The Dahomey Amazons or Mino were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin which lasted until the end of the 19th century. They were so named by Western observers and historians due to their similarity to the semi-mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia and the Black Sea.
Wednesday is for Women Warriors
“Why do people say “grow some balls”? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding.” ― Betty White
Wednesday is for Women Warriors–Hattie McDaniel couldn’t accept her Academy Award because of Jim Crow Laws
The first black woman to win an Academy Award–for her role as Mammy in Gone With the Wind
The next step in empowering the women of the San Bushmen–some of the first people on earth!
I feel that my store not only brings money to the women who make the crafts, but also brings a venue for ethical consumerism, awareness, women’s empowerment and global kinship to my USA customers. Through the sale of the crafts, consumers are able to directly affect the lives of the artisan. Through the store, those who did not know about Fair Trade principles learn about another way of buying – one that provides safe work conditions, no child labor, is environmentally friendly and sustainably sound but also pays the artisans a fair and in most cases a living wage. Through the store, I’ve been able to make a business community aware of options in terms of how to conduct their operations. And through the store, I’ve had articles written about me (so strange to have the tables turned), my work, the women I work with and the impact of our mission ‘to enable women to live their chosen, desired way of life’ has had on my community. But as it turns out, the last 10 years has been all about women rising, women speaking out, and women and girls finally getting some much needed attention and respect.
My store is more than a shop, it spurs a movement. Women’s Work has been the involved with the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s International Women’s Day march, the go-to for women’s organizations like American Association of University Women’s for goody bags, has won awards at the UN, through the various area chambers, and honored with the prestigious international Athena Award for impact on the lives of women worldwide. Because I give talks, workshops, and conduct presentations to women’s groups, chambers, religious organizations and Girl Scout troops and schools, I have been able to go beyond the typical retail impact. The Salesforce website has been a helpful resource in my understanding of how technology can positively affect how I run the business.
And with my involvement in women’s rights, I couldn’t help but empower my daughter as well. Because of the store and my work, she started her own nonprofit called Goody Goodies where she raises money with Payday Champion to fund things like feeding homeless children, girls’ education, environmental causes and most recently a huge event that honored girls who were making a difference right here at home.
Which leads to my conclusion that I’ve come full circle. Before too too much has gone on and too too much time has elapsed, I need to write these experiences down. I need to devote my time to making sense of what my life has become and understand and appreciate the gifts of these life experiences.
After this holiday season, I will be closing my store. I have so many women to work with and the store keeps me from focusing on marketing their crafts here in the USA. I have to get back to the San Bushmen groups that started all of this. They are in dire straights, with the economy of the world, they haven’t been selling much of their crafts. The importance of preserving the ostrich eggshell jewelry making is vital to preserving the heritage not only of the indigenous in Botswana for the heritage of all humankind.
I hope to continue what I’ve started but in a different direction. As I close my retail space and move my operations to a community art center, I look forward to developing the movement through my memoir, by mentoring young women entrepreneurs, and in creating a center for women’s empowerment.
I truly believe this is my life’s purpose.
It’s Tax Time!!! TIme for your PERSONAL ANNUAL REVIEW. Do you have a will?
Houston Business Lawyer Houston business lawyer and San Diego real estate attorney Joanne Cassidy provides personal, professional, cost-effective legal services to individuals and small to midsize businesses.
Article by Joanne Cassidy
I am a Houston business lawyer and San Diego real estate attorney. My job is to provide personal, professional, cost-effective legal services to individuals and small to midsize businesses as well as those going through foreclosures, mortgage problems and any real estate situation. My company Equity Legal LLP provides many tips and help with real estate; you can find us at https://www.equitylegalllp.com/ for more information. After working here at Equity Legal LLP for so long, I’ve seen that some people find it difficult to talk about having a will. Somehow they think, on some level, that if they don’t talk about it, they’ll never need one. Other people think their estates are not large enough to do any advance planning or that everything they have will go to their spouse, anyway, so there is no need for a will. I disagree with all of those ideas and here’s why.
Choose the Executor of Your Will
Whether or not you have a will, upon your death someone (your executor) will have to dispose of your estate (all of your property). With a will, you get to choose who that person will be; without a will, that person (the administrator) is chosen by a judge.
Choose Your Beneficiaries
Someone is going to inherit from you. With a will, you get to choose your beneficiaries (those who inherit); without a will, the Texas legislature has already figured that out for you. It is likely that the statutory distribution of your estate is not at all what you want.
Leave Gifts to Charity
With a will, you can choose to leave gifts to charity; You can also choose to give certain items to specific people. Without a will, all your assets are grouped together and the court appointed administrator is required to distribute your property in compliance with the statutory rules.
Minimal Court Oversight
If you name your executor in a will, that person can dispose of your estate with minimal court oversight and no bond; without a will, the administrator has to get court approval to take most actions.
Minor Children
If you have minor children, your will can name a guardian to care for the children in the event of the death of you and your spouse; without a will, a court will decide who is going to raise your children.
Create a Trust
If you have children or other beneficiaries who are not able to handle funds, you can create a trust in your will and name a trustee to deal with any funds left to those beneficiaries. You even get to set the terms of the trust, what the funds are to be used for and when the beneficiaries will be allowed to manage their own funds. Without a will, children or other underage beneficiaries get control of their funds at age 18, whether or not they are capable of handling money.
Simple Probate
If you have a will, probate is relatively simple and inexpensive in Texas. Without a will, the probate of your estate will be more complex and therefore, more costly. Every time your administrator goes to court to ask for permission to do something with your estate, he is accompanied by a lawyer, and that takes money that otherwise would be going to your beneficiaries if you had a will.
Plan Your Will Now
Still not convinced? Think of a will as a gift to your family. The death of a loved one is always traumatic. By planning now, you remove some of the burden of their loss and help them through the difficult times ahead.
Experienced Lawyer to Prepare a Will
A simple will, even one that contains trusts for children, is not difficult for an experienced estate planning attorney to prepare. Typically, the attorney will recommend that a durable power of attorney and a medical power of attorney be prepared at the same time. It’s not expensive. It’s you taking care of business and giving a very valuable gift to your family. Looking for business equipment rentals in summit? Visit www.wirtzrentals.com for more information.
Contact a Houston Estate Planning Attorney
Call a Houston estate planning attorney who is experienced in preparing the necessary documents. Whenever I get the initial estate planning call from a client, I spend some time getting to know him. Then, I explain the procedure and answer any questions he may have. If he is comfortable with the procedure, we will make an office appointment.
For a free telephone consultation, call me at 713-974-1766 or send Joanne Cassidy an email.
GMs Mary Barra Will Lead the Greatest Cultural Transformation of All Time
Wednesday is for Women Warriors
Marina Abramovic–trust exercise
Women’s Work–Help Launch their nonprofit to support the women of the San Bushmen culture
Life and Time of San Bushmen–Then and Now!
Elizabeth Warren’s Floor Speech on Equal Pay 04082014
What Equal Pay Day? McConnell Slams Paycheck Fairness Act
On a day meant to symbolize wage discrepancies between women and men, Mitch McConnell slammed the Democrats’ bill—and provided yet more fodder for the ‘war on women’ meme.
Not everyone is aware that Tuesday was Equal Pay Day, marking how much extra time women would have to work into 2014 to earn as much as men. It’s an important day for Democratic activists seeking to highlight the discrepancy in wages. Women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, and equal pay for equal work, a slogan that dates back to the early suffragists, is enjoying renewed resonance.
Democrats dusted off their Paycheck Fairness Act for a vote Wednesday, the third attempt for the legislation, which failed in 2010 and 2012. Sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the bill has 52 co-sponsors, all Democrats. Not even Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, often allies on women’s issues, are stepping up on this one.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to couple his criticism of the pay equity bill with his fury at Majority Leader Harry Reid’s attacks on the conservative Koch brothers. All that Democrats are doing, McConnell said, is trying to “blow a few kisses to their powerful pals on the left.” He characterized Reid’s tactics as a “bizarre obsession” and said it’s part of the Democrats’ “never-ending political road show.”
The reaction was instantaneous. The Democratic political committees, Emily’s List, which helps elect pro-choice women, and Democrats across the board jumped on McConnell. With women a key demographic heading into the midterm elections, Democrats are hoping that Republicans who say such things will revive the “war on women” meme that brought women to the polls in the last election. President Obama won reelection on the strength of a strong gender gap, and Democrats need to duplicate those numbers in key Senate races in November.
McConnell’s office maintains that his words about blowing kisses were meant for the Koch brothers and shouldn’t be taken as a slur against women.
“As is crystal clear to anyone who actually read or heard his remarks, Senator McConnell was referring to an ‘attack’ that Senator Reid had made the previous day on two private citizens who disagree with him,” McConnell spokesman Brian McGuire said in a statement. “Only someone who believes that Senator Reid was ‘attacking’ pay equity could conclude that Senator McConnell was doing so himself.”
McConnell appeared at a press conference with Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer at his side. One of just four Republican women senators, she is aiming to offer an amendment to the Paycheck Fairness Act that she says will help women combat wage discrimination in the workplace by reinforcing current laws and giving employers more flexibility in setting pay scales.
A survey released Tuesday by the Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund and Democracy Corps finds that pay equity is a potent issue for Democrats heading into the midterms. In response to the statement “Women succeed with pay equity and equal health insurance,” 65 percent of likely women voters responded favorably; 82 percent of unmarried women were positive; and 76 percent of the Rising American Electorate, young people and minorities, responded favorably. These are the voters who reelected Obama and whom Democrats must inspire to turn out to hold their majority in the Senate.
Republicans say the legislation before the Senate would encourage more lawsuits and that it is duplicative, as discriminatory hiring based on sex is already illegal.
Republicans are not oblivious to the needs of women voters, and McConnell began his press conference on Tuesday with an argument about how the Obama administration has been bad for women. More women are in poverty, household income is down, and women are suffering in the poor economy, he said, adding, “The Democrats are doing everything they can to change the subject from the nightmare of Obamacare.” He predicted “the sorry state of the economy” and the effects of Obamacare will be the deciding issues in November.
Obama signed two executive orders on Tuesday that mimic what the Paycheck Fairness Act would do in banning employers from punishing workers who discuss their pay with other workers and requiring employers to submit data that break down pay scales along gender and race lines. The executive orders apply only to federal contractors.
Republicans say the legislation before the Senate would encourage more lawsuits and that it is duplicative, as discriminatory hiring based on sex is already illegal.
They also are pushing back on the numbers that Obama and the Democrats are using, saying 77 cents on the dollar is not accurate. At the White House daily briefing, reporters pressed press secretary Jay Carney on that figure. Fox News correspondent Ed Henry likened it to Obama’s much disparaged statement on health care, “If you like your plan, you can keep it.” Carney said the 77 percent figure is based on census data, and there are a lot of factors that contribute to the gap. They point out how important health care is because a lot of people is becoming ill lately, so they are trying to figure out the best ways to keep people healthy. Also staying healthy means to stay away from drugs, there are several ways to fight drug addiction, visit this article Alcoholism Effects on an Addict’s Kids and learn more!
Republicans took some satisfaction in pointing out that at the White House, women earn 88 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. Carney countered that at least the media knows what everyone at the White House is making and that reporters ought to ask members of Congress about their staffs.
A Pew Research Center survey finds that women earn 84 percent of what men earn and that young women have a much smaller gap, 93 percent. Women fall behind when they take time out to raise children and then return to the workplace at a disadvantage. And women are far more likely to experience multiple “career disruptions” for family reasons.
State by state, the numbers vary as well, with 64 cents for women in Wyoming and 85-90 cents in the Beltway around Washington. “The pay gap between men & women is wider in Louisiana than in all other states except one,” tweeted Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, where the number for women is 67 cents. Calculating gender differences is complicated, but the politics are simple.
‘Tis the Season! Tax Season! Need a Personal Financial Inventory?
Houston Business Lawyer Houston business lawyer and real estate attorney Joanne Cassidy provides personal, professional, cost-effective legal services to individuals and small to midsize businesses.
Personal Financial Inventory – Will & Power of Attorney
Article by Joanne Cassidy
Although I am primarily a business lawyer, I also prepare wills and powers of attorney for my clients. Nearly everyone needs a will, a power of attorney for Synergistiq Integrative Health care, a durable power of attorney and a directive to physician. When I am working with a client to explain the various planning documents and to get the information necessary to prepare them, I am often asked how the agent under a power of attorney or an executor will know what assets the client has. As a practical matter, the agent or executor probably discovers assets by collecting Fully Verified mail for a certain period of time. Bank statements and other financial statements will give the agent or executor somewhat of a picture of the assets of the estate. However, finding a car title or house deed or accounts that have electronic statements may prove to be more challenging.
In an effort to provide clients with a tool to help organize their documentation of assets, I developed a Personal Financial Inventory. The Inventory gives the client as well as an agent or executor a summary of assets and the location of important documents. It is intended to be flexible and should be updated from time to time. Most importantly, the location of the Inventory should be given to the agents and executors named in the estate planning documents.
The Personal Financial Inventory has been reproduced below in PDF format. You are encouraged to make copies, add pages and use it in whatever way it best serves your needs. If used for commercial purposes, I ask that you credit the author.
Please join Women’s Work on May 10, 2014 in launching their nonprofit, TrACKS (Transferring Ancient Cultures and Knowledge), during an evening of film, speakers, food, art, artifacts and crafts
San Bushman Mother and Child–the shared heritage of women!
Please join us on May 10, 2014 in launching our nonprofit, TrACKS (Transferring Ancient Cultures and Knowledge), during an evening of film, speakers, food, art, artifacts and crafts
Find out how to keep the precarious culture of the San Bushmen of Botswana alive. Considered the very First Peoples, by preserving their way of life, we better ours. Find out how you can get involved!
Film screening of the world renowned documentary, “The Great Dance”
A presentation by Peter Durkin and Cecilia Dinio Durkin. Peter and Cecilia and their family have lived and worked with the San Bushmen since 2003, living in Botswana, and then as advisors, mentors and friends until today.
Admission is Free
Traditional Food, Beer, Art and Crafts available.
The largest collection of San Bushmen art and artifacts in the USA on exhibit atBotswana–Gathering food in the Okavango delta
You know, when we talk about women working, we usually think about the Sheryl Sandbergs of the world, the Michelle Obamas, the Barbara Bushes, Condoleeza Rice, Maria Bartirommo, Katie Couric. All kinds of women and all kinds of careers. But did you ever think about picking up and moving your family to another country? Like . . . one in Africa!!!!!!!!! I think sometimes it’s easy to put limits on our own views of what what women do when they’re in business. One of my central questions in this blog is how do we approach working for a living–it seems like we approach it differently than men do, but I don’t know. I’m just curious.
Cecilia’s story is one of the most interesting I’ve come across. Last Monday we talked about how she met her husband and she ended that segment with a proposal! Here’s what happened next.
Some 20 years later, he would come home one day, sit me down, ask me to hear him out as he recited a very well rehearsed speech. When he was done, I nodded my head and agreed to move my children (then 3-years-old and 7-years-old) to a country I had only heard about from him, through the stories he’d told me of his time in the Peace Corps. Seems he never really got it out of his system and always wanted to return. It would take him 20 years of searching, but with the onset of the Internet, his search would become easier since stumbling onto www.findajobinafrica.com.
To make a long story long – he wrote a 10-page-cover letter to a game reserve in Botswana, Africa – the very country he was stationed. Cut to my part of the story, the job he applied for, the one that brought us back to the country he was assigned (which was his country of choice, by the way), didn’t last long. It wasn’t the job that was promised us. And with no other prospects, I went back to being a journalist – writing for newspapers and magazines (which in fairness I had done in the States, but now) covering stories of interest, spinning my insights, sharing my world with the world. I loved it!
On one of my assignments, I was given a story about the San Bushmen of the Kalahari. As it turned out, the story would begin in the very town my husband was stationed in the ‘80’s – a good excuse for our entire family to make the trip as I interviewed a few people for the article.
And as fate would have it, I would interview the Bushman craft coordinator on the day she was to leave for a buying trip. Did I want to come with her!? ‘Hell yeah!’ I said, but then I asked, ‘What would I need to bring? How long would we be gone? Where would we stay?’
A survival kit to bring – non-perishable food, gallons of water, firewood, a tent. No cellphone coverage, no running water, no electricity. OK. But how much? For how long? Her answer, ‘as long as the money would last – it could be 2 days or a week. ‘
And their crafts of making beads from ostrich eggshell dates back over 75,000 years! The Smithsonian considers the beads to be proof of human kinds’ creative thought– we made the beads for other reasons rather than survival.
Excited and a little apprehensive, I went. I gladly went.
And that’s the beginning of my story about owning my own store. I met these women who made wonderful crafts, I saw how simply they lived and how important the crafts were to not only their life since it provided food, money for education, and for other necessities, but it also preserved their culture, as I would come to find out, our culture.
If you don’t know, the San Bushmen are considered the very first peoples. According to National Geographic, all of our genes can be traced back to Bushmen. And their crafts of making beads from ostrich eggshell dates back over 75,000 years! The Smithsonian considers the beads to be proof of human kinds’ creative thought– we made the beads for other reasons rather than survival. For more of this spectacular jewelry, click here.
And these women I would meet in the remotest regions of Botswana, they were the last to be making the jewelry as part of their tradition. How special was that?!?
San Bushman Mother and Child–the shared heritage of women!
I met hundreds of women on that trip. And as they formed a wall around us, as they came from every direction, as they chattered, proudly offered their crafts to be sold, I saw in them something I had never known. I saw the shared heritage of women – wanting to contribute to our family’s well being, wanting to live the life they chose, wanting to be acknowledged and appreciated for their contributions to their family. I saw that as women, we all wanted the same things.
Friday’s Postcard Fiction–Featuring a short story by Terri Wallace
Terri Wallace lives in Oklahoma with her husband, three children, and menagerie of cats. While working on the mythical Great American Novel, she is frequently distracted by ideas for short stories and cravings for vegan chocolate–neither of which can be ignored.
Terri is currently working on a collection of short stories set in the fictional town of Crankston’s Landing. Her short story “The Collector” is the first in that series. It is a bit like what you might expect if Fried Green Tomatoes and Carrie birthed a short-story love-child.
How Does a Dream Begin? Cecilia Dinio Durkin tells the story of Women’s Work
The Story of Women’s Work Worldwide
I look around my store Women’s Work and I often wonder how I got here. Surrounded by handmade items made by thousands of women from over 20 countries, I can’t believe I’ve been at this for 10 years and find it even harder to believe how lucky I am to have found my purpose in life.
From when I was in 2nd grade, however, I knew I would be a writer. I loved reading and loved writing as a result. In my class, the writing assignments came from a box. We could pick the card prompt and take it from there. I remember being finished with one and asking my teacher for another and another while the other kids grumbled about the assignment; this was the best part of my day.
During a school assembly, one of my pieces was read aloud to the entire auditorium. I can still remember the story – it was about a fish that lived in a bowl that sat high atop the TV set. The fact that my teacher liked it so much she thought others would like to hear it began my pursuit to become a published writer.
I knew my purpose at an early age. It made life easy. I knew my way. And my parents were more than agreeable. Immigrant parents, new to the USA, leaving behind a difficult life in the Philippines, they embraced our new country of choice and loved that their daughter would be an English major. I saw it as my way of pleasing them and reaffirming their choice to leave their family and friends in third world Philippines for a better life in the United States.
As I grew older, I later refined/defined my goal was to be a journalist and started to see the world through newspapers and magazines. I wanted to travel around the world, telling stories about interesting people. I wanted to be a correspondent for the New York Times or Newsweek. I loved finding the truth in a story and sharing my insights.
And as my life progressed, my world expanded…one day, I’d meet the man that would change my life forever. He had just graduated from school and was accepted into the Peace Corps. He took a waitering job as he waited for them to assign him to a country…and I waitressed as I finished up my final years in college.
It all seemed so romantic. This do-gooder, going off to save the world! Of course we went into the relationship thinking we would never see each other again – he was off to Africa and I was still taking classes. So, we made good use of our time together knowing there were no strings attached – best relationship I’d ever had!
But when it came time for him to go, instead of never hearing from him, I got a letter documenting each day we were apart. And you know what? I sent a letter doing the same. Our words crisscrossed the Atlantic. We stayed connected throughout his service. Surprise, surprise, when he came home, he bought me a ring using his Peace Corps stipend.
What Equal Pay Day? McConnell Slams Paycheck Fairness Act
