Tuesday, November 24, 2009
10-year-old boy stands up for LGBT rights
10-year-old Will Philips from West Fork, Ark. was on CNN Nov. 16 for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at his elementary school. The boy states that he will not stand for the pledge because the last line is "liberty and justice for all". He believes that because there is still racism and the denial of marriage for gays and lesbians. The boy decided to execute his first amendment right after analyzing the pledge and feeling that the statement is not true in America today. He says that he will continue to sit during the pledge until marriage rights are given to gays and lesbians. He has been the center of publicity, negative as well as positive, and ridicule from classmates, but is sticking to his beliefs. You go, boy!
New Disney movie is a step forward... or a frog jump
This December, Disney is set to release the animated movie, "The Princess and the Frog" which will feature an African American Princess, Tiana. The eight official princesses are Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan.Jasmine was the first princess that was not white in Aladdin in 1992. She was then followed by Pocahontas, a Native American, in 1995, and Mulan, a Chinese Disney Princess in 1998. Tiana will be continuing the trend of the latest Disney princesses towards more diversity. "The Princess and the Frog will be based in New Orleans, La., and will feature some of the culture native to the area including jazz music and voodoo. The film will open in limited release Nov. 25 in Los Angeles and New York City, and open everywhere Dec. 11.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Susan G. Komen for the Cure speaks at PRSSA
Katie Hart’s eyes well up with tears as she looks around the Miller Learning Center room 150, almost completely filled with students wearing pink. She is at the Public Relations Student Society of America meeting at 6:30 p.m. awaiting a speaker from Susan G. Komen for the Cure when she announces that her mother has passed away from breast cancer.
The lecture style room was almost at capacity with PRSSA members and other students to hear Ashley Skiles speak about the public relations strategy for the 2009 Race for the Cure in Atlanta. Hart, the historian for PRSSA and a Grady student, was not the only student in the room who has been touched by breast cancer. One student mentioned her grandmother is in remission. Another student remembered a grandmother who has died. One more told of a high school mentor affected by the disease.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure was founded by Nancy G. Brinker in honor of her sister who passed away of breast cancer. Nearly $1.5 billion has been invested in the foundation since its inception in 1982. The Greater Atlanta Affiliate covers the ten-count metro Atlanta area and has raised $2.3 million in local grants.
Ashley Skiles is the marketing and development manager for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The foundation is the leader in nonprofit funds for fighting breast cancer. Susan G. Komen for the Cure is also the global leader for the breast cancer movement and a grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists.
This is Skiles first position out of college and she has worked with Susan G. Komen for the Cure for the past two years. Skiles chose to work for Susan G. Komen for the Cure after interning with the foundation the summer before her senior year of college, feeling like it was “run well”. Skiles and her team helped win the Phoenix Award for Best Nonprofit Event from Public Relations Society of America this year for their work promoting the 2009 Race for the Cure in Atlanta.
Skiles has five people on her team working specifically on the Race for the Cure along with a 15 member committee of volunteers. As she shares her winning PR strategy, Skiles said she turned the downturn in the economy into a selling point for participating in the race. One of the main projects of the Greater Atlanta Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure is to screen women for breast cancer who cannot afford it or do not have insurance, and with the recession, more people are losing their company insurance.
“One in three Georgians were without health insurance at some point in the past two years. If people participate in the race, they can help give mammograms to people who need it,” said Skiles.
The Race for the Cure is held on Mother’s Day weekend annually. This year Skiles and her team had a goal of 15,000 race participants and had an outcome of 14,972 participants. The team used social media for the first time this year and saw an increase in participation as well as funds raised. One aspect of the PR campaign was the use of a facebook application to encourage race participants to fundraise for themselves. The Atlanta affiliate was only the second in the country to use a facebook application to help with fundraising for the race, following the Austin, Texas affiliate. The team used a company named Charity Dynamics to create the application and they ended up raising almost $20,000.
At the beginning of the presentation, everyone was asked to look under their chair and pick up a Post-it note. Most people had yellow, but a few had blue. The people holding blue where asked to stand, representing the one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer every year. There was a small gasp in the room as the prevalence of the disease was revealed. By the end of the speech, the group of students was informed of the disease and the way public relations can help raise awareness for a cure.
When asked about how she felt about the speech, Hart said, “I think it’s great when a college can pull together and not let this happen, to try and find a cure. It is super special to see people in my major, my college, Grady, taking a stand. I just wish my mom could see it.”
The lecture style room was almost at capacity with PRSSA members and other students to hear Ashley Skiles speak about the public relations strategy for the 2009 Race for the Cure in Atlanta. Hart, the historian for PRSSA and a Grady student, was not the only student in the room who has been touched by breast cancer. One student mentioned her grandmother is in remission. Another student remembered a grandmother who has died. One more told of a high school mentor affected by the disease.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure was founded by Nancy G. Brinker in honor of her sister who passed away of breast cancer. Nearly $1.5 billion has been invested in the foundation since its inception in 1982. The Greater Atlanta Affiliate covers the ten-count metro Atlanta area and has raised $2.3 million in local grants.
Ashley Skiles is the marketing and development manager for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The foundation is the leader in nonprofit funds for fighting breast cancer. Susan G. Komen for the Cure is also the global leader for the breast cancer movement and a grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists.
This is Skiles first position out of college and she has worked with Susan G. Komen for the Cure for the past two years. Skiles chose to work for Susan G. Komen for the Cure after interning with the foundation the summer before her senior year of college, feeling like it was “run well”. Skiles and her team helped win the Phoenix Award for Best Nonprofit Event from Public Relations Society of America this year for their work promoting the 2009 Race for the Cure in Atlanta.
Skiles has five people on her team working specifically on the Race for the Cure along with a 15 member committee of volunteers. As she shares her winning PR strategy, Skiles said she turned the downturn in the economy into a selling point for participating in the race. One of the main projects of the Greater Atlanta Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure is to screen women for breast cancer who cannot afford it or do not have insurance, and with the recession, more people are losing their company insurance.
“One in three Georgians were without health insurance at some point in the past two years. If people participate in the race, they can help give mammograms to people who need it,” said Skiles.
The Race for the Cure is held on Mother’s Day weekend annually. This year Skiles and her team had a goal of 15,000 race participants and had an outcome of 14,972 participants. The team used social media for the first time this year and saw an increase in participation as well as funds raised. One aspect of the PR campaign was the use of a facebook application to encourage race participants to fundraise for themselves. The Atlanta affiliate was only the second in the country to use a facebook application to help with fundraising for the race, following the Austin, Texas affiliate. The team used a company named Charity Dynamics to create the application and they ended up raising almost $20,000.
At the beginning of the presentation, everyone was asked to look under their chair and pick up a Post-it note. Most people had yellow, but a few had blue. The people holding blue where asked to stand, representing the one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer every year. There was a small gasp in the room as the prevalence of the disease was revealed. By the end of the speech, the group of students was informed of the disease and the way public relations can help raise awareness for a cure.
When asked about how she felt about the speech, Hart said, “I think it’s great when a college can pull together and not let this happen, to try and find a cure. It is super special to see people in my major, my college, Grady, taking a stand. I just wish my mom could see it.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
84, high heels and a bicycle!?
So I was scanning the news today and ran across an article about Lan Yin Tsai, known as "Eiko" to family and friends, riding her bicycle 150 miles for an MS charity race in New Jersey! She is 84 years old and wears her pumps and a dress as if she was riding her bike to church. Tsai has been participating in the annual City to Shore event for 26 years. I can barely ride for two miles let alone 150. And you can forget about the pumps. This woman blows my mind! Apparently she is treated like a celebrity at the race, and as she should be. Wow!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Women in the Media and News
WIMN is a blog based on (guess what?) women in the news and media. It is a group blog written by 50 different women that gives women a chance to comment on different social, political and cultural issues of today. It covers so many topics from policies to reality TV. Definitely a one-stop-shop for your daily dose of womanly news.
Holla Back New York City
Holla Back is a blog to holla back at street harassers. Holla Back has several different sites, the one I have posted pertaining to NYC. It is a place where women can talk about the stupid guys that harass them on the streets. You can even post pictures of the perverts!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
So I was watching Oprah today...
...and a woman from Dubai was on the show to help describe how people live around the world. The woman described how her mother-in-law wearing a traditional head covering called a shaila and face covering. Oprah asked her what she wore on a daily basis and she told her that she chose not to where the head and face coverings, but her sisters do. And then she said, "I think the feminist in me is coming out." I immediately thought that was why she did not choose to wear the head covering, but I was wrong! She said no one questions when men wear the typical head covering called a ghutra. She explained that it is about culture, not suppression, and that goes the same for the women. Maybe we should re-evaluate our views on women and culture and stop being so ethnocentric. Feminism is about accepting peoples differences and embracing them. The head covering is empowering for some women and a connection to their home. Let's respect that.
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