Send Progressive Women to Harrisburg

A Report from Judy's Deputy Ranger
This is the second in a new series, ‘Where’s Wicks: Reports from her Deputy Ranger.’ Even at 71, Judy’s out advocating for local economies, fighting climate change, rallying for progressive political candidates, and supporting under-resourced Philadelphia entrepreneurs. I’m writing to share first-hand accounts of her latest escapades. - Katherine Rapin

Dear Friends and Readers,

Despite the slew of horrendous national headlines we read everyday, we’re writing with good news: a record-breaking number of women are running for political office this year. Like many Philadelphians, Judy traditionally focuses on candidates running for federal and city offices, while largely ignoring races for the state legislature. But this year is different.  

With the primary elections around the corner, I’ve watched Judy work with groups focused on state elections including Represent PA, a PAC that is pushing an important agenda: send more progressive woman to Harrisburg.

With the expertise of political consultants, the PAC sorted through 70 applications to select a list of 32 candidates to endorse and finance. (View the list here.) “This PAC is an effective vehicle for supporting candidates running in other parts of the state who we might not otherwise know about,” says Judy, “These are the people who will determine statewide legislation that affects all of our lives."

Last month, we heard from candidates at an event organized by the PAC. Judy was excited to meet Elizabeth Fiedler, a former WHYY reporter and mother of two, who's running for the 184th district seat in South Philadelphia. “These women are stepping into their own power," says Judy, ”It’s time we women envision ourselves as political leaders.”

From left: State Senate candidates Katie Muth and Maria Collette, U.S. Congress candidate Madeleine Dean, and State Rep. candidates Elizabeth Fiedler, Maggie Borski and Wanda Logan.

Other Represent PA-endorsed candidates Judy has known for years. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, running for re-election in the 161st district, was the first executive director of the Sustainable Business Network. Her office was on the second floor of Judy’s house. “She’s one of my greatest mentors,” Krueger-Braneky told me at a recent event.

The state representative from Swarthmore shared a glimpse of what it’s like to work in Harrisburg; Krueger-Braneky is among the women that make up fewer than 20% of the general assembly.

Seven women serve among 53 men in the Senate; 41 women serve among 162 men in the House, and there are no women in the 18-member delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Which means Krueger-Braneky has spent the last three years fighting abortion bills and “defending basic human rights,” she says, rather than focusing on the issues that motivated her to run for office in the first place (increasing minimum wage, supporting local business, advocating for our environment, and improving education).

Recently, she found herself in a room of chuckling men as the definition of sexual harassment was outlined in a committee meeting. “Our State Capitol is the most misogynist place I’ve ever worked,” Krueger-Braneky says. (Read about her bill to stop sexual harassment and discrimination here.)

From left: Christine Jacobs, Represent PA executive director; State Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky; and Val Arkoosh, Montgomery County Commission Chair, at a recent Represent PA event at UPenn.

This atrocious behavior in Harrisburg is just one example of widespread misuse of power and misrepresentation in politics. Women have had enough -- 146 are running in Pennsylvania this year, many for the first time.

“A lot of these women did not have political ambition, but this time of crisis is calling to them,” Judy says. “The main rationale for patriarchy has historically been to protect women and children, but patriarchy has failed us. Now women and children - like the courageous high school students calling for stricter gun control - are standing up to take leadership in protecting our communities and our natural environment.”

It’s time to right a historic wrong and bring women into equal power.

To support progressive women running for the state legislature, you can donate to Represent PA here. Meet the endorsed candidates on May 7th, 5:30-7:30pm at Saxby's headquarters, 2300 Chestnut St. And make sure to vote in the primary elections on May 15th.

Represent PA supporters hear from candidates at a recent 'Breakfast and Learn' event.

From "My Way" to Our Way: The Women's March on Washington

What a fitting song Donald Trump chose for his first dance as President of the United States at Friday night’s Inaugural Ball – “My Way.”  Poor Melania didn’t look as if she was having fun.  I expect she might have liked to escape, don a pink pussy hat the next day and join the Women’s March on Washington, where she could be herself – free of heavy-handed fear mongering, lying and attempts to control, divide and conquer.

Traveling by bus to Washington with a group of friends from Philadelphia, I was among the millions marching across the country and around the world last Saturday. Over my 70 years, I have marched for many causes, but this march was different. First of all, where did all those hundreds of thousands of pink knit pussy hats come from?  Women all over the country shared a pattern and knitted those hats. Women who could not march in Washington, sent them to those who could. That's how I got mine. I heard that stores around the country had run out of pink yarn. 

Though the Electoral College handed Trump a victory over the candidate who won the popular vote and should have been our first woman president, Saturday’s march demonstrated that the women of this country have not been, and will never be defeated. The crowd of pink hats representing many generations of women, along with some children and supportive men, was so immense that we filled the entire parade route from the Capital to the White House.  There was no room left to march.

Most media called the crowd at 500,000, but those who counted the crowds in the side streets, who could not get onto the parade route, claimed one million. It certainly seemed that large to us. After hours of making our way through the crowds, joining in chants like, “Welcome to your first day, we will not go away,” and seeing homemade signs like, “Girls just want to have FUNdamental rights,” our group finally caught a glimpse of the giant monitors and heard inspiring speeches by women who represented a rainbow of colors and ethnicities, including Native American, Latina, Muslim, Black and White, and more. Chants broke out: “This is what democracy looks like.”

Despite the pressing crowds, there was no incidence of violence. I never saw pushing nor heard an unkind word. We looked out for each other, sharing food and water and were buoyed by the surging positive energy to keep walking for hours. We laughed at signs like “We shall over comb” and chants like “Cant build the wall, hands too small.” There was a collective joy in the enormity of what we were taking part in and a feeling of empowerment in our solidarity for the fights that lie ahead.

Our army in pink pussy hats sent a message to the grabber-in-chief: we will not be demeaned, exploited or assaulted. We refuse to give up control over our own bodies to your policies or your sexual aggressions. We honor our bodies no matter what shape, size or color. We refuse to loose our health care. We refuse to stand by while greed destroys our planet and robs our grandchildren of their future. We refuse a gun culture that allows our children to be slaughtered in their classrooms. We refuse to see immigrant families torn apart by deportation. We refuse to make enemies of our neighbors.

Our way -- loving one another, caring for each other, sharing with one another –- will build a compassionate America that respects and cares for all people and for our Mother Earth. We reject the narcissistic “me first” tone of “America first.”  Shouldn’t Earth come first?  Should we not care first for our home planet on which all our lives depend? And put Earth’s children first? The children of every country and of every species in the vibrant web of life?

The Women’s March was not for just a day.  We are marching on, joined by the men who love and respect us, who have the healthy balance of feminine and masculine energies that we seek in our children, our culture, our economy and our government.  We, the majority - men and women of all races and faiths together - are organizing for this week, for next week, for 2018 and beyond.  We are building an America that will overcome the historic injustices of white supremacy and misogyny to achieve the true destiny of our beloved country – an America truly by and for the people.

Now is the time to show that our way is the American way - an America that respects indigenous rights, minority rights, gender rights, religious rights, the rights of the disabled, women’s rights, human rights and non-human rights in all of nature. 

The America of the future is about partnership, not domination; sharing, not hoarding; bridges, not walls; respect, not ridicule; peace, not war; love, not fear. It will take time, but we will not be stopped. Patriarchy, the end is near.  We are doing it our way.