From the Editor's desk:
The questions arrive via the internet, phone, even U.S. Mail: What is Woman Up, America? Why Woman Up, America? What’s the Purpose, the Mission . . . What’s Your Business Plan?
The reply to all (and thank you for the submitted comments) is that Woman Up, America! is an idea, an ideal, an affirmation that a woman’s courageous dedication to accountability can change her home, a nation . . . the world. And within the framework of this belief lie many, many sources of inspiration and the resources to support millions of women -- from kitchens to kingdoms – to get up, to stand up every day for integrity and moral leadership.
The expression to “Woman up” springs from the same root as the media-popular “Man up!” with its macho urging to "Tell the truth!" or “Take the fall!” However, the spirit of “Woman up” inhabits a quieter core of individual courage that might be expressed -- without much fanfare -- through remarkable achievements and contributions.
Woman Up, America! has been launched with the mere beginnings of the scores of profiles, issues, and referrals and resources that will eventually fill the pages in the United States and abroad.
Tell us your stories . . . Tell us what you think!
"It might take me the rest of my life, but I will pay back my scholarship because I didn't do what I said I would do."
Woman Up! . Read Gwen Knapp's outstanding editorial.
Courtney paris
Courtney Paris went to Oklahoma University on a full athletic scholarship, and in the bargain promised to bring at least one National Championship, maybe more. In a nationally publicized statement, she assumed responsibility for that guarantee and pledged to refund her scholarship money if OU failed to win this year's Women's NCAA crown. After a heartbreaking loss in the National Semi-Final game that ended her record-breaking collegiate basketball career, Courtney wasted no time, and stepped in front of the ESPN cameras to reconfirm her accountability for the promise she made four years ago. Follow this link to read how Courtney, her University, and others have reacted to her steadfastness.
Accountability: Of gods, God and mortals
An entire field of academic study focuses on accountability as an ethical concept that encompasses responsibility, answerability, enforcement, blameworthiness, and liability, and the effects that a breakdown in accountability has in public and private. The expectation that humans be accountable -- to use their conscience and consciousness -- is not new, as it was a central theme of the Code of Hammurabi, the first written code of laws, dating from around 1760 BC. Accountability for choices and actions was a central theme, too, in the ongoing arguments between the gods and mortals in the Iliad, with grave consequences for those who would dare blame the gods for their own misdeeds.. The Bible, the Torah and other religious texts; Shakespeare’s tragedies . . . and, yes, Oprah’s October 28, 2008, website . . . cite “accountability” as vital to humanity and civilization. Unfortunately, ethicists are also having to study today’s strategic use of excuses, justifications, rationalizations, apologies, etc., that remove the person – or entire governments or corporations – from responsibility to others. Such excuses are what WomanUp! America! is not. Join the movement to recapture the essence of humankind in saying:
“That’s on me!”
Earth Day 2009 brought the announcement of this year’s winners of the world’s most prestigious environmental award, The Goldman Prize. The award and its $150,000 cash prize are given annually to six environmental activists for their extraordinary crusades to protect the natural world, even in the face of daunting opposition. Such persistence and courage are hallmarks of WomanUp! America. So it is that we honor the American winner, Maria Gunnoe of Bob White, W. Va. Follow this link to a complete profile of Ms. Gunnoe and her fellow Goldman Prize recipients.
For 11 years Maria Gunnoe has battled the coal mining companies that blast the tops of mountains apart to get at new seams of coal and then dump the debris into valleys and lakes below, thereby doubling the amount of environmental damage. An April 19 Associated Press dispatch noted that Ms. Gunnoe’s home sits below a valley fill and has been flooded seven times with coal waste. She has also been physically threatened, a family dog poisoned, and her truck’s fuel tank sabotaged in the course of her efforts to change the coal industry’s most destructive actions. “She’s one of the bravest activists that we’ve seen, putting her life on the line,” said Lorrae Rominger, deputy director of the Goldman Environmental Prize, in a statement about Ms. Gunnoe’s recognition.
From her home in Bob White, West Virginia, in the Appalachian Mountains, Ms. Gunnoe battles the coal industry and its mountain top removal and valley fill operations.
WOMAN UP! LET US HEAR FROM YOU!
Thank you for being an early visitor to our site. Please share your stories with us and contribute to our effort. We believe that the potential profiles and stories of game-changing women are boundless . . . and most of that information will come from contacts established through feedback to WomanUp! America. Please feel free to contact us with your input. Or just give us a name and e-mail address – that go no where else – that will allow us to keep building and to let you know of news, awards, and recommended events that represent WomanUp! America.