And we are getting it soon!

Click here for a great video:   What AAUW does  Be proud!

The gender pay gap won’t close until 2119 at the current rate of change.
AAUW is doing something about it. Take action now!
Empowering women since 1881

December,  2020

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President’s Message, Beverly

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Su Casa Holiday Giving

For many years members of our branch have supported Su Casa at holiday time by collecting toys , games, books and nice personal items for the residents at Su Casa.  Of course, all that is not possible this year due to Covid restrictions.  The shelter cannot accept such gifts right now. The director has requested that donations be made in cash or in gift cards.  Suggestions include Target, Wal-Mart, Ralphs/Food 4 Less or other local Groceries.

We are designating December 5-12 as our Su Casa gift week this year.  If you wish to participate:
1.  You may write a check directly to Su Casa with “Shelter the Spirit” in the memo line, which will direct your donation to this holiday effort and preserve your tax deductibility.
2.  You may purchase gift cards, which will be used to purchase gifts given to residents.

All checks, and cards must be mailed or dropped off to Marilyn by December 12.  If you wish to give a gift card but cannot get out to do it, contact Marilyn and she will arrange to do it for you.

The shelter staff truly thanks us for all we do for them, limited though it is right now.

Update 12/18/20:  Our branch members contributed $600 in holiday donations and gift cards to Su Casa this year.  They are very grateful.

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Please welcome and support your new officers.  Remember that their job is to lead and encourage other members.  Please offer to help them when they ask.

Reminder to members:  As is written in your directory, the AAUW mail/email list is to be used for AAUW business only.  If you wish to share something personal with selected members, please verify with the members first, if they want to be included.  Members who find themselves receiving email they do not want should feel free to ask to be removed.  We’re all friends here.

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Meeting & Program, Karen, Nancy & Mary Ann

Membership, Joan F., Diane M.

Download our Brochure

Tech Trek – Celia & Edna

California AAUW recently received the following directive from AAUW National regarding Tech Trek for 2021 and sent it on to branches:  “…in the 2021 season, Tech Trek camps in all states must be delivered on a virtual platform.”  National also advised that student recruitment should be delayed until further into 2021.  While California AAUW Tech Trek Program leaders state that they are fully prepared to continue the program by providing selected campers with a “stimulating, fun and rewarding STEM virtual experience,” our Branch Board decided at its recent October Board meeting to put our participation in Tech Trek on hiatus for 2021 and until the program is returned to its traditional, on site at colleges and universities, experience.

AAUW Fund, Esther, Thea

Due to COVID, we are staying home, kicking back, reading books, watching NETFLIX and taking on personal and household projects.  But, our commitment to AAUW and the AAUW Fund requires fundraising to support our fundamental advocacy for women and girl’s issues.

This year, you won’t be able to sign up for gift wrapping or attending luncheons or purchasing objects during silent auctions.  This year you will only need to write a check reflecting our theme “Share Your COVID Savings”.

You’ll be receiving an “Invitation to Donate” in January.  We hope you will do just that!

Thea and Esther want to thank those of you who supported the Take-Out Dinner Fundraiser at Chipotle and Portillio’s.  We earned $220 and $86 respectively.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, February 18th at 1:00 pm for our Virtual AAUW Fund Luncheon.  Our speaker will be AAUW Fellow in Anthropology at UC Irvine, Constance Iloh.  More information forthcoming.

Thank you for supporting AAUW Fund, Esther and Thea

The La Palma-Cerritos branch of AAUW created our own memorial fund in July 2017, called the Alberta Brose Memorial Fund, to go to women who return to school just as she did.  We currently have completed our goal.  This was a short time, two year fund with a goal of $5000 for completion by June 30, 2019. The branch got CA State and National recognition for completion. Final donation has gone to AAUW Fund for Career Development Grants for graduate students returning to school after 5+  year absence.

Elsie Carbajal  is the recipient of our own Alberta Brose Memorial Fund.  We are proud!

Career Development Grants

Name: Elsie Carbajal
Award Year: 2018-19
Award: Career Development Grant
Institution: Brandman University
Location: Irvine, California
Discipline: Education
Degree and Specialization: M.A., Education leadership

Elsie Carbajal is a seasoned special education teacher who is passionate about meeting the diverse needs of public school students with special needs. Her goal is to strategically reform outdated practices that limit the growth and progress of the unique population she services. She plans to obtain her master’s in education leadership to collaborate with stakeholders and make informed decisions to enhance student outcomes in and out of school.

Sponsors:
4431 – Alberta Brose Memorial Fund
1262 – Laguna Beach (CA) Branch/Laguna Hills (CA) Branch
1285 – San Diego County (CA) Branch/Marilyn George Poluzzi
1298 – Los Angeles (CA) Branch/Dallas Shenk
1484 – San Clemente-Capistrano Bay (CA) Branch
4105 – Redlands (CA) Branch/Bernice Black Johndrew
1491 – Somerset Hills (NJ) Branch—Science and Technology

Academic Achievement Awards, Carol

I was able to contact the Foundation at Cerritos College and talked to the woman who is now handling the applications for the students. I told her we had $2,500.00 and would like to split it into two scholarships of $1,250.00 each.  One would go to a regular student that was completing the first two years of school and would be transferring to a four year college.  The second one would go to a woman that had been out of school for 4 or more years and was returning to finish her education.  I asked for no more than 15 applications.  By a show of hands the members at the October zoom meeting approved this.

Applications will be coming in the first of the year and should close in February. Copies of their applications will be mailed to us to distribute to our committee.  At this point in time I have not chosen them.  We should be able to evaluate them in March and make a decision.  The school usually notifies the students in May.  Since we have no idea how long the covid lockdown will continue, we will have to see if it is even possible to hold a brunch.  We will have to play it by ear.  The school may even have to give the awards to the girls.  We do have lots of time to make that decision.

If you have any questions or further input please feel free to call or email me.

Public Policy, Sondra & Norma

Local Efforts to Combat School Based Racism
By Norma Williamson, M.A.

As Melissa Maceyko, AAUW CA Public Policy Committee, states in her article entitled: “Increasing Equity for Black Women and Girls”:

“In 2020, a widespread protest movement has emerged, clearly and loudly demanding greater racial equity through systemic change….Anti-racism is the active practice of calling out racism when it is encountered, which may include having uncomfortable conversations about race and racism in everyday life”.

It might come as a surprise to some branch members, that the quiet, economically comfortable City of Cerritos witnessed its own locally organized protest on June 12^th, 2020, against expressed racism in the ABC Unified School District. Several hundred students accompanied by some of their teachers and even a couple City of Cerritos Community Safety Center staff, marched the 1.5 mile route that started at the Cerritos Library and ended at the ABC USD offices on Norwalk Blvd.

Marchers were protesting the decades long “anti-blackness, implicit and explicit racism” at Whitney High School and throughout the school district. The organizers of the march, Whitney High School Black Alumni Association (WHSBAA), addressed a letter to the Whitney High School Principal John Briquelet, Assistant Principal Larry Natividad, ABC Superintendent Dr. Mary Sieu, Director of Schools Dr. Crechena Wise, ABC Board President Dr. Olga Rios, and all ABC School Board members that vividly described their grievances and demands for change (to see the article from the Los Cerritos Community Newspaper, click on this blue hyperlink):

http://www.loscerritosnews.net/2020/06/08/letter-from-black-alumni-association-corroborates-racism-allegations-at-whitney-high/

In the letter, WHSBAA criticized the annual mock slavery simulation that has for years distressed black students and their parents as well as the most recent overt racist incident perpetrated by an honors student who was videotaped recently phone calling a local black church and hurtling racial insults at them.

In their “Call to Action letter” dated June 14, 2020, WHSBAA has demanded diversity and inclusion training for staff as well as the implementation of black history and an anti-bias curriculum which would support all minority students including the LGBTQIA student community. The letter states: “Accurate teaching of Black history should be infused in the curriculum year-round, not just during Black History Month, and not just during units that cover the Atlantic slave trade”. Instead of perpetuating racial stereotypes of Black slaves, Black history should celebrate the accomplishments of Black mathematicians, chemists, artists, etc. ­­

The annual mock slavery simulation of the Atlantic slave trade is how Whitney High received the dubious honor of landing on the Trevor Noah televised Daily Show: https://youtu.be/H4MR9QR1eAI

A few days later, on June 16^th, 2020, the entire ABCUSD School Board voted unanimously, 7 to 0 on a resolution to confront systemic racism, provide education resources for ethnic studies and unequivocally state that “Black Lives Matter”. Visit ABC USD Facebook post to read the resolution: https://www.facebook.com/ABCUSDStories/posts/dear-abcusd-families-stakeholders-and-staff-earlier-this-week-the-abc-unified-sc/3939794799395790/

For more information on Whitney High School Black Alumni Association, visit their website: https://www.whsblackalumni.org/

Or contact the author at nvwilliamson@gmail.com or 562-472-7433

What’s AAUW Public Policy All About?

Since AAUW’s founding in 1881, our advocates have taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day – educational, social, economic, and political. Our positions emanate from our Mission, Vision and Values:

• Mission: To advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy
• Vision: Equity for all
• Values: Nonpartisan. Fact based. Integrity. Inclusion. Intersectionality.

Our positions are rooted in our member-approved Public Policy Priorities at both the national and state levels.  The AAUW California Public Policy Priorities for 2019-2021 were approved by our members this spring, and can be found on the website www.aauw-ca.org . The AAUW CA Public Policy Committee meets early in each legislative session to review bills and determine those on which to take action. In Washington, AAUW staff and volunteer advocates communicate with both Congress and the administration. In California, we employ a part-time lobbyist to represent AAUW CA in the California Legislature.

Economic Security is a critical issue for women of all ages, a foundational aspect of everyday life, and is particularly important to women’s ability to support themselves and their families.  Many continue to struggle with economic insecurity, wage discrimination, and employment benefits. Legislated solutions could benefit many women.

Real change in federal and state policy, however, will only come about when our elected officials hear from voters, like us! It is so important that branch members be up to date on AAUW positions on federal and state legislation consistent with AAUW’s mission, and contact elected officials to share our positions. Also, we must hold those we have elected accountable as they vote on issues affecting women and girls.

Become involved with your branch’s Public Policy Committee. If your branch doesn’t have one, start one!  You can download and print a copy of the Public Policy Priorities from aauw-ca/category/publicpolicy. Become an activist, by signing up on the national website aauw.org/resource/two-minute-activist .This will connect you with both state and national calls to action.

Start now! It’s not too soon to begin educating yourself about the issues in the important 2020 elections!

International Issues, Jackie Shahzadi

Women Graduates-USA

…through its global focus and reach, empowers all women and girls to create a secure and just world built on education, advocacy, friendship and mutual respect.

WG-USA is an online organization based in the United States focusing on global issues *Support and Advocacy for Refugee and Migrant Women and Girls
*Safe Access to Education
*Human Trafficking Advocacy and Action
*Women, Peace and Security

Join WG-USA at www.wg-usa.org

In 2019, Graduate Women International celebrated its 100th anniversary with a Centennial Celebration in Geneva, July 25-28. GWI was founded in 1919, by representatives of AAUW, and other international women’s groups. It used to be known as the IFUW, international Federation of University Women. Currently, Women Graduates-USA is the organization representing American women at GWI.