adriennezurub

The Largest RN Union in U.S. History is Born

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:01:11 GMT

RNs,
Here is one of many media articles covering the founding convention of National Nurses United.

We look forward in January to discussing the implications of the new union for us in Ohio, and will shortly send you a “Save the Date” alert for a statewide NNOC Ohio meeting, to take place early in 2010.

Marilyn Albert, RN
Organizer
National Nurses United/NNOC OHio

Tuesday, December 08, 2009
[ ]
Unanimous Vote Creates Largest RN Union in U.S. History

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Dec. 7, 2009 - To standing cheers, delegates to the founding convention of the National Nurses United (NNU) today unanimously endorsed the creation of the largest union and professional organization of registered nurses in U.S. history - and projected a major escalation in campaigns to expand union representation of nurses and an expanded voice in healthcare reform.
"The promise of the future has arrived," said Karen Higgins, an RN from Massachusetts, and one of three newly elected presidents of the NNU, "with all the unlimited potential, creativity, vision, and power represented" by the delegates in the room, and the 150,000 members of the founding organizations.
NNU unites three of the most active, progressive organizations in the U.S.--and the major voices of unionized nurses--in the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and Massachusetts Nurses Association.
In adopting a constitution and electing national officers, the NNU plans to quickly move forward on an active campaign to:
Advance the interests of direct care nurses and patients across the U.S.
Organize all direct care RNs "into a single organization capable of exercising influence over the healthcare industry, governments, and employers."
Promote effective collective bargaining representation to all NNU affiliates to promote the economic and professional interests of all direct care RNs.
Expand the voice of direct care RNs and patients in public policy, including the enactment of safe nurse-to-patient ratios and patient advocacy rights in Congress and every state.
Win "healthcare justice, accessible, quality healthcare for all, as a human right."
"This is where we need to be, together as one, moving across the country," said Jean Ross, secretary-treasurer of the UAN, and new NNU co-president. "Some of us have been waiting our whole careers for this."
"This means we finally have (an organization and constitution) that directly challenges the role of corporations in healthcare delivery, instead of accommodating and enabling their control," said Minnesota Nurses Association President Linda Hamilton, RN.
"We are going to make sure we organize every single direct care RN in this country. RNs and our patients deserve to have a national nurses movement that can advocate for them," said Deborah Burger, RN of CNA/NNOC, and the third co-president of NNU.
"There are a few things in history that really stand out and make a difference, this is one of them," said Jeff Breslin, RN president of the Michigan Nurses Association.
"It's a new day in America," said CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, and "it is 100 years overdue."
Delegates to the convention were also greeted by Stewart Acuff, personal assistant to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, NNU is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, and Linda Silas, RN, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.
"You are going to make a difference for this country by uniting your power and strengthening your voice," said Acuff. The founding of the NNU is a major step forward in the fight to achieve "healthcare for every American regardless of ability to pay, socio-economic status, or accident of birth," and to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, Acuff said. "We can best lift America out of this recession by passing EFCA" and strengthening the ability of nurses and all workers to form unions and bargain collectively.
Silas hailed the creation of the NNU, and said she looks forward to working with NNU to build and support nurses unions around the world.

Source: National Nurses United

--
Adrienne Zurub
Author/Speaker/RN/Comedian
http://adriennezurub.typepad.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71075993331
(Find me at: Twitter, GoodReads, AuthorNation, Facebook, MyBlogLog, Xing, Typepad, LiveJournal, LinkedIn, Ning, ...)

My Cleveland Plain Dealer Story, 12/07/2009

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:44:48 GMT

Whatever happened to Adrienne Zurub, whose self-published book about the Cleveland Clinic got her fired?

Zurub has since become involved in causes, such as patients' rights and single-payer health care. She said she is working on two more manuscripts, and she rattled off a list of other activities. The Plain DealerAdrienne Zurub"My reform activities have taken me to the front steps of the Statehouse in Columbus [and] marching with 1,000 registered nurses in San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge," she wrote in an e-mail.
She added that she was invited to become part of the faculty at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, N.Y.
After 26 years as a nurse in cardiac surgery, Zurub last year came out with an unflattering book called "Notes from the Mothership" about working conditions and doctors at the Clinic.
She was fired two weeks after her published account about doctors behaving badly and a work environment she likened to a prison.
Zurub said she still hears from patients and employees of the Clinic who admire that she spoke out, but that some people she knew for years at the hospital "do not speak to me anymore."
She said being fired was a "hard reality," but that her notoriety taught her about "power of image, marketing and the consequences of going against an organization that for good or bad essentially empowers and controls the city."
-- Harlan Spector

Bald Headed Grrls Rock!

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:02:15 GMT

My MacKenzie, my (gulp) granddaughter talks about the things that matter during our nature walk.

"Free Your Mind ... And Your Ass Will Follow."

Sun, 31 May 2009 23:35:16 GMT

Freeing and Feeding your Mind, your Body and your Spirit at my weekend retreat/workshop/mini-vacation
August 28-30, 2009

at the beautiful Omega Institute, in Rhinebeck, New York

(two hours outside of New York City).

(workshop not affliated with the groups Parliament, P-Funk or the Funkadelic)

Reserve Now.

http://eomega.org/omega/workshops/e1c6613d2435d5394144ae254cbed27e/

Looking forward to meeting new and old friends in August.

Based on the provocative memoir by Adrienne Zurub:

Available at:

http://amazon.com

"Intelligent life on a planet comes of age when it first works out the reason for its own existence ...." Richard Dawkins

Bella figura

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:51:02 GMT

Hello April!

JERONIMO, flickr

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:40:16 GMT

JERONIMO, originally uploaded by _Juanpri.

Author, Adrienne Zurub Presents:

"Notes From the Mothership The Self I Think I Am"

Weekend Workshop August 28--30, 2009
@
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
125 Lake Drive
Rhinebeck, New York 12572
(2 hours outside the Big Apple)

http://eomega.org/omega/workshops/e1c6613d2435d5394144ae254cbed27e/

Register online
or
call 800.944.1001

Inspired by comedian Adrienne Zurub and her remarkable book, "Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles," we get to know the elusive "me" within each of us, the Self that is buried beneath the many layers and needs of others.

Come ... excavate your familiar unknown.

JERONIMO

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:38:44 GMT

JERONIMO, originally uploaded by _Juanpri.

Turn Around America Video

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:42:49 GMT

What are you going to do?

Open heart surgery at the Wellcome Institute

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:54:49 GMT

I did this work for 26 years and no one ever clapped.

marshall islands

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:40:25 GMT

Author-Adrienne Zurub @ Omega Institute in Rhinebeck-Hudson Valley, New York, August 28-30, 2009

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:08:35 GMT

Update: I am back from 3 months in the picture above! A tropical island in the Marshal Islands. Missed all of the Cleveland and Northeast winter weather. As a matter of fact, I took this picture at Emon beach.

JOIN ME! Come and discover ... you, the familiar unknown.

"Intelligent life on a planet comes of age when it first works out the reason for its own existence." --Richard Dawkins

As a faculty member of the prestigious

OMEGA Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York in the Hudson Valley (two hours from New York City).

I am conducting a safe and sacrosanct workshop/exploration/excavation
August 28-30 2009, entitled:

NOTES FROM THE MOTHERSHIP The Self I Think I Am
Course 4102-663

Short COURSE description:

"How often does it feel as if we are waiting in the noise of our culture for a deeper recognizance, meaning, and valuation of ourself?

Yet, while our community stands ready to define, confine, and control us as women, mothers, men, fathers, and significant others, we can learn to embrace the option of seeing ourself naked, stripped of social roles and obligations to reveal the reflection of our true Self. This workshop can help us get there.

Inspired by the comedian Adrienne Zurub and her remarkable book, Notes From the Mothership: The Naked Invisibles, we get to know the elusive "me" within each of us, the Self that is buried beneath the many layers and needs of others."

Since its founding in 1977, Omega has been a pioneer in offering personal growth retreats andwellness retreats that focus on the mind, body, and spirit. We do this by exploring, teaching, and embracing new ideas.

Omega's Rhinebeck, New York campus is a peaceful oasis in a hurried world, a healing center where you can relax, rejuvenate, and feel at home in the midst of nature's bounty and a community of warm, caring people. The beauty of our gardens, lake, and wooded trails, the friendly staff, the wonderful food, and the facilities at our Wellness Center, all support what people like you come to Omega to learn, helping you tap into the riches deep within all parts of yourself-body, mind, and spirit.

Omega is indeed a place where you can find within yourself the courage to become a happier, healthier, and more spirited person. This is what Omega's personal growth retreats andwellness retreats offer anyone who comes here. Our food (mostly vegetarian) served in our friendly dining all is excellent, the light meals and desserts in our cafe are awesome, our bookstore is superb, our country lanes are beautiful for walking and jogging, and our tennis and basketball courts are always open.

Omega's lakeside campus is set on 195 acres of rolling hills and woodlands in the Hudson River Valley, just two hours north of New York City. The Hudson Valley is rich in history, cultural vitality, and natural beauty-a colorful mosaic of forests, farmlands, lovely old towns, and the mighty Hudson River.

For more information: Call 877.944.2002 or email us at registration@eomega.org

Omega Institute for Holistic Studies 150 Lake Drive Rhinebeck, New York 12572 eOmega.org 800.944.1001

Available at:
http://amazon.com
ASIN: 0979286301
ISBN: 9780979286308

http://eomega.org/omega/workshops/e1c6613d2435d5394144ae254cbed27e/
I hope to see you there!

http://adriennezurub.typepad.com/notesfromthemothership

見えないことを

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:40:36 GMT

見えないことを, originally uploaded by cmyka.

"I am Simone DeBeavoir's 'other' meanng other than myself ...

to be the reflection you require.

I am the mirror YOU manipulate to adjust your life!

I am still, the object to your subject.

The power is that ... I now know this." ---adrienne zurub

"Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles'

(photo credit: cmyka, flickr.com)

CONGRATULATIONS PRESIDENT OBAMA!

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:53:19 GMT

God Bless You and Our Beloved Country!
Your family (Tutu, your Mother, and Grandfather) has rained their divine grace upon us all!

My New York Times Book Review of 10-28-2008

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:42:29 GMT

My most recent book, REFLECTIONS ON DOCTORS published September 2008 by Kaplan Publishing was reviewed by The New York Times. An essay from my book, Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles is one of two dozen provocative essays.

"In “Reflections on Doctors,” they have
produced something quite extraordinary in recent medical writings: a
compilation of 19 brief essays musing on the current relationship between the
species." --Abigail Zuber, MD, Nurses Speak Out, About Doctors, The New York Times

As REFLECTIONS ON DOCTORS' editor Terry Ratner, RN,MFA says, "The nurses of this anthology represent a spectrum of voices and perspectives, reflecting upon their work alongside physicians. The majority of these nurses have witnessed revolutionary changes in the nurse-physician relationship over time. They are our messengers, our heroes and our scribes."

The intimate and at times shocking stories in REFLECTIONS ON DOCTORS abound with the honesty of each writer's respect of and concern for the nursing profession, and the care that patients receive from doctors and fellow nurses alike. For example, in her fascinating essay, A Truth about Cats and Dogs, Adrienne Zurub, RN, MA, CNOR says of the competitive environment within the cardiothoracic operating rooms where she has worked, "Arrogance, entitlement, outstanding talents (nurses and surgeons), and palpable confidence dominate the entire operating room suites. A nurse pushes herself or himself through this encompassing fog of testosterone. I say testosterone because the surgeons, the ones who are in charge, are all male. To work in this environment, one has to have the personality and the chutzpah--the balls--to think quickly and react perfectly. Weakness or hesitation is normally not considered an option."

Many of the essays in REFLECTIONS ON DOCTORS provide readers with clear-cut explanations of various medical terminologies, interesting history of the nursing profession and glimpses into its future. The diversity of all the essays is appealing to both new and seasoned nurses, as well as to someone simply interested in understanding the importance and ever-changing relationship between nurses and phyicians. Further topping off this collection of engaging essays is a reader's guide designed to, says Ratner, "stimulate meetings of the minds and begin crucial conversations in hopes of understanding the nurse-physician relationship."

REFLECTIONS ON DOCTORS
Nurses' Stories about Physicians and Surgeons

Terry Ratner, RN, MFA, Editor
Kaplan Publishing
September 2008
$14.95 Paperback/ $16.95 Canada
ISBN: 978-I-4277-9825-I/ Nursing

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/health/28book.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

WAIT THERE'S MORE! (hee hee)

10 Blog Posts You Must Read Before You Go Into a Voting Booth in November
Where can you get a real, unvarnished perspective on our healthcare system, and fast?

The 10 Blog Posts—A Pre-November 4 Reading List
Warning: The following posts are innovative, unflinchingly realistic and even outrageous. Read them as if your life depended upon it. Bookmark or email them to a friend. Herein lies grassroots politics, real dialog and idea exchange too easily buried under our current hollow Healthcare rhetoric:

CLEVELAND'S OWN: 6. 9 months to birthing my bestseller…, posted by Adrienne Zurub in September 2008. Here is a slightly outrageous and totally irreverent article that rolls together current healthcare reform and the nursing crisis.

THE OTHER NINE:
http://www.onlinenursingdegrees.org/nursingfacts/politics-of-healthcare.htm

Adrienne Zurub
Author/Speaker/RN

http://adriennezurub.typepad.com

AND:

Available at: http://amazon.com
Adrienne Zurub's Amazon Blog - http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A3DXVTX2C4WOPO

A Pitbull in Lipstick ...Don't Get Bit in the Ass!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:00:39 GMT

A pit bull in lipstick...that pretty much sums up Palin.
Pit bulls are dangerous. Palin will ironically bite and destroy the rights that are (and should be) native to women yet which are under assault from the right and fundamentalist groups that support this ticket

Palin has the 'nuts' that McCain conceded to the Christian fundamentalist right.
Funny how a Malcolm X quote comes to mind in regards to McCain and the 'Mad Men' who conjured up Palin, "...by an means necessary."

Or better yet, if I may invoke Sarte:
"I was not the one to invent lies: they were created in a society divided by class and each one of us inherited lies when we were born. It is not by refusing to lie that we will abolish lies: it is by eradicating class by any means necessary."

Adrienne Zurub
http://adriennezurub.typepad.com

'The Great Vaginal Hope' & Thank You Maureen Dowd!

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:07:28 GMT

August 12, 2008, Maureen Dowd of the New York Times wrote a piece about the slimy underhanded behavior of Hill and Bill as they actively seek to undermine Obama for the presidency and at the Democratic National Convention. The essay is entitled "Yes, She Can."

June 2008, I wrote an opinion piece for The Cleveland Free Times that buttresses some of Ms. Dowd's arguments and observations. My essay is below:

Volume 15, Issue 60
Published June 25th, 2008
Letters
The Great Vaginal Hope

Stop the vagina monologues! Gender was not the reason Sen. Hillary Clinton is not the Democratic presidential nominee. Simply, Clinton was not the best nominee for our country at this time. Still, Hillary Rodham Clinton's gender, the fact that she was a woman running for president, was the best show of unapologetic resolve, ambition, and yes, ruthlessness, demonstrated in a woman going for the highest office in the land in America, ever! I have always been for Obama, but I do recognize the historical force of Hillary.

Clinton built her campaign on entitlement, not feminism. As we all know regarding the black struggle in America, entitlement does not sit well with the majority of Americans, as it smacks of something-for-nothing regardless of truth and history. She is not entitled to win the nomination nor to become the first woman president simply because she slept in the White House and was privy to White House business. She was a good candidate, but she was not the best candidate.

Sen. Clinton made the critical mistake of running a campaign forged from the political manifesto of Bill Clinton. In a very real sense, Hillary, an ephemeral vanguard of feminism, did not define herself fully outside of the boundaries and shadows of being the former first lady and the cheated-upon spouse of Bill. She allowed herself to be merely a familiar reflection of Clintonism. The "new kids" of the younger voting demographic were not impressed. Some women and older feminists who ascribed their feminism and their feminist ideals to Hillary overlooked her flaws in the fervor to make her the first woman president. Is this the new feminism? Yet, when Hillary dared to be herself, she was frightening and not entirely likable! What was with her subliminal (and not so) call for a "hit" on Obama in March and recently with her referencing Bobby Kennedy's June assassination?!

Hillary embraced feminism. Yet, with closer observation, she essentially used women and gender when it suited her presidential aspirations and campaign (like any good politician). Would a real feminist have voted for the Iraq war? While intellectually she is for the empowerment of women and women's rights, her campaign was not feminist or strictly for feminism, nor should it be.

Without a doubt, President Bill Clinton, in his day, was a brilliant political strategist. He is clever, polished and possesses the political currency of being likable. In his day, his skills were admirable and his Teflon style quite necessary in dealing with vengeful Republicans. Yet, what was slick in the '90s appears greasy in this new atmosphere and age of political campaigning. Especially with the new generation of voters. Especially as Sen. Clinton executed some of the same maneuvers.

Hillary Clinton, with the aura of entitlement all about her, dissed us, the public, and some of her loyal women voters. You see, Sen. Clinton assumed that the possession of a vagina was nine-tenths of this presidency.

Perhaps she would have been correct, had not Barack Obama, in all his righteousness, freshness and inspiring hopefulness, not come along. The brightness of Obama's aura (ironically, a black man) illuminated brightly the flaws and failings of the Clinton political machine. The Clintons (and McCain) looked old, passe and disgruntled.

Howard Sackler, who wrote the play The Great White Hope, stated the following about his play which, if we use poetic license and substitute the term "woman" and the overarching theme of sexism as opposed to racism, becomes Sen. Clinton's story: "What interested me was not the topicality but the combination of circumstances, the destiny of man pitted against society. It's a metaphor of struggle between man and the outside world."

Talk about not getting the signals correct between generations. On May 20, 2008, Geraldine Ferraro was a guest on The Today Show, with Meredith Viera attempting to conduct an interview yet giving surrogate Ferraro a platform to spew Clinton's campaign rhetoric. The other guest, Rachel Maddow (who barely got to speak), represented the type of young voter who sides with Obama. The schism between the Clinton demographic and Obama's could not have been made clearer (especially since the interview became a YouTube moment). Ferraro spoke of Obama's alleged disrespect for Hillary Clinton with his supposed dismissive "brush of the shoulders" gesture. Maddow stated she did not see the gesture as dismissive but a type of cool hip-hop mannerism. Ferraro pressed on with some other alleged sexist slight at which point Maddow looked at Ferraro as if she were from another planet.

Clinton and Ferraro fought with old methods and old political ammunition. The support that Clinton marshaled did not allow that perhaps she is not the best person for the job. They just want her to get the job because she is a woman! That type of myopic thinking and voting is not fair to all women or to our country. These women state, "It's our time!" As a woman, I beg to differ. Clearly, these times are fertile for a woman to be president. But not this woman.

Anais Nin once wrote, "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." For this campaign, Hillary needed to have the courage to expose herself and not conceal who and what she is behind the shroud of her husband. Not to diminish her accomplishments because it takes courage to run for president. Yet, it takes less courage when you may think your ascendancy is guaranteed.

When you really examine it, Hillary at times used gender as a means to an end. She used the power of pussy (much as her husband did) to amass her constituency. She pushed some deceit, a chameleon-like attitude, and the lame attempt to be what we and the country need her to be at any given moment. That is not the quality of leadership. It is unfortunate that some women who so desperately (and righteously) want to see sexism, gender-pay disparities and other social slights addressed, have laid their collective burdens and hopes upon the shoulders of Hillary. It is unfortunate that the surrogate Geraldine Ferraro with her pitbull divisive politics represented exactly what is wrong with the Clinton campaign, a methodology that is passe.

Adrienne Zurub
adriennezurub.typepad.com

news@freetimes.com

Member Badge

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:33:38 GMT

I love this group!

Member Badge

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:54:07 GMT

Word of Mouth is Powerful!

'The Naked Invisible'

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:41:35 GMT

Everywhere, if we look, we can see women as 'naked invisibles' both visually, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and otherwise.
A 'naked invisible' is someone, particularly a woman, whom no one see, appreciates, or really knows except for the superficial and mostly faulty definition culled from culture and society. A 'naked invisible' puts herself/himself out in a vulnerable sense (as mothers, wives significant others, NURSES, lovers...) and seemingly no one sees or appreciates who and what they are as a person or persons.

Ask yourself, do you really know who YOU are...outside of cultural and societal definitions of yourself?
It is hard to get to that point of self-reflection (so many distractions get in the way: mortgage, kids, bills, job...) and self-acknowledgement. That process of self-actualization requires vulnerability.

Maybe that is why some great actors lose themselves in their character portrayals. Acting is being vulnerable and allowing a character and/or other personage to come alive in you, the actor. It is allowing yourself as the actor ot explore and discover what in you is familiar in your character.

As an actor, I know how difficult that journey to another character...and myself can be.
I also know that when you 'get there' it may be equally hard to get back to (and be satisfied with) yourself.

Think, Robert Downey, Jr. and his brilliant portrayal of Charlie Chaplin which in Downey's immersion into the life of Chaplin obviously led to a 'fracturing' of Robert.
This 'fracturing' played out publicly as well as Robert's attempts at regaining and again losing himself and (hopefully) regaining 'himself' again.

Great actors such as Robert Downey give us the gift of themselves and the gifts of character and layers of life we may never have known. I take for granted the vulnerability, the journey, and the human expression, the human painting being drawn on the screen by those actors, when I observe and take in a great performance.

Thank you Robert, Hallie Berry (Monsters Ball), Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice), Robert DeNiro (Taxi Driver), Jamie Foxx (Ray Charles), OMG, Sally Field (Sybil)...

Adrienne Zurub
Speaker/Comedian/RN
Author - 'Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles'
Adrienne Zurub's Amazon Blog - http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A3DXVTX2C4WOPO

http://adriennezurub.typepad.com

http://chasewunderlickpublishers.com.cn

I Kissed a Girl...I LUV this Song!

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:18:06 GMT

Adrienne
http://adriennezurub.typepad.com
Author, 'Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles'
http://chasewunderlickpublishers.com.cn

Adrienne Zurub's Amazon Blog - http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A3DXVTX2C4WOPO

165

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:47:08 GMT

165, originally uploaded by Carlos Noboro.

What needs to be said?

Adrienne Zurub's Amazon Blog - http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A3DXVTX2C4WOPO

'The Naked Invisibility of Michelle Obama's Visibility.'

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:05:05 GMT

A response to Plain Dealer, Connie Schultz’s ‘feminist’ piece on Michelle Obama
June 29, 2008, copy and paste the following link:

http://www.cleveland.com/schultz/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1214728220313350.xml&coll=2&thispage=2

“...what we do in life, echoes in eternity.” --Maximus in the ‘Gladiator.’
(Ironically, it starts, “Brothers....”)

Miz. Connie (meant as humor not deference!)
Thank you for finally chiding your fellow feminists and feminista’s for their relative lack of response, umbrage, and action toward the negative remarks and behavior of what can be truthfully labelled (without racist intent) the behavior of ‘your white men’ towards Michelle Obama.

I as a Black woman can only imagine the collective rage of feminists/feminstas, if say a white male had ‘hurt a puppy,’ (of course a bitch) or stated that Lilith Fair was meaningless. Or, if Michelle Obama herself had said that female circumcision, oh,excuse me, female-genital-mutilation is okay with her. Or even better yet, that Hillary Clinton was not actually a feminist! Heavens! The Feminist outrage, comments, and action would be...deafening!

Yet, Michelle Obama, a woman (and it must be noted a BLACK woman) is subject to media attempts (mostly white males) to discredit her, undermine her, and disrespect her and...nothing. Nothing from the Feminista’s. Nothing from the Feminists.

The problem with feminism, let me correct myself here. The problem with feminists and feminista’s is still the old problem of inclusion. Listen Ladies, this is not ‘just’ a little fight with your men. Girls, this not a sexual tug-of-war! Modern Feminism should embrace the dignity of, call for the respect of, and champion the collective socioeconomic-political-cultural empowerment of-all-women!

Miz Connie it was not surprising to me that you and other feminists/feministas have to be prompted and prodded to ‘do the right thing.’ We are still waiting.

Fortunately, many Black women and other women of color do not rely on the actions and/or (delayed) socially conscious efforts of white women. For hundreds of years, we as women of color have known that our progress is based on our own steady might, focused resolve and yes, intelligence. I know that Michelle Obama, being intelligent, well-spoken and outspoken and not the embodiment of any stereotype, poses a decided threat not only to the familiar and comfortable labeling by white men and women, but to the shifting power tectonics of both.

Yet, I know too, that Michelle Obama is used to ‘holding her own’ and ‘maintaining’ (in the vernacular) in a society that offers continual disrespect, constant devaluation as a woman and as a Black woman, and inevitable racial assaults.
What I would like feminists/feministas to do is simply embrace fully the principles, humanism and beliefs they espouse through the feminist mantle and to act fully in that regard...for all!
(I have always considered myself a Womanist.)

Adrienne Zurub
http://adriennezurub.typepad.com
Adrienne Zurub's Amazon Blog - http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A3DXVTX2C4WOPO

What is a 'naked invisible'? A person, notably a woman who puts herself out, makes herself vulnerable and yet is defined only against a static set of defining terms and cultural beliefs. Woman is more than but treated less than. She is more than wife, mother, employee, and etc.

A Black Woman in Captivity

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:41:20 GMT

Captivity meaning: marriage, mortgage payments, bills, a tween-ager, an the pursuit of....
For the undecided voters meaning 'swing' voters, independents, and those women still upset because Hillary did not win, who may not have had exposure to Black persons, I am offering glimpses of myself to acclimate those who want to know intelligent Black people but from a 'safe' non-committal distance.

This project if you will started when I watched a morning political pundit show on Sunday. The 'statistics' presented stated that people who know of, socialize with, and invest in social intercourse with Black people and other persons of color, tend to vote for Obama. But, not only that I think they are socially, emotionally, and intellectually richer.

I offer myself as a proud Black American for your perusal.
(Okay, okay maybe not average...maybe not normal. Decide for yourself).

And NO, Mr. Obama is not connected with my videos, opinions nor am I being paid to do this by the Democratic party or the Republican party for that matter.
(Also, YES, that is me! My hair is longer now !)

Need a Black Friend/Person for the upcoming election?

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:30:37 GMT

Observe a Black person/family in 'captivity' (mortgage, too many bills, a tween-ager, a passive marriage bound by the need for two incomes, etc. and so forth...)
Hopefully, this video will be instructive. Mainly, it is entertainment. Enjoy.
(I have to go now and inform my family know that I am exposing them for the public good).

I Found my Dennis Wolfberg!

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:22:19 GMT

I do stand up comedy and one of my heroes was Dennis Wolfberg!
Those eyes, that voice and his ability to deliver his material impressed me greatly.
Well, I just found him on YouTube.com. Enjoy!

Upcoming Booksignings/Lectures/Discussions:
'Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles' by Author, Adrienne Zurub

June 14, 2008, BORDERS Bookstores, 30121 Detroit Road, Westlake, OH, 2pm--4pm

June 26, 2008, Coventry Village Library, 1925 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, OH, 7pm--8:15pm

June 28, 2008, Loganberry Books Authors Fair as part of 'The Larchmere Festival, Shaker Heights, OH,
11am--5pm.

http://adriennezurub.typepad.com
Adrienne Zurub
Author/Speaker/Comedian/RN