Politics and Government

Content type
Collection
Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams in "Dick," 1999

1999 Watergate Comedy, "Dick," Teaches Us to Take Teen Girls Seriously

Eliza Bayroff

What can we learn from this 1999 coming-of-age comedy in 2020?

Mona Sutphen Becomes Co-Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

November 16, 2008

On November 16, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama announced that Mona Sutphen would serve in his administration as Co-Deputy Chief of Staff for policy.

Vigil for Ruth Bader Ginsburg outside the Supreme Court, September 2020 CROP

How Do You Mourn an Icon like RBG?

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

The timing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has meant, from a pacing standpoint, that we haven’t had much time for thoughtful, nuanced reflection.

Topics: Law

Episode 47: RBG in Her Own Words (Transcript)

Episode 47: RBG in Her Own Words (Transcript)

Episode 47: RBG in Her Own Words

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman to sit on the nation’s highest court, died on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. Justice Ginsburg was an American and feminist icon and a Jewish hero. Her experiences as a Jew and as a woman helped her identify with outsiders and see the gap between American ideals and the realities that so many people live every day. Justice Ginsburg was a role model... and she had her own role models too. In this episode, we dig into JWA's archive and share some of the Justice's own words about a Jewish woman who inspired her.

Uyghur Protest Outside the White House

The Uyghur Genocide Is a Jewish Issue

Esti

The manager of the Instagram account @jewsforUighurs explains why this is an issue we need to pay attention to.

"Lady Lilith" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1866.

My Many Moms Are My Matriarchs

Sasha Azizi Rosenfeld

Matriarchal leadership is often portrayed negatively, like in the story of Lilith. My moms have proven to me that we need more of it.

Justice Scale

On Individuals, Ethical Leaders, and the Pursuit of Justice

Maddy Pollack

In Austin, lack of housing is a huge, persistent issue. It's not only up to us to choose ethical leaders; we must act individually to fight injustice as well.

Judith Butler

Judith Butler is the Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and the Program in Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley. Butler’s work treats gender, hate speech, the precarity of life, the precarity of one’s position as a Jewish thinker in light of Israeli policy towards Palestinians, alternative kinship structures, non-violence, vulnerability, and other, equally complex and important aspects of human existence.

Bruria Benbassat de Elnecavé

Bruria Benbassat de Elnecavé was an ardent activist who dedicated her life to educate Jewish Argentines in general and Jewish Argentine women in particular about Zionism and the State of Israel. 

Berta Blejman de Drucaroff

Berta Blejman de Drucaroff was a prominent activist of the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF/ICUF) and a communist militant in anti-fascist organizations. She was president of the YKUF Women's Organization (OFI) and the main promoter of the reading circle network (leien kraizn) in Argentina.

Leike Kogan

Lía Gilinski de Kogan, known as Leike Kogan (1911-2001), was a prominent activist in the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF/ ICUF) and its women's movement (Organización Femenina del ICUF, OFI), linked to the Yiddish-speaking section of the Argentine Communist Party. She stood out as a leader and teacher in the schools belonging to this network.

Mina Fridman Ruetter

Mina Fridman Ruetter (1922-2003), an Argentinean-born Jew, was the most prominent leader of the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF) beginning in the 1970s. She studied and worked as a writer, teacher, and translator in organizations linked to the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. She was a highly visible leader and the disciple of YKUF intellectuals such as Pinie Katz and Samuel Gordon.

Emma Goldman in Union Square, 1912

Voting Isn't Enough: A Look Back at Emma Goldman's Radical Anti-suffrage

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

Is voting the be-all and end-all of civic engagement? Emma Goldman didn't think so.

Elizabeth Warren on stage in a purple suit, microphone in hand.

A Thank-You Note to Smart Women

Ella Plotkin-Oren

I'm writing this note with a hopeful but heavy heart. In March 2020, I voted for the first time. I believed that this would be a tremendous year for women. 

Episode 40: Rachel Sharansky Danziger: Let My Story Go (Transcript)

Episode 40: Rachel Sharansky Danziger: Let My Story Go (Transcript)

Woman Looking at Painting of Mona Lisa with Face Mask.

Rising Voices Fellows Respond to Coronavirus

Rising Voices Fellows

As Rising Voices Fellows, we want to give a glimpse into our lives as high school students during the coronavirus pandemic.

Emma Cohn and Friends Voting

Voting Is Jewish: Reflections from a First-Time Voter

Emma Cohn

In the second essay in JWA's 2020 Suffrage Series, a Rising Voices Fellowship alumna reflects on voting for the first time this year.

Rosa Luxemburg

Rosa Luxemburg and My Anticapitalist Politics

Ari Fogel

I believed that my anticapitalist views clashed with my other identities until I read the works of Rosa Luxemburg.

Topics: Activism, Socialism

Suffrage in the United States

American Jewish women were heavily involved in the suffrage movement from its earliest days, though mostly as individuals rather than through organizations. Middle-class Jewish women believed the vote was necessary to achieve their broader reform goals, while working-class women hoped enfranchisement would improve their working conditions and economic opportunities. By the time the Nineteenth Amendment finally passed in 1919 the American Jewish community overwhelmingly supported it.

Activists: Let's Learn from Bella Abzug

Lila Goldstein

 After looking into the achievements of her extensive career, I see that Bella Abzug is the perfect role model for activists just beginning in their work.

Ruth First

First, Unity

Mica Maltzman

Just as Ruth First did in her work, contemporary feminist activists must prioritize maintaining a united, intersectional movement.

Henny Wenkart, 2019

Keep Your Doors Open: Lessons from Henny Wenkart

Susan Goodman

We interview Holocaust survivor Henny Wenkart and reflect on how the US has closed its doors who those who need sanctuary most.

Mrs. America Promotional Image

Mrs. America: Who's Afraid of The ERA?

Nina Henry

In Mrs. America, viewers are offered a glimpse at the anxieties surrounding the ERA in 1970s (which still persist today).

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