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League of Women Voters celebrates 100 years of unity

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League of Women Voters of Lansing Area board meeting on Feb. 5 (left to right): Margo Smith, Camilla Davis, Judy Culham, Barb Bidigare, Cele Friestater, Donna Mullins, Ellen Link, Bob Miller, Dorothy Engelman, Carol Swinehart and Bettie Menchik. Bertha Wallerstein, mother of 87-year-old League of Women Voters member Kate O’Neill, went to jail for protesting in front of the White House for her right to vote in Feb. 1919. O’Neill, former arts writer for the “Lansing State Journal,” described her mother as “passionate and outspoken,” while “dramatic in her approach to life.” 

Kate O’Neill’s mother Bertha Wallerstein (right) in 1913

Feb.

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League of Women Voters fights climate change

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During its February board meeting, the League of Women Voters of the Lansing Area voted unanimously to partner with the Lansing Environmental Action Team. Education, environment, government and gun violence prevention were also discussed. “We’re going to support the league position that it believes in climate change and supports using sustainable resources,” said Donna Mullins, co-president of the Lansing league. It  plans to oppose the Lansing Board of Water and Light approval of another fossil fuel plant. 

“Yes, it’s a progressive stand,” Mullins said. “But for us, it is a non-partisan stand.” According to Mullins, the league highly values its commitment to be non-partisan, meaning it doesn’t prefer any political party. 

“It’s really almost a sacred trust,” Mullins said.

Elections & Politics

Presidential candidates use Super Bowl to reach national audience

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President Donald Trump broadcast his new reelection ad during the Super Bowl both highlighting some of his accomplishments during his first term as president. The first ad featured a video of former inmate Alice Johnson thanking Trump for dismissing her life sentence for a nonviolent drug conviction. The movement to save Johnson’s life was given a step up when reality TV star Kim Kardashian-West took her case to the White House.

Elections & Politics

Fair and Equal Michigan works to amend state civil rights law

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MSU Alliance of Queer and Ally Students executive board member Jacinda Glover poses in the LBGT Resource Center. Supporters of  a ballot initiative to amend Michigan’s civil rights act to include protections for gender identity and sexual orientation began collecting signatures last week. Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 1976 reaffirmed the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was eventually amended to include protections for discrimination based on height, weight  and pregnancy. In the 44 years since its passage, several attempts have been made to pass amendments that would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, especially in employment and housing. The latest to take up the mantle of this cause is Fair and Equal Michigan, which campaigned to put the initiative on the November ballot.

Diversity Issues

Female politicians dressed down for dressing up

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During the 2020 State of the State Address, Governor Gretchen Whitmer addressed issues of gender in politics.

While her lighthearted statement was directed at some of her co-legislators, it also addressed the issues of gender in politics and the way female politicians are treated based on their appearance.

Elections & Politics

Iowa Caucus: Its importance and its downfall

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Marking the true beginning of the 2020 election season, the Iowa caucus took place Monday, Feb. 3, though results were still coming in Tuesday night. 

The Iowa Caucus has a long-standing tradition of being one of the first organized gatherings of individuals to vote for who they believe should lead their party. 

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A sign marks a voting precinct at Michigan State University's Brody Complex on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2016.

Citizens recruited to draw new voting districts

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At the South Lansing Library on Tuesday, Jan. 28, Voters Not Politicians held a workshop to educate the public on the Citizens Redistricting Commission, which will draw the new district lines in Michigan. Voters Not Politicians is the nonprofit organization that helped get the anti-gerrymandering Proposal 2 on the 2018 ballot.

Diversity Issues

Women religious set 2020 social justice priorities

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LANSING — While the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops garners much attention as the leading voice of the church in the U.S., the Leadership Council of Women Religious — which represents 35,000 Catholic sisters — is also working on a number of social justice issues. The council holds political power, as sisters take part in legal advocacy and activism which can influence lay Catholics across the country. The council, which is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, is composed of leadership from 300 congregations. As such, it represents 80% of women religious, a term that refers to Catholic sisters, across the country. In the past 40 years, the Council has become much more active both on issues in the institutional Church and in American society.