by: Marceline Donaldson
I won’t say rest in peace. I will say I hope you are living your life after life in a heaven in which everyone is equal – where love abounds – where justice has no meaning because the evils of this life have all fallen away.
At the end of life, one begins to think of what has my life meant! Did I spend my time wisely? Did I work to make this world better for those I am leaving behind? Did I do justice, love mercy, walk humbly as I tread this earth? Can I expect to be welcomed in heaven because my life on earth was lived without making others feed my ego by feeling and acting better than?
I think Aileen can say yes to all of those questions. She worked hard and produced much. Not the material things in life, but those things which really count over the long term.
I first met Aileen in the 1970’s when I was elected to the National Board of NOW. Got to know her even better when I went to a national board meeting in San Francisco with my youngest daughter who was about 4 years old at the time – and we stayed with Aileen. The week we spent with Aileen was one I shall never forget. I could have decorated Aileen’s house, it was that comfortable and familiar. NOW members took turns during the meeting taking care of Jacqueline. NOW’s commitment was to making sure board members felt free enough to bring their children. We stayed in touch for a brief time after that, but then……
What most amazed me was her commitment to history. She had incredible files, unbelievably organized, of everything she had done which would be of interest to historians down the road. Her commitment to equality and justice was deep and dictated how she spent her time. I am very grateful to have met Aileen and to have had the chance to see and be involved – for a brief time – in her life. It was one of those times which changed mine.
When I met Aileen, we realized we had a lot in common. Both went to New York University. Both raised with parents who designed and sewed theatrical garments. Both loved fashion – probably as a result of that upbringing. Both had a passion for doing what we could to change this world for the better – and so much more. She was a mentor for me and I am sure for many other women. I count myself as being blessed to have had mentors, throughout this life who have been strong, committed, beautiful people with an understanding of how we are all related and all working to bring about equality, justice, love for one another.
Aileen Hernandez
Writing these memorials is becoming a much too often occurrence. I guess I have reached that time of life when people you know leave – frequently – for a different place and then it is time to fill those gaps in your memory because other things took precedence and you are left regretting not having called. That is happening to me far too often.
That speaks to the way we have ordered our lives. the activity, the action, the cause, the work of the moment becomes all consuming and involvement with friends from a lifetime ago gets pushed back for another day. And the surprise and regret comes when you realize that day is not coming until your eyes close for the last time.
Aileen’s work and accomplishments were many and huge. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. Twenty years from now, that newly coming to adulthood generation will look back to ask why she did not receive the acolades to measure her life’s work. And the answer will be clear. She was a woman who worked hard for women’s rights, equal rights and justice for minorities and for the union movement. That combination is lethal in this society. We don’t want to hold up such icons because they might just become the trail blazers to attract our children to become like them.
Aileen Hernandez, Pauli Murray and others have clearly shown the sexist lie to the now re-surfacing comments about the feminist movement being a white women’s movement. The gains of that movement have had to push through racism, classism, xenophobia, homophobia and more to be achieved and even then those gains have been tenuous as the next generation tries to negate and destroy that move forward which freed us all for a brief moment.
Thank you, Aileen, for having been so consistent in your life and your work. Thank you for being one of those bright lights and beacon to all of us showing us how to walk through some difficult times. Thank you for having the courage to be one of those founding NOW at a time when the fight for the equality for women sorely needed such an organization. Thank you for being there at a time in my life when I needed mentors, showing me there is a path you can follow because others have been there and walked through the stuff that gets thrown at you as a strong feminist and that gets thrown from all sides.
I know those greeting you on the other side are rejoicing and celebrating your life on this earth.
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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.
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Melania Trump’s Convention Speech
Tuesday, July 19th, 2016An amazing speech! It had nothing to do with anything except a hollywood script writer planning a movie of pure fiction.
We watched her come on stage and the greeting by her husband was anything but warm. It looked like – don’t touch me, I am made up and dressed and don’t want you to mess me up. The rest of the evening and speech followed that pattern.
What most amazed us were some of the things she said with a somewhat straight face. For example: She emphasized the need to “pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow, because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and the willingness to work for them.”
We wondered if her life after she left Communist Slovenia and an upbringing which had nothing to do with a democratic election where you supposedly run on your achievements, ability to accomplish, and more, was an example of what we want to pass down to our children as ‘our’ morals and values. Certainly, the way she ‘achieved’ her goals says more about her and the man she married than anything else. It sets their moral values right up front and center for all to see.
She talked about her mother’s elegance instilling in her a love for fashion, etc. During the time she was on her own and had to make her own way, this is how she did it – acting out her morals and values and love for ‘fashion’. That is not how the fashion models we know live their lives and make their money. She was Donald Trump’s ‘hostess’ on his plane before they married. We hear it took her all of two years, after leaving Slovenia to become a billionaire’s mistress, girl friend, fiancé. We don’t know what to call that relationship before their marriage. It was certainly a time of Donald Trump exploiting a woman’s body and the woman allowing him to do that because her value of herself is on her body. An example for our daughters’ to follow?
Half naked with a box full of jewels on a plane represents what kind of moral value? Selling one’s body and showing the results of that sale?
Supporting your husband and his need to get support from the NRA? Passing these values on to our children? Whatever values her parents gave her – when she had to make it on her own she apparently made it by using her body. – and was it for sale to the highest bidder? And once that happened she could become the volunteer, the person giving to others, working for the needy because that supported her husbands goals and put the family in a better light? Seems to us that those values of her husband have been passed on to his children – especially with a son who, rumor has it, only dated models and in the end married one? Is that teaching your children to value people because of their work, accomplishments, because they are human? Or is that valuing women for what their bodies can do for you? Doesn’t bode well for women’s issues. If her husband is elected president, she would be the first First Lady who earned her kept so blatantly using her body.
Supporting her husbands’ support for the NRA? Showing how women can give their support to the NRA for their husbands benefit?
When a campaign has stolen the theme of a previous campaign and was not able to come up with its own campaign theme – is that how he will be President of the United States? Nothing will be sacred. Whatever Trump needs, he will take from whoever, wherever, for whatever reason he needs to take from others? Like the way his campaign has taken the lives of Blacks by stirring up old prejudices and giving strength to groups who are extreme racists? And extreme religious bigots? Did his daughter marrying an Orthodox Jew account for his spreading such hatred around the country in his campaign speeches and in other ways for Muslims? Is he using divide and conquer to become president? Use the old animosities and pit one group against another. So far he has been able to widen the gap between White and Black; Jew and Muslim; and who knows what groups are next as fodder for his power grab?
These are the values to pass on to your children? Use your body to get what you want? Melania talked about her interest in fashion. We know several models, none of whom earned their money using their bodies in this way! It did help her get a rich husband, however, who puts no value on women except to satisfy his ego and prurient needs.
The traditional photo of a nude woman on a bear rug is acted out here and destroys everything woman – trying to reach equality in this system based on their brains, accomplishments, etc. instead of the old standard of their body and how they are willing to use their bodies to succeed. These are the lessons Melania Trump brings to young women and young men. This was certainly her way to success and even today, dressed in more clothes which cost a small fortune, her message is – you are an appendage to “your man” and you live your life through him and his life, never on your own standing on your own two feet. Independence is not in the cards.
I can’t believe the Republican Party has stooped so low. It certainly gives a different meaning to their fight against abortion and all their other fights against the equality for women. This will bring the country back pre-1950’s. This is how women advertise who are looking to earn a living in prostitution. If they make it big and find that wealthy male to support them – fine. If not, they will be prostitutes for life.
These photos came from GQ magazine. We put their entire article on Facebook if you are interested in their narrative which went along with the pictures they published. We found more, but these, we felt, gets the message across. Know who you are voting for. You can excuse anything if you want power badly enough. But don’t you think a little honesty, morals, looking at the choices a person makes when they are on their own tells more than anything else about their morals? It certainly says a lot about Donald Trump and what he is interested in from a woman.
I am sure there were none of the Religious Right in the audience at the Republican Convention. Having seen years of what they are about this would be the ultimate hypocrisy. An act equivalent to Pontius Pilate’s washing his hands in that bowl. If there were members of the Religious Right on the floor and out in the country supporting this Trump campaign, they have gone further than Pontius Pilate did because they have not only agreed to turn Hillary Clinton (a devout Christian all of her life – working for justice, equality and for all of us) over to the most scurrilous comments and ugliest campaign in United States history, because they have agreed to help in that effort and are giving their time and money to achieve that goal. At least Pontius Pilate only washed his hands in that bowl and and then he walked away.
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Everything talked about in this blog and in any other blog in the Bettina Network, inc. is the opinion of the person who wrote the blog and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Bettina Network, inc. It is the property of Bettina Network, inc. and/or the person who wrote the original blog.
Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.
Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.
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Posted in Bed & Breakfast, Bettina Homes, Bettina Network Educational Institute, Bettina Network's Lifestyle Community, Bettina's Hall of Shame, Breakfast Table Talk, Donald Trump, Fashion, Guest comments, Hillary Clinton, Historical Homes, Kitchen Table Talk, Melania Trump, politics, racism, sexism, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Melania Trump’s Convention Speech