December Newsletter

The Bella Bulletin DECEMBER 2017

Browse through pictures of 2017 This month we decided to collect pictures from throughout the last year and share them with all of you! BALI had a great year of growth. Thank you to everyone who was part of it!

Featured Article of the month

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Read our Featured Article of the Month on the baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple.

Look at the critical questions to further analyze what this case means for the future of American policy.

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n the last week, I have attempted of making yet another list of goals for the upcoming year. Looking for the name of a book I never got around to reading, I stumbled upon a similar list. It was from this time last year. Disappointed, yet not surprised, I realized my 2018 list was nearly the same one for 2017. Year after year, like most, I make plans to get in shape or try new things. And like most, I don’t pull through.

Reading a Google Doc filled with my failed resolutions was not exactly giving me the confidence I wanted for the new year.

Seeking optimism, I read articles on the internet for advice.

One article focused on why we shouldn’t make goals at all.

Instead, we should just go into the new year releasing ourselves of pressure and merely seek improvement down the line. I like the idea of this, but I need actual structure.

This led me to compile a list of tips I want to share with you.

1. Assess your goals: Why do I want to make this change? What do I get out of it?

Some of our goals carry the weight of outside pressures that can hinder an honest and complete dedication. This can be the case for losing weight. Maybe that one seemingly innocent fatjoke hit a bit too hard. Instead of working towards some sort of “revenge body,” do it for yourself and what you get out of it.

It could be new experiences like difficult hikes or long-term health benefits.

2. Make your goals specific, and measurable.

However, remain flexible and open-minded.

This is easier with goals like losing weight, but it’s also essential for other less quantitative resolutions. One of mine is to read more. For this, I am planning to dedicate an hour every day to read. You can plan a specific amount of time budgeting, quitting something, or exercising. For quitting, let’s say being

on social media for too long, you might want to dedicate a specific task in place of it. However, don’t be hard on yourself and adjust your targets over time.

3. Accept that change is challenging and uncomfortable.

When you’re giving something up or starting something demanding, it won’t always be easy. We must change our mindsets. It’s important to reward yourself in the short run as you strive towards long-term goals. Additionally, its beneficial to find friends or communities to support you and hold you accountable.

4. Set your new routines in a manner that doesn’t compete with what you enjoy Whatever time you’re dedicating to your goals, make sure it does not take away from *positive* things you enjoy. For example, if you like watching TV or reading when you get home from work or school, don’t plan your workout for then.

Instead wake up earlier or plan to work out later in the evening.

4. Any time is a good time to start!

Hopefully, this helps you stick with your goals for this year or for any time you want to make a change.

Good luck in this New Year!

Gisselle Rodriguez Benitez, Editor-in-Chief

Table of Contents This month in women’s history………………..4 Featured Article of the Month………......……..5 Featured Headlines of the Month………………6

This year at the abzug institute………………..8 BALI STAFF & Board of Directors……….……....20 BELLA BULLETIN STAFF …………………………......21

Women’s History of the month:

DECEMBER

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Featured Article of the Month What the Colorado baker who refused to sell to a gay couple gets wrong

By Suzanne B. Goldberg, contributor to The Guardian December 15, 2017 Last week, I listened as the US supreme court wrestled with whether a Colorado baker could refuse to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple. The baker’s lawyer said her client shouldn’t have to express support for gay people marrying by baking a cake for them – a stance that would create a giant exception in American civil rights laws.

During the argument, it became clear that the baker’s lawyers had also missed a basic lesson in how antidiscrimination laws work.

First, she argued, with great passion, that if the baker, Jack Phillips, was required to sell his cakes to gay couples on the same basis as he sells cakes to non-gay couples, then African-American bakers would have to sell cakes to members of the Klu Klux Klan.

But that’s not really true. Bakers, whether AfricanAmerican or not, must sell to people of all races equally because the law forbids discrimination based on race. That is, the law says the baker cannot treat customers, including Klan members, differently based on race.

If the Klan customer asked for a custom-designed cake with a cross to celebrate white supremacy, a baker can refuse, if she wants. Why? Because the state does not prohibit discrimination based on political or social opinion.

Just like Phillips isn’t violating the law when he refuses to sell cakes that celebrate Halloween.

Now, most businesses don’t ask for their customers’ views or require a political litmus test before making a sale. But that’s a business choice, not a legal matter, so long as the business is not using political views as a cover-up for other forms of unlawful discrimination.

Mistake number 2: when several of the justices asked whether the baker could refuse to sell a wedding cake to an interracial couple if he had religious objections to

interracial marriage, his lawyer said that was different because the state has a distinct, compelling interest in forbidding race discrimination. That may be true in a sociological or historical sense, but not under the law here.

Instead, Colorado’s law prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, and sexual orientation in the same way. In other words, it’s a good thing that the baker agrees with the part of the law that prohibits race discrimination. But the state does not say that some protected categories deserve less protection than others or leave businesses to decide which parts of the law they will follow and which they won’t.

Mistake number 3: the baker’s lawyer says that requiring Phillips to sell his cakes to a gay couple would be the same as compelling him to speak in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples, and that this would violate his dignity and religious freedom.

Common sense helps here: why would any couple want to put a baker’s views in the middle of their wedding? To the extent a wedding cake expresses anything, it expresses the couple’s commitment, not the baker’s.

And there is more. This baker seems to be arguing that the law is telling him what to believe or do. But, to state the obvious, the law does not require him to sell wedding cakes.

Instead, the law says that if you open a shop on Main Street or anywhere else, you can’t pick and choose to whom you sell your products, just like you can’t pick and choose which tax laws or safety laws you’ll comply with.

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor said at the argument’s end: “It’s not denigrating to say ... you can choose to sell cakes or not. You can choose to sell cupcakes or not.” Instead, the point is: “Whatever it is you choose to sell, you have to sell it to everyone who knocks on your door, if you open your door to everyone.”

Critical Questions: 1) Do you think The First Amendment to the United States Constitution plays a role in this court case? If so, how?

2) Under what circumstances should business owners be able to refuse to sell to a customer? Should they ever be able to refuse a customers?

3) How do you think this court case would progress if the baker were to refuse to sell to a racial minority, a disabled 5 person, and immigrant, a religious minority, or any other marginalized group?

Headlines of the Month The U.S. Does Not Receive Support in Recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel

status as a public utility and prevents internet service providers (ISPs) from treating information from some sites differently than others. According to FCC chief Ajit Pai and those who supported the vote, repealing net neutrality

Thursday, December 21, an overwhelming majority of 128 countries of the United Nations voted for a resolution demanding the reversal of President Trump’s decision to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and thus recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Prior to the vote, Trump vowed to withhold aid and funding from any country that voted in favor of the condemnation of the United States. While some major United States allies like Canada and Australia abstained

from the vote, others such as France, Japan, Germany, and Britain voted for the resolution. In addition, many countries dependent on United States aid, especially Egypt, which received $1.2 billion from the United States last year, still voted in favor of condemning the U.S. despite President Trump’s threats. Whether or not Trump will follow through with these threats will be observed in foreign interactions in the following months, one of the first being the UK’s hopeful post-Brexit trade deal with Washington.

FCC Votes to End Net Neutrality Rules On Thursday, December 14, the Federal Communications Commission voted to end net neutrality rules despite the massive pushback from 18 attorney generals, as well as many Americans. Net neutrality protects the internet’s

allows for more competition between businesses and internet providers, increased jobs, and cheaper internet access. Without net neutrality, however, ISPs are able to charge their consumers more, and block certain websites.

Loss of net neutrality is also detrimental to the LGBTQ community, with many young individuals using the internet as a resource for LGBTQ media culture, connecting with other LGBTQ peers, and for information about LGBTQ rights. In addition, loss of net neutrality is equally detrimental movements like Black Lives Matter that rest heavily on the use of social media to expose issues in race relations that are not covered by mainstream media.

Government Run Shelter Deny Right to Abortion for Undocumented Teenagers Two undocumented immigrants, both 17, were initially denied the right to have abortions by the government-run shelters in which they are staying. The prevention of Jane Poe and Jane Roe, as they are referred to in court documents, receiving abortions is due to new policy introduced in March by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), stating that shelters are not permitted to facilitate abortions for unaccompanied minors without the consent of the

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office’s director. The ORR and its director, Scott Lloyd, went to court to try to prevent both Jane Roe, and Jane Poe, who was a rape victim, from obtaining abortions. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled on Monday, December 18, that both undocumented immigrants must be allowed

abortions. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Jane Poe, Jane Roe, and another undocumented minor that was denied an abortion this October, has filed a broader case, Garza v. Hargan, to stop the Trump Administration from denying undocumented minors from obtaining abortions.

Vigil in Beirut, Lebanon Commigrates Lives Lost and Calls for Action

rapists to avoid punishment by marrying their victims earlier this August, it failed to criminalize marital rape and child marriage. According to a study by ABAAD, a Beirut-based women’s rights group, one in four women have been raped in Lebanon, and only a quarter of those women reported it.

In the past five years, however, more and more women are said to be reporting instances of sexual harassment than ever before. Because of this trend, activists are hopeful that violence against women in Lebanon will begin to improve, but are more than aware that their country has a lot to improve.

A quote to share:

“ I can promise you that women working together - linked, informed and educated can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet.

” On December 23, activists gathered at Beirut’s national museum to hold a vigil in memory of Rebecca Dykes, a British embassy worker and three Arab women killed in Lebanon that week. In addition to commemorating the lives lost, the vigil was meant to call attention to violence against women locally, in Lebanon, and internationally. Although the Lebanese government abolished a law that allowed

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Isabel Allende

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looking back at 2017 8

March 2017: Debate Tournament for High School Girls CoHosted by NYC Urban Debate League

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May 2017: Bella and Bella Fella Awards

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Our Staff, Awardees, and Board Members

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July 2017: Summer Leadership and Debate Intensive Program

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Learning, Training, and Growing Together!

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Thank you to all of our Workshop Presenters!

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2017 Summer Program Interns

October: Girls Speak Out Summit at the United Nations

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This year Martina Amate Perez represented BALI and gave a speech on DACA and Immigration Policy

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December: Alumnae Holiday party

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Thank you to all of our Alumnae for Returning to BALI to keep us updated on your endeavors

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BALI Staff

Liz Abzug

Oriela Baliaj

Gabriela Valette

Founder & Executive Director

Senior Program Associate

Program Coordinator

BALI Board of Directors Liz J. Abzug, Founder/Executive Director Erica Forman, Board-Chair Meg Holzer, Secretary Cynthia McKnight, Treasurer Erica Forman, Chair Eija Ayravainen Gloria Steinem Joanne Davila Maya Catherine Popa Maya C. Popa

Claire Reed Harold Holzer Jonathan Greenberg Judy Lerner Liz Cooper

Betsy Scheinbart-Norton Jerry Goldfeder A.J. Lederman Kylie Reiffert Kai Gilchrist 20

The Bella Bulletin Staff Gisselle Rodriguez Benitez Editor-in-Chief School: Northeastern University Major: Economics BALI Class of: 2016 Email: gisselle@abzuginstitute.org

Wilma Abam-Depass Section Editor School: Croton High School Grade: 11th BALI Class of: 2017

Zoe Donovan Section Editor School: Bard Early College Grade: 11th BALI Class of: 2017

Adriana Rodriguez Section Editor School: Brown University Major: Political Science BALI Class of: 2016

for inquiries and suggestions, email bulletin@abzuginstitute.org

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