Progress

Dear All -
Last semester I posted translations and analysis of two Colette quotes that I thought would be promising for the book. I'm now working on biographical research in order to write a more substantive justification for my choices. I'll send a full reflection in the next few days!
best wishes to all - Natalie

Mother Teresa and Billie Holiday

Mother Teresa has always been a person that I have greatly admired for her tireless work, the love and caring she gave to the poor and sick. Mother Teresa’s body may be dead but she remains a unique and immortal legend. She remains inspirational to many because she is everlasting proof that happiness and serenity lie in boundless giving and caring, rather than worrying about one’s own material comfort and security. The one word that comes to mind which I think best describes her is: humility. Therefore, I will be focusing on that concept when finalizing some quotes that I think capture her true essence.

Some Parish priests that I spoke with other winter break recommended many resources from Catholic Digest, Boston Catholic Television (BCTV), EWTN, and other catholic organizations. I found a short Prayer for Mother Teresa, and while I won’t post it on this blog, I hold it dear to my heart because of its genuine motivation. This prayer also highlights Mother Teresa's daily commitment (I can bring it to our next meeting).

After talking with some Eucharistic ministers at the archdiocese of Boston (Cathedral of the Holy Cross) I was told to research/review a visit and interview that documented Mother Teresa’s visit with the Franciscan community of Cincinnati in 1981. The information that I’ve discovered regarding that event is monumental for many reasons, but mostly because Mother Teresa held St. Francis of Assisi in great reverence (almost like a role model).

Along with the textual resources that I have reviewed, I have also watched the video Everyone, Everywhere where Mother Teresa candidly discusses many vital issues like “Who Are the Poor,” “How Do We Love,” and some of her own “Encounters”. Overall, I look forward to finalizing some of her strongest words.

At the simplest level, Billie Holiday was a phenomenal artist and woman. Even seen in the first record that she ever recorded—Holiday introduces innovative, artistic interpretations that place her skills and technique above par. Though she lacked the voluminous strength of predecessors like Bessie Smith, Holiday’s voice had a large impact that didn’t have to be measured in projection. However, running alongside her musical success was Holiday’s incessant struggle with drug and physical abuse. It’s very interesting/ironic to see how modern black female artists want to claim the shining/redeeming qualities of Holiday, but not the negative legacy of her drug abuse. My research around the infamous Billie Holiday has led me to a somewhat problematic standstill. Did the tragedies of her life affect her voice in the long run? Or was her vocal genius independent of her troubling experiences? With further research I hope to reach relatively conclusive answers. To help with my analysis I’ve been reviewing Farah Griffin’s latest book entitled With Billie. I’ve also reviewed Griffin’s essay on Billie and literature in the latest big box of complete works from Sony. There’s also a portrait of Billie’s experiences in Malcolm X’s Autobiography.

Since I’m a huge fan of jazz, and an admirer of Holiday’s music I have also written a musical analysis of two songs that I think isolate one of the most striking aspects of Holiday’s work: her ability to renew our attention by eschewing or complicating the expected emotional tenor of a song. The two songs I used were her first recording of Strange Fruit and What a Little Moonlight Can Do. I definitely recommend that everyone listens to those two songs alongside the lyrics—they’re both phenomenal!

I have a diverse collection of resources that will provide me with some of Billie’s most poignant words. One of the jazz professors at Columbia, Robert G. O’Meally, also recommended that I read a related novel entitled Corregidora by Gayl Jones. Though this book isn’t a direct biography of Billie Holiday, Jones tells a story that highlights female relationships to music and society (using conversational moments with a poetic cadence). I really enjoyed this book on so many levels and I think her words will help me draw correlations to Holiday’s musical career and life struggles.

Quotes and Progress Report

Rosa Luxemburg
Julia is quite right – there is a plethora of quotes readily available, easily accessible on line and in such reference books as The Quotable Woman.

However, to make an informed decision on a final selection of quotes for each of the women selected for research, it is essential to dig deeper into the search, below the surface. My last post addressed this specifically. Please read it carefully and remember that quotes are the end result. In fact, let me suggest that quotes be left aside for now.

Write a portrait of the women you are researching taking into account that politics, events and people shape lives, actions and times historically. These women are/were visionaries, pioneers, intellectuals, creators, scientists, leaders, fascinating women from all over the world, from all walks of life who broke barriers, explored, challenged, rebelled, fought – often at a cost to themselves – to advance the human condition, not to mention those liberties and rights we take for granted today. What better way to measure their accomplishments than to understand the road they have traveled.

Julia: The historian Blanche Wiesen Cook wrote a compelling biography of Eleanor Roosevelt in 2 volumes that I recommend you read. It was published by the Penguin Group under the Viking imprint.

Of interest to all, there is an instructive online exhibition on The History of Women and Education in America at The National Women's History Museum. Visit it, read it, it will be enlightening.

Reports are past due! Please post your progress. Note that I will be looking for substance in this next report.

Eleanor Roosevelt

I've been looking through a ton of Eleanor Roosevelt quotes (they are very easily available from multiple sources), and given her attitude toward life, which I believe she demonstrated in her private and public lives, I have narrowed it down to these three:

"A woman is like a tea bag -- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."

"I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on."

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences."

All three of them demonstrate her commitment to living a full life, her love for knowledge and the force with which she fearlessly exerted in her political projects.

progress

Hope you all had a very good break! After several weeks of e-mailing and waiting, I have finally been able to contact the outreach director of Democracy Now , a radio program hosted by Amy Goodman. I arranged to meet with him--and hopefully Amy Goodman!--in the near future. In the meantime, I am working on developing questions that I want to pose to Amy Goodman. Since I assume our interview time will probably be brief, I want the questions I ask to be concise yet well thought out. I am excited to interview a famous journalist and hopefully this meeting will be very informative and enrich and advance my research on her.

~Veronica

Hi, everyone! Just wanted to wish all of you a happy New Year and say that I'll be posting a progress report shortly. I hope everyone's having a good break!

On Reporting your Progress

Amy Goodman for Veronica

It took 2 years of living with close to 400 women in my head before I was able to make the first mark on canvas and begin my final selection process.

In the past three months, you have selected and begun research on one or several of the women represented in Leading the Way: A Tribute to Women of the 20th Century. A few of you have even suggested some quote options for our project.

Given that you are due to post an update before your next term begins, let me guide your next progress report. At this point in your research, I am curious and would like to hear about your discoveries. Specifically, what you are learning about the women you chose to study. I would like to hear about your impressions, your insights and would like to know whether they are starting to come to life for you.

As mentioned previously, finding the quotes is the easy part. And while they can provide valuable insight into the character of these women, let us not forget that they are the end result not the process. Getting to know these women and understand the value of their contributions to our collective history is really what this internship is at the root.

Whether you are posting a progress report or a quote presentation, assume that your audience has never heard of these women and present your findings accordingly.

Again, let yourself be guided by the project’s mission : "To instruct, inspire and increase awareness of women’s essential contribution to our societies past and present ".