A NEW LOOK FOR A NEW TIME 

         The selection of George W. Bush to the presidency and the resulting attacks that have occurred on women’s rights and bodily integrity has made it apparent to all involved in the feminist movement that “NOW is the time” for new activism and a new beginning.  Many of us have sat by complacently during the Clinton years, believing that the status quo would be kept on feminist issues, but now is a different time that demands our attention with increasing urgency. 
        Within days of George W. Bush taking over the job of president it became apparent that he and his administration were going to wage war on the advances that had been made in women’s rights over the last thirty years.  NOW is the time to take up a strong position against these attacks and let George W. Bush and all those in authority know that we who believe in equality and freedom will not stand by while our rights are stripped away.  This issue of the Tidewater Chapter newsletter will feature actions and activities to involve you!  Please join us and make a statement about your future!

• A New Look For a New Time
• The 2^nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Feminist Festival
• State of Emergency Declared
• Have You Seen This Flag?
• Supporting Each Other - Advertisements
• Reproductive Freedom Task Force Reactivated!
• Miscellaneous Chapter News
• How to Reach Us

Have You Seen This Flag?
If So, We’d Love to Know Where!

A flag hangs upside-down.  The original was hung that way after Election Day.  The Voting Rights Act had been trampled on and Connie Hannah, NOW State President wanted everyone that passed her home to know.  Our democracy had stepped back in time to a day when the rights of individual voters were not honored and appreciated unless the voter was white and male.  The upside-down flag symbolized the death of democracy as our laws have defined it.

Soon after it was erected, a letter of protest was printed in the Virginian Pilot editorials from a military officer who objected, but who failed to note the time the flag was hung.  He wondered if it was about health care or free trade. It appeared the man could not see what had just happened.  Although he took an oath to fight for our freedoms, he could not see that our democracy had just been desecrated.  He only objected to what he believed was the desecration of the symbol of our democracy.  Since then someone has climbed to the second story, ripped down, and stole the flag twice, but another flies in the original’s place.

Connie called the police to report the thefts, and requested that a careful watch be kept over her house.  Weeks later, the police talked to Connie’s downstairs tenants, because someone had reported suspicious activity at her property. The next day, Connie confronted a man who was lurking outside her property.  He told her he was informing the police because she was desecrating the flag, but no police came.

If you would like to help keep the flag flying, please send a donation to PO Box 446, Norfolk, VA 23501.  Connie has vowed to keep a flag flying until George W. Bush has been removed by valid election from the office that he was selected to in 2000.

Tidewater NOW sponsors The 2^nd Annual Mid-Atlantic Feminist Festival: Exposing Bigotry in the New Millennium 

Ms. Westenhoefer will perform at 8:00 PM at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia in Virginia Beach.  Tickets are available for general admission seats at $20 each, or at $50 each for reserved seat tickets that also include admission to a soiree after the show where you can meet Ms. Westenhoefer.

            Saturday will feature the Virginia NOW State conference and will include presentations and speeches that relate to the theme of “Exposing Bigotry”.  Writer and professor Annie Barnes, the author of Say It Loud which is now re-titled and published as Everyday Racism will present and offer her book for sale and signing, while NOW President Patricia Ireland and author of What Women Want will speak at a luncheon, in what will be her last Hampton Roads appearance as NOW President.  In the afternoon there will be a panel discussion led by Cynthia Downs of the NAACP National Voter Fund, which will feature feminists from around the state.  On display all day on Saturday will be examples from the Clothesline Project.  Also, on display all day will be the items that will be available for the Virginia NOW Political Action Committee (PAC) auction.  The auction will include silent and bidding auctions and will be held from 7:30 PM until 9:00 PM on Saturday night.
 
    On Sunday the day will begin with a discussion salon and continental breakfast and then will adjourn to the 17^th Street Park for a Beach Party that will include performers, vendors, artists, community and more.  The Beach Party will run from noon until 5:00 PM and will be open to the public. 
   
     Anyone who is interested in performing, having a vendor table, or advertising in the Feminist Festival program can contact us by phone at 757-456-1509 or by e-mail at NOW@tidewaternow.org.  Tickets for the Mid-Atlantic Feminist Festival are $45 each until May 5 ($50 each after May 5).  The luncheon with Patricia Ireland will be an additional $15.  To order tickets, please send a check made to Tidewater NOW to PO Box 446, Norfolk, VA 23501.  Please make sure that you include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Please be sure to also include what tickets you are interested in purchasing.  If you have any additional questions please consult our web page at www.tidewaternow.org.  Look for the insert in this newsletter for an order form and more info!

State of Emergency Declared
March on Washington – April 22, 2001

            On Susan B. Anthony’s birthday,  February 15, a State of Emergency was declared and the Campaign for Women’s Lives was announced.  This campaign is designed to save women’s rights to self-determination and reproductive freedom, including birth control and abortion.  On April 22, 2001 the campaign will be launched with an Emergency Action on Washington which will target the U.S. Senate to save our rights and to stop the future packing of the U.S. Supreme Court with anti-abortion rights nominees.  The following resolution states the reasons for the State of Emergency (only the second ever called in the 35 year history of NOW):

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and his supporters in Congress have declared war on women's rights, especially abortion rights and reproductive freedom; and
WHEREAS, even before he took his oath of office, Bush's Cabinet nominees shattered any hope that he might keep his campaign promise of  "compassionate conservatism;" and
WHEREAS, President Bush's first executive order eliminated international family planning funding to organizations that offer abortion counseling or lobby their own governments in favor of abortion rights, putting at risk the health and lives of women around the world; and
WHEREAS, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who often has been the fifth vote in support of legal abortion, reportedly will retire at the end of this term; and
WHEREAS, at least one other Supreme Court Justice could also retire; and
WHEREAS, with the Senate's confirmation of John Ashcroft, the standards for appointments have been lowered, so right-wing ideologues like Orrin Hatch could be portrayed as moderate and then could more likely be confirmed; and
WHEREAS, anti-abortion forces in the House have introduced a bill to limit the availability of RU-486, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has indicated that he is inclined to revisit the Food and Drug Administration's approval of RU-486; and
WHEREAS, the Bush administration is committed to a series of actions and strategies that limit reproductive freedoms, such as eliminating life saving stem cell research, criminalizing abortion providers, limiting the availability of birth control, and denying full and fair reproductive health education in schools; and
WHEREAS, these threats to safe, legal abortion are the greatest we have faced since the first Bush administration; and
WHEREAS, the anti-choice climate in Washington, D.C., escalates attacks on the local level;
WHEREAS, the right to bodily integrity is the most basic of human rights; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush was not elected by a majority of voters and therefore, does not serve with a mandate; and
WHEREAS, the majority of people support keeping abortion safe and legal; and
WHEREAS, we must avert the tragedy of becoming the generation that both won and lost the right to privacy including birth control and abortion; and …
WHEREAS, we cannot and must not risk a generation of women's lives and opportunities without reproductive rights; and
WHEREAS, Bush's appointment as President constitutes a state of emergency, and emergency times call for emergency measures; 
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Organization for Women (NOW) declare a state of emergency and pledge our resources, our total commitment and our lives to saving women's reproductive rights, the right to privacy, Roe v. Wade and Griswold v. Connecticut; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that an emergency national zap action be held in Washington DC on the weekend of April 22, 2001 to kick off the state-of-emergency campaign, targeting the United States Senate, to save abortion rights and reproductive freedom, and to stop the packing of the U.S. Supreme Court with nominees who do not support the right to have an abortion; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NOW activists be encouraged to organize lobby events at district offices during the U.S. Senate's spring recess from  April 7 to April 22; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NOW activists be encouraged to organize actions at federal courthouses in their regions in the event of a supreme court vacancy. Such demonstrations shall demand that all U.S. Supreme Court nominees pledge to uphold Roe and that the Senate reject or filibuster  the nomination unless the nominees agree to uphold the Roe v. Wade decision; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that creative actions, including nonviolent civil disobedience, marches into the Capitol Building and street theatre be organized to continue to build momentum to save the court; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that activists once again take up the symbol of coat hangers to demonstrate their commitment to protecting the reproductive freedom and abortion rights of all women, and that this campaign be ongoing until we boot Bush out of the White House and elect a critical mass of progressive, feminist politicians to the House and the Senate.    

Please look for the insert in this newsletter for more information on getting involved in this event!

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