a national grassroots organization dedicated to protecting wilderness and wild lands. This organization was conceived by older women who love wilderness, giving voice to the millions of older Americans who want to protect their public lands as wilderness for this and future generations. The group prides itself on the thousands of hours (37,857 last year) people volunteer to care for the environment. Based in Durango, Colorado, their on-the-ground work happens throughout the country, with 36 active chapters in 16 states. » Continue Reading.
Posts Tagged ‘Diversity’
Lorraine Duvall: Great Old Broads for Wilderness
‘Votes for Women’ Exhibit Opening Ticonderoga Historical Season
The Ticonderoga Historical Society will unveil ‘Votes for Women,’ the first of three new exhibits being installed at the Hancock House on Friday, March 31 at 7 pm. Historical Society Programs Assistant and former Essex County Historian Diane O’Connor will present the opening talk, which is free and open to the public.
Votes for Women looks at the fight for women’s suffrage in New York State, where women won the right to vote in 1917, more than two years before the national amendment to the Constitution was ratified. » Continue Reading.
DEC Announces New Director for Environmental Justice
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the appointment of Rosa Méndez as Director of the Office of Environmental Justice.
Méndez comes to DEC from the New York Department of State’s Coastal Management Program. In this position, she analyzed federal proposals in coastal areas to ensure consistency with state policies and worked to meaningfully involve impacted communities in local waterfront revitalization programs. Her prior experience includes working in criminal defense law, and as a Public Service Fellow, empowering New York’s vulnerable homeless population. » Continue Reading.
Ugly History of North Country Nationalism Offers Lessons For Today
Goodness has long been an admirable part of our identity as Americans. It is evident at the national level in our response when natural disasters strike here or abroad. Closer to home, we see it manifested daily in our own Adirondacks and foothills, where people donate, volunteer, and reach out to help others. Our foundation as small-town folk is one of welcoming, caring, sharing.
Along with that comes the knowledge that we’re also lucky to be Americans, lucky to not have been born in some other country where things are much different. Many of the lessons we learned in school were derived from the struggles of others in less fortunate circumstances.
We were taught to appreciate certain rights and freedoms, to speak out against perceived wrongs, to defend the less capable, and to question the directives of those in leadership positions. In some countries, those rights are viewed as privileges for the chosen few, or are not available at all. » Continue Reading.
Marches Planned for Local Communities January 21st
Rallies are planned across the region on Saturday, January 21 to show solidarity with those at the Women’s March on Washington. Local marches have been gathering momentum and the national organization says 300 Sister Marches are planned, each with its own program, “from music and speeches to a rally at a suffragist’s grave in upstate New York, to a verbal ‘human mosaic’ of people in Napa Valley sharing their vision for the future.”
“The day after the Presidential inauguration, people from around the country will unite in Washington, DC in the spirit of democracy, dignity and justice,” according to Sandra Weber, co-organizer of a local march. “Some people are travelling to DC, but many of us will not be able to make the trip. When I heard that Seneca Falls was holding a Sister March, I thought it was a great idea for our North Country community to join the movement.” Weber’s in one of three related marches planned for the region. » Continue Reading.
$3M in Environmental Justice Community Grants Awarded
New York State has issued $3 million in Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants to mitigate environmental and public health threats in low-income and minority communities. This funding was included in the expanded Environmental Protection Fund, part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Environmental Justice initiative, in this year’s State Budget. More than $3 million is expected to be distributed to communities around the state.
The Community Impact Grants are administered through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Office of Environmental Justice. DEC officials say that since the program’s launch in 2006 the Department has distributed more than $4 million for 121 Environmental Justice projects statewide. » Continue Reading.
Saranac Lake Transgender Day of Remembrance Planned
Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual way to memorialize those who have died or were murdered as a result of transphobia, the hatred or fear of transgender and gender non-conforming people. Transgender Day of Remembrance serves to bring attention to the continued violence endured by the transgender community.
A Transgender Day of Remembrance observance will be held on Sunday, November 20, 2016 from 5 to 6 pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 136 Main Street, in Saranac Lake. » Continue Reading.
Remarkable Women of the Adirondacks
The Alice T. Miner Museum has announced a free program featuring author Sandra Weber, who will tell tales of the strength and courage of Adirondack women, on Thursday, October 20, at 6 pm.
In this program of portrayals and stories, Sandra Weber presents the voices and wild spirit of Adirondack women. Dressed in period costume, Weber will deliver dramatic narratives of women such as pancake-flipper Mother Johnson, adventurer-activist Kate Field, poet Jeanne Robert Foster, and suffrage martyr Inez Milholland. » Continue Reading.
ANCA Annual Meeting Upends Assumptions
Nearly 80 attendees, representing 23 communities and 13 counties, gathered at the historic Stone Mill in downtown Keeseville for the Adirondack North Country Association’s Annual Meeting “Unpacking the Secrets of Successful Communities.”
Recent national analyses and media coverage have reported that things are not so good in rural communities across the nation. According to a May 2016 Washington Post article by Jim Tankersley, “rural areas have seen their business formation fall off a cliff.” The article says “experts warn that the trends could be self-perpetuating and endanger the very life of rural economies in the years to come.” “Not so fast,” was the underlying theme of ANCA’s meeting. » Continue Reading.
Plattsburgh LGBTQ Pride Parade Steps Off Saturday
Adirondack North Country Gender Alliance is co-sponsoring a LGBTQ Pride Parade in Plattsburgh, on Saturday, October 1, 2016, from 1 to 4 pm.
The event begins in Trinity Park and is free and open to the public. It will include musical performances, a variety of guest speakers, and other entertainment. Event participants will then march from Trinity Park to Plattsburgh State University of New York campus for additional speakers before returning to Trinity Park. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Women in Leadership Forum Sept 28th
On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, at SUNY Adirondack in Queensbury, the Adirondack Research Consortium will host “Women in Leadership,” a forum to present research, best practices, and case studies involving gender based issues and to engage women in leadership roles in government and business in a related panel discussion.
The goal is to identify future research opportunities and specific actions related to gender. Dr. Kristine Duffy, President, SUNY Adirondack is chair of the event which is being held in partnership with SUNY Adirondack and the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society at the University at Albany. The Women in Leadership Series is sponsored by the Walbridge Fund and the International Paper Foundation. » Continue Reading.
Remembering and Honoring Michael Frome, 1920-2016
One of the world’s most prolific advocacy journalists and a courageous spokesman for America’s natural heritage, Michael Frome, died this month at the age of 96. His last Portogram arrived this week.
Mike Frome’s Portogram arrived in many inboxes as regular commentary about life, current events, wild nature as soul food, and people he admired fighting the good fight against the cold -hearted, the purely corporate, the vested interest, the greedy, and against the dispassionate, “objective” nature writer when a point of view was called for. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Diversity: The Challenges and Opportunities (Part 2)
This is the part two of our report on the issues raised at the recent Adirondack Diversity Symposium. Part one can be found here.
One aspect of making the Adirondacks more welcoming is in how we treat people; do we provide all who come here the kind of welcoming experience we’d desire if we were traveling abroad or to differing parts of our country?
Another aspect has to do with how we expect others to live. We here in the Adirondacks love access to clean air, fresh water, and the wilderness experience. However, economics and race can temper that experience for many. Economics have a lot to do with where we live. The wealthy are taking over such locales as living on a lake, a lot with a spectacular view, and increasingly hamlet centers. The St. Regis lakes are, for all purposes, a gated community, and Lake Placid lake is all but the same. Try just renting a boat slip for the summer. Can you believe $3,800? When I was a boy, a fair number of middle-class families had camps on the lake, now a handful remain. » Continue Reading.
Making The Park More Welcoming: Challenges and Opportunities
Imagine you’d been hired to coach a hockey or soccer camp for the summer, teach music for the Seagle Colony or figure skating at the Olympic Arena, or serve as a waiter, housekeeper, lift attendant or golf pro, as whitewater rafting or fishing guide, or one of the many other jobs that welcome visitors to our region. Imagine that you went with some of your fellow workers to a restaurant, or shopping at a store, and got harassed and verbally abused by another customer because of the color of your skin.
How would you feel if a member of the business’s staff asked you to leave, not the person being abusive, but you – the victim. What would that say about our community? What would that say about how we welcome and care for our customers and seasonal employees? » Continue Reading.
Justice Center Helps Vulnerable New Yorkers With Support, Services
The New York Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs has several professional advocates on staff who provide guidance and assistance to people receiving services who have either been victims of, or witnesses to, acts of abuse and neglect. Assistance and guidance is also provided to families.
The Justice Center’s Individual and Family Support Unit (IFSU) is staffed with 10 advocates and has responded to more than 3,700 unique callers from people who receive services or their family members and personal representatives since 2013. » Continue Reading.
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