Announcements & Updates: Step Up to Help WILPF US; Join Actions on Cuba; Boston Branch Receives Generous Gift

June 2023

Who Will Step Up to Help WILPF Make the Changes We Seek?

by Darien De Lu
President, WILPF US

To achieve the changes we seek in the world, WILPF needs WILPF. WILPF is an organization that requires individuals who will do the organizational work as well as the issues work. We have many places offering different levels and expectations of commitment, where you – or someone you know – might be able to contribute – for a time, to a degree. Local help is great, yet here I’m asking for national WILPF helpers.

These are urgent but difficult times. WILPF today – in the mid-2020s – lacks sufficient individuals volunteering in a number of crucial organizational roles – many of which have limited and defined tasks.

Think you don’t have enough skills? Start by volunteering for something small! Volunteer to assist, as part of a committee or workgroup. Build up your abilities and your confidence! In addition to the smaller tasks and roles, we also need members for the national board. In the 2022 elections, we had only two candidates – with six openings. We still have three six-month openings.

If you don’t have the energy or don’t feel qualified, you can help WILPF achieve its goals by helping recruit someone! WILPF needs your assistance and your attention. Be on the lookout for others who may be capable – yet need encouragement to be willing to make a serious commitment. If they’re a WILPF member already, support them! Nudge them to show their abilities and nurture the world they want by entering leadership at some level. Help them to recognize the need and to take action to prepare themselves for more demanding national posts.

And if they’re not a WILPF member, you can help us build a WILPF future! Tell them about the benefits of being part of an international – yet grassroots and member-driven – organization. This is an organization where women can exercise leadership to achieve the changes we seek in the world!

I hope you’ll contact me for more information: President@wilpfUS.org. Or call me (after 9 am Pacific Time): 916/739-0860. I’m eager to get your friendly message!
 

Join Actions to Remove Cuba from US State Sponsors of Terrorism List

by Cindy Domingo
Co-chair, Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee

The National Network on Cuba, US-Cuba Normalization Committee, and ACERE have called for national actions on June 25, 2023, as part of the campaign to remove Cuba from the US list State Sponsors of Terrorism list. (For more background on the issue, please refer to my May 2023 eNews article.) Please go to www.nnoc.org to find actions in your city or region.

The main mobilization will be in Washington, DC, in front of the White House beginning at 1:30 pm. A number of other actions around the country will be occurring, including participating in Gay Pride Month actions to highlight Cuba’s passage of the Families Code that expanded gay rights in Cuba and expanded the definition of families beyond the patriarchal family.

Boston Branch Receives Generous Gift from Marcella Garber Katz

by Virginia Pratt
Boston Branch

In April 2023, WILPF Boston received a very generous gift (of $1,000) from Marcella Garber Katz to continue the women’s peace work she championed for close to a century.

Marcella is now 99 years old. She has been active with Mass Peace Action, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and Physicians for Social Responsibility. In younger years she was part of Women’s Strike for Peace and the Jeanette Rankin Brigade along with other mid-century women’s peace activist groups.

The gift is intended to allow us to continue her inspiring work. Thank you, Marcella!

Photo: Marcella Garber Katz is in the foreground wearing a dark hat. Photo courtesy of Marcella’s daughter.