CSW Brings Mentorship Full Circle

by Sheila Martel, Local2Global Member

The Commission on the Status of Women is a phenomenal venue for WILPFers to connect with women internationally, as we work together for conditions that ensure peace and justice globally. This year, as a returning member of the Local2Global contingent, I enjoyed a full circle moment.  I was reunited with the notable speaker, writer and teacher, Blanche Wiesen Cook.  Blanche was my master’s thesis advisor at the C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center in the early ‘90s. As a professor, Blanche mentioned WILPF in class, and it made me wonder, what is this organization with the odd acronym?  As fate would have it, we re-met on International Woman’s Day (3/8/13) at our WILPF reception at the Vermillion Restaurant in NYC.  

Blanche influenced my entire worldview, as she taught her students to look at situations while asking a critical question: Whose motives are being served? This simple question has led me to look at issues using a multi-layered lens, not always settling for the obvious conclusion. Blanche often said, “If I haven’t written today, I haven’t done my work. Writers write.” She set up a standard that I strive to meet when I get sidetracked by talking about writing or complaining about not having time to write.

Seeing Blanche again after nearly two decades reminded me that activism is first and foremost a practice of walking your talk. She was always “real,” which showed me that you can be yourself and be phenomenal, too. Leaders like Blanche freely model skills and share tools that take others all the way to the United Nations—literally from Local2Global. 

Image credit: Blance Wiesen Cook and Sheila Martel during a break of WILPF’s showing of The Whistleblower and follow-up panel. Photo by Beth Friedman Kirk.