February  2023

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE FROM CELIA

I hope those of you who attended our January meeting were enlightened, and probably frightened as I was, about the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision beyond the obvious of reversing Roe v Wade.  We are fortunate to live in a state that honors and supports reproductive rights, not only for its residents, but for women who come from other states seeking reproductive healthcare services.

Our February general meeting speaker, psychologist Dr. Amy La, will talk about how we can take care of our mental health, particularly in response to the heightened stresses of the past three years.  Be sure to note in the Program article the location of that meeting, LaPalma Community Center.

At our January meeting I appointed Faith and Chris to serve on the Nominating committee.  Please consider saying yes to taking a leadership position for the branch for our 2023-24 year when they call you.

I also appointed the following past Named Gift Honorees to serve on the committee to choose one or more 2023 honorees:  Joan P. (chair), Sue S. and Dorothy.

February birthday greetings to Fran DeFrance.

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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, Faith & Cathy
Thursday, February 16

LaPalma Community Center
Social time at 6:30
Program at 7:00 PM,
Business meeting to follow

Psychologist, Dr. Amy La, will address “Surviving the Pandemic and Taking Care of Our Mental Health.

Dr. Amy La will discuss, “Surviving the Pandemic and Taking Care of our Mental Health”.  Why is this topic (still) relevant? Approximately two-thirds of women stated that their stress and/or anxiety increased during the pandemic according to U.S. News & World Report (April 2022). Please join us to gain more coping strategies to improve your wellbeing and to support the people, particularly the women around you.

Dr. La is a licensed psychologist with over 10 years of clinical experience in mental health. Besides a PhD in Counseling Psychology, she also has an MBA in Healthcare Management. Her clinical experiences in the field includes working with college students and adults in the community, providing clinical lead for mental health services (e.g., assessments, diagnoses, crisis intervention), serving as a member of the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT), and supervising trainees. Dr. La also provides various mental health workshops and training to students and staff.

Please note:  All our meetings comply with local rules and the accepted health guidance of Los Angeles and Orange counties for in-person meetings.  Members may choose to easily attend and participate in meetings by connecting via phone to another member in attendance and have been doing so successfully.

From the City of Cerritos:  FACE COVERING IS OPTIONAL. It is strongly recommended, but not required, to wear a face covering when inside any City of Cerritos facility.

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.

 

$50 for 50

A big Thank you to all of you who are contributing to our Celebrating 50 years as a branch by contributing $50.00 or other amounts to our fund fundraiser for the AAUW fund. We shall continue this opportunity to contribute throughout the year. We will continue to celebrate our 50th year by asking each member to contribute at least a $50.00 donation to the AAUW Fund. As we have explained before, AAUW prefers contributions to the Greatest Needs Fund.  However, you can always make designations to any of the AAUW Funds if you wish.  We will have envelopes available at our meetings in 2023 for your convenience.

Looking forward to our dining fundraisers from Pieology and Chipotle that are still in the planning stages, awaiting final dates.

AAUW California Celebrates Black Women in History for Black History Month, February 2023

Nancy Major, AAUW California Public Policy Committee

Many Black women have made significant contributions to history, thought, society, innovation, science, government, civil rights, women’s rights, and much more. For Black History month we celebrate the achievements of but a few:

Sojourner Truth, a former slave, became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights (1797-1883).

Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin (age 15) helped initiate the Civil Rights movement by refusing to give up their seats to white men on Montgomery, Alabama buses. Their actions inspired resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional.

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was an actress, singer and dancer, the first African American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Carmen Jones (1954).

Katherine Johnson, a brilliant mathematician, was one of three Black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools. Her greatest contribution was to space exploration through her calculations synching Apollo’s Lunar Module with the lunar-orbiting Module. She also worked on the Space Shuttle. (1958-1986)

Madam C.J. Walker was considered the wealthiest African-American businesswoman in America (1911-1919), by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women.  She hired 40,000 “ambassadors” to sell her products.

Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968. She served as a representative from New York for 14 years, was the first Black candidate to run for president in the 1972 race, and founded the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 and the Congressional Women’s Caucus in 1977.

Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to fly to space on the space shuttle Endeavour. She was also the first Black woman admitted to the astronaut training program, in 1987.

Toni Morrison released her novel Beloved in 1987, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, based on the true story of an African American enslaved woman. In 1993, Morrison became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Oprah Winfrey, born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a single teenage mother, molested as a child and pregnant at 14, became the most influential woman in the world by many accounts. An American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist, she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world’s only black billionaire.