The Boston Women’s Fund mourns the loss of a sister activist who championed women’s rights locally, nationally, and internationally. As a longstanding supporter of the Boston Women’s Fund, Jean toiled with us, helping us to think strategically and globally.  Once Jean committed herself to an issue, she became a passionate advocate and threw herself wholeheartedly into the work.  She quickly became a personal friend and favorite to many of the staff.  Jean was equally comfortable whether volunteering on a labor intensive project or consulting with executive staff. In the early 90’s, Jean initiated a grassroots project which we funded, the Women’s Community Cancer Project.  The Women’s Community Cancer Project was the first organization in the Northeast to develop a feminist perspective on cancer. This perspective is now part of what has become an international movement.

A sweet and gentle soul with a very firm and progressive backbone has left our midst; and we will miss her dearly.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Boston Women’s Fund, 14 Beacon Street, Suite 805, Boston, MA 02108, 617-725-0035, bostonwomensfund.org or to The Highlander Center, 1959 Highlander Way, New Market, TN 37820, 865-933-3443, highlandercenter.org or to  a justice organization of your choice that embodies Jean’s values and spirit.

Jean’s obituary follows:

Jean Hardisty
June 18, 1945-March 16, 2015

A political scientist and social activist, Jean Hardisty respected the power of political conservatism as adamantly as she opposed it. In 1981 she founded Political Research Associates (PRA), a research center, started in Chicago and currently based in Boston, that studies right wing and anti-democratic trends, in order, as she said, “to get people to take the right seriously.” For over thirty-five years, she offered cogent and far-reaching analysis about its impact on women, people of color, immigrants, educators, and the LGBTQ community. “She understood that the right wing was a potent movement with the goal of building institutional power,” said Chip Berlet, former Senior Analyst at PRA. “She helped us see the right as a complex set of actors and institutions and not just as cartoons,” noted Urvashi Vaid, long-time activist in the LGBT movement. “She was a prophet,” added Gloria Steinem, co- founder of Ms. Magazine, about Dr. Hardisty’s prescient work on the right.

How do you do it? someone would invariably ask after one of her presentations. How do you do this work year after year? What do you wear to right- wing conferences? It’s a constant challenge, she admitted, but a strong commitment to individual rights and human dignity undergirded her steadfastness. And with her trademark humor, wry charm, and dead-on seriousness she added: “always dress comfortably.”

Dr. Hardisty, who died March 16 in Somerville, Massachusetts at 69, wrote about what she called “kitchen table backlash”—the anti-feminist women’s movement; the systematic construction of homophobia; the right wing roots of marriage promotion, cancer and poverty—she herself was diagnosed with non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the early 1980’s and was acutely aware that the treatment options received were not available to the economically disenfranchised—and most recently, race and childcare in Mississippi. In 1999, her landmark book, Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers, was published by Beacon Press.

Described by colleagues as “fierce,” “a brilliant analyst,” “a tireless educator and organizer,” she held them to the same rigorous standards she held herself. When a distinguished sociologist consulted with Dr. Hardisty about her book on sex- education and the right wing, Dr. Hardisty noted that one particular chapter was “too jargony.” She told Jean Entine, former Executive Director of Women for Economic Justice and the Boston Women’s Fund, that one of Ms. Entine’s speeches was “too lame and too tame,” and painstakingly suggested how to change it.

Dr. Hardisty grew up in what she described as a “genteel, white, upper- middle class southern family” in Washington D.C. and later on a farm in rural Maryland. She went to boarding school, attended cotillions, loved and rode horses, and saw how racism was woven into the patterns of everyday life. Profoundly influenced by the Vietnam War and the civil rights and women’s movements, she got her Ph.D in political science from Northwestern University. She taught in academia for eight years before founding PRA. At the time of her death, she was a senior scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Research on Women at Wellesley College.

As a social activist, Dr. Hardisty had far-reaching impact. She was one of the founders of the Crossroads Fund, a Chicago-based foundation that provides support to groups focused on racial, social, and economic justice. She served on the board of directors of the Highlander Research and Education Center, Ms. Foundation for Women, Center for Women Policy Studies, Grassroots International, Center for Community Change, and the Women’s Community Cancer Project. In addition, she was a consultant for ten years to the Women Donors Network, where she led seminars on the political right wing. In 2010, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by Community Change, Inc., a Boston-based anti-racism organization.

Dr. Hardisty mentored several generations of activists, providing advice, encouragement, and, on occasion, an overt push. When recruiting Chip Berlet to work at PRA, she told him, in her candid way, “You’re wasting you’re skills at a time when we really need them.” Mr. Berlet added, “She changed my life.” “She was like the North Star; she would always give a true direction,” said Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “She helped me see you can defend both civil rights and civil liberties and needn’t choose between the two.”

Dr. Hardisty is survived by Peggy Barrett, her spouse of sixteen years; two stepchildren Roben Kleene (Jen Liu) and Katherine Uttech (Joseph); a granddaughter Abigail Jean Uttech; her brother, John Hardisty (Merrily); niece Christine Eldreth (Myles and grandniece, Clare) and nephew Kirk Hardsity (Kelly); and a wide circle of friends.

In the weeks before her death, Dr. Hardisty, her deft humor ever intact, said she wanted to die “the way Jackie Onassis did: be with family and friends and then just go.” She managed to die just that way.  She was a storyteller, a champagne drinker, and a lover of life. “We sit, we talk, we laugh,” read a card she once sent to a friend. All of us who loved her will carry on her legacy.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to The Highlander Center, 1959 Highlander Way, New Market, TN 37820, 865-933-3443, highlandercenter.org or to the Boston Women’s Fund, 14 Beacon Street, Suite 805, Boston, MA 02108, 617-725-0035. bostonwomensfund.org or to a justice organization of your choice that embodies Jean’s values and spirit

Women will not earn the same amount of money as men until the year 2058. A report released today by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), Status of Women in the States: 2015 Employment and Earnings, says that Florida would be the first state to reach parity in 2038, but five other states in the nation wouldn’t close the wage gap until the next century.

In Massachusetts, women fare better than those in most other states. Massachusetts ranked third and received a B+ from IWPR. In fact, Massachusetts ranked third in the nation for women’s median annual earnings and for the percentage of working women in professional or managerial jobs.

On the other hand, there are wide discrepancies in wages between white women and African American, Latina, or Native women in this state. Overall, Latina women are paid little more than half of the amount their male counterpart earns.

The road to parity for all women is likely to be a long one.

At the Boston Women’s Fund, it’s our mission to support and fund organizations that are working to correct gender inequalities, as well as inequalities in race, class, and socioeconomic status. With your support we can help facilitate an end to the wage gap in Massachusetts before 2058. Donate today and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook with #wagegap2058.

The Boston Women’s Fund (BWF) supports community based organizations and grassroots initiatives run by women and girls in order to create a society based on gender, racial, economic, and social justice. To live our mission, we must take responsibility for both personal acts of injustice and any role we play in sustaining institutions that hold oppression in place. We understand that, as a nation built on the foundations of genocide and slavery, our public and private institutions are rife with racism and other biases that keep some in power at the expense of others.

Boston Women’s Fund supports the movement, Black Lives Matter, which shines a light on the deaths of African American young men at the hands of a racist criminal justice system.

The Black Lives Matter movement is succeeding in its effort to make the connection between racism and the shooting deaths of African American youth by white police officers. BWF notes that Women of Color are far from exempt from the racist injustices of our system.  For example, Marissa Alexander, an African American woman from Florida was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot to prevent her husband from inflicting violence on her. No one was shot, much less killed. However, Marissa was jailed. While her sentence has been reduced, she did not walk free as George Zimmerman did under Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground,’ law when he shot and killed Treyvon Martin, an unarmed African American youth who was simply walking home from the store.  George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder in the shooting death of Treyvon Martin, but has since been arrested for several other acts of violence.

When African American men are killed, it is largely African American women who are left to grieve and bury their sons, brothers, or husbands. How many women in communities of color must experience this rupture in their lives, before we hold authorities accountable for their actions? As Audre Lorde once proclaimed, “Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being. Focused with precision it can be become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change.”  The Boston Women’s Fund admires Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, as she asks for calm while protesting in a peaceful manner – protesting in the hope that other mothers will not have to live her experience. We also commend Samaria Rice, mother of 12 year old Tamir Rice; Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner; and Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin as they lift up their voices and demand change instead of retaliation. They relive their pain in an effort to create justice for others. We hold them up. We support their calls for police review boards, systems of accountability to the people, the demilitarizing of the police, and transparent processes for dealing with police officers who use deadly force.

We support non-violent protest of racism in the criminal justice system, including the use of disruption tactics. We also support those organizations that challenge racism and institutionalized racism as their primary focus, such as Community Change. Boston Women’s Fund’s grantee organizations fight for gender equality, while addressing other forms of oppression like racism. Check out the great work of our grantee organizations here.

You love your sweetheart. You love your family. You love your pets; and you love justice. This Valentine’s Day, you can honor those you love and put your resources to work for social justice by making a contribution to the Boston Women’s Fund in the name of your Valentine.

Your gift to the Boston Women’s Fund honoring your partner, family member, or loved one is recognized on our website and in our newsletter. We acknowledge your gift with a card to your loved one explaining that a gift was made by you in her/his honor.

The Boston Women’s Fund’s Allocations Committee is meeting.  The committee reads and discusses the proposals, conducts site visits, and recommends to the Board of Directors organizations to get funding.  Board members review the recommendations on its grants docket and finalize the process through a vote.

Men Take a Stand May 15, 2014, 5:30-8:30 pm, Linda K. Paresky Conference Center (Main College Building, East Wing Third Floor) Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently released research on charitable giving among states. As a native of Massachusetts who has worked at several non-profits, I was confident Massachusetts would place high on the list where I could be proud. After all, doesn’t Massachusetts always seem to fall somewhere in the best 20% of all those research polls, from income, to education to job prospects.

I was disappointed, and honestly felt shocked, to find Massachusetts and the rest of the New England states to be the 6 least philanthropic states. People in New England give the smallest percentage of their income to charity, on average 2.8% of their income goes charity.

Continue reading MA is one of the 6 least philanthropic states?! →

ARE YOU AN ALLY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE?

Nicola Curtin, an assistant professor of psychology at Clark University, is conducting an interview study with people who do community engagement, activism, advocacy, or volunteer work that they think of as being “ally” in nature. The goal of this study is to understand how people who do community-based work think about their engagement, themselves, and what it means to be an ally.

There are different ways that one might think of being an ally. One of the dictionary definitions, for example, is “someone who is associated with another as a helper” another defines ally as a “friend.”  Another way to think of allies are as people who work for social change that most directly benefits others– groups to which they do not themselves belong. You might have a different definition of what it means to be an ally.

However you define the term, if you would be interested in being interviewed as a part of this study, please contact Dr. Curtin’s Lab group at (curtinlab@gmail.com). You have any specific questions about the project please contact Dr. Curtin at ncurtin@clarku.edu. Interviews are expected to last between 1.5- 2 hours, and participants will be compensated for their time with a gift certificate.

Participation is entirely voluntary, and you can withdraw from the study at any time without penalty, or choose not to talk about anything you don’t wish to discuss. No one from any organization with which you are affiliated will know about your participation, unless you choose to tell them about it.

(Not a part of nor supported by the Boston Women’s Fund. BWF is just passing along information about the study.)

The Center for American Progress recently released a report on “The State of Women of Color in the United States: Although They’ve Made Incredible Strides, Many Barriers Remain for This Growing Population.” Women of color are a growing part of the U.S. population, but they still face considerable systematic disadvantages. While the report contains many facts and statistics, it does not address how we change the system and improve the status of women of color in the U.S.

Continue reading How to Improve the State of Women of Color in the United States? →