Your Voices

From March to December 2008, I.M.O.W. community participants from around the world submitted stories for the Women, Power and Politics global online exhibition. They shared their art, poetry, commentary, and personal stories in four languages. We’re showcasing the top community submissions to the exhibition below. To read other community stories specially featured in the exhibition, click here to browse the topics.

Inspired? You can submit your story to our community. We welcome your original writing, video, photography, art, drawing, animation and more. Your work could be featured in our online community in 2009. We look forward to hearing your voice!

AFRICA 


Woman President's Manifesto

Community Voice: Nomathemba Dzinotyiwei, South Africa
Poet Nomathemba Dzinotyiwei writes of a woman leader with "style, strength, compassion, wit, wisdom and the courage to pass on the sceptre." --English


ASIA

Staring Women
Community Voice: Preema Andaleeb, Bangladesh
Artist Preema Andaleeb asks viewers to take another look at the hijab, or veil, and how it has become as much a political symbol as a religious one. --English

When a Woman Campaigns, Women Win
Community Voice: Sara D., India
Researcher Sara D. reports from rural India on Uttarakhand Women’s Federation, a network of rural women who broke taboos, dispelled myths and reinvigorated a democratic process when they launched a political campaign for one of their members. --English

Women's Justice
Community Voice: Action India, India
Take an inside look at the Mahila Panchayats, informal women’s councils that have taken domestic abuse cases into their own hands. --English

Remembering Makadhani Narayan
Community Voice: Vibhuti Patel, India
In this tribute to Makadhani Narayan, the revered new women's movement leader known affectionately as “Ma”, the energetic revolutionary emerges as a humble educator and ally to women of all backgrounds. --English

Women between the Frontlines
Community Voice: Assabah Khan, Kashmir
Journalist Assabah Khan conducts video interviews with women leaders about the effects of living in a constant state of emergency in the conflict-ridden territory of Kashmir. --English

We Will Take Care of Politics
Community Voice: Shamila Daluwatte, Sri Lanka
Poet Shamila Daluwatte dispels the stereotype that men talk politics while women talk gossip, and she calls on all women to clean up corrupt politics. --English


EUROPE

ممارسات إنسانية 
Community Voice: Karima Zuhair, Germany 
Bahrain-born conceptual artist Karima Zuhair uses striking photography and lyrical language to invoke this reflection on humanity, transformation and personal relationships. --Arabic

Neither Faceless nor Defenseless
Community Voice: The MiRa Center, Norway
In Norway, a country renowned for its civil rights, immigrant women of color are still struggling to find a public voice. --English

Can't Speak, Won't Speak
Community Voice: Lee R Kendall, U.K.
By asking viewers to draw their own conclusions about her representation of the hijab, artist Lee Kendall invites us to hold a mirror up to our own cultural views and biases. --English

Women Immigrants
Community Voice: Mary Anne Zammit, Malta
Through her art and writing, political activist Mary Anne Zammit is raising awareness about undocumented women immigrants who make the risky journey from their homelands to Europe. --English

Natural Women Sense
Community Voice: Ulziibat Enkhtur, Switzerland
Mongolia-born activist Ulziibat Enkhtur traces her experiences as an international organizer: building bonds and crossing borders while working towards cultural preservation, youth empowerment and a more peaceful world. –English


LATIN AMERICA

When Women Enter Elections
Community Voice: Luz Lajous Vargas, Mexico
I.M.O.W. Global Council Member Luz Lajous Vargas reflects on her experiences as a former Mexican Congresswoman and founder of Pro-Mujer Mexico. --English

The Killing Fields of Juarez
Community Voice: Diana Washington-Valdez, Mexico
Journalist Diana Washington-Valdez, a lead voice in the documenting of femicides in Ciudad Juarez, shares an excerpt from her book The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women--English

Violencia contra la mujer
Community Voice: Feliciano Nieves Velazquez, Mexico
Against the backdrop of a global movement to end violence against women, Feliciano Nieves Velazquez gives us a glimpse of violence taking place in her home country of Mexico and in the City of Juarez. --Spanish

 
MIDDLE EAST

Intimités Afghanes
Community Voice: Roshanak B, Iran
Through the selective use of color on black and white photographs, Iranian-born Roshanak B present an intimate portrait of the daily realities of Afghan women. --English

Women, Media and Politics in Lebanon
Community Voice: Simba Russeau, Lebanon
The historic underrepresentation of women in the Lebanese government has affected their civil rights on issues ranging from citizenship and education to health care and financial empowerment. --English

When Tradition Empowers Women
Community Members: Zeyba Rahman and Amanda Koster, Morocco
Social entrepreneur Zeyba Rahman and documentary photographer Amanda Koster discuss their CD and exhibition “Beyond Harmony: Women's Voices from the Islamic World,” which seek to dispel stereotypes of Islamic women through the power and beauty of music. --English

We Want Peace in Our Neighbor Iraq
Community Voice: imren Tüzün, Turkey
Artist imren Tüzün participated in a global art project that used newspaper headlines and white gloves to call for peace in Iraq. --English

 
NORTH AMERICA

My Political Life
Community Voice: Agxibel Barajas, U.S.
Agxibel Barajas, one of the young, politically active women profiled in the documentary What's Your Point Honey?, shares the tremendous impact that both her father and grandfathers' lives as farm laborers and committed activists had on her. --English

Frontrunner Documentary
Community Voice: Virginia Williams, U.S.
Documentary filmmaker Virginia Williams follows the candidacy of Dr. Massouda Jalal in her relentless run for president in Afghanistan. --English

C'mon Mom. Vote!
Community Voice: WomenVote USA, U.S.
WomenVote, an organization dedicated to increasing the percentage of U.S. women voters, discusses its recent campaign strategy: using children’s hopes for the future to get mothers to vote.--English

No Longer the Other
Community Voice: Wendy Willow, U.S.
Wendy Willow connects her personal story of growing up in the U.S. as a person of mixed heritage with the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama.. --English

Struggling to Understand
Community Voice: Brenda Oelbaum, U.S.
Artist Brenda Oelbaum confronts her own prejudices of Islam by juxtaposing images of the hijabwith images from a prominent U.S. news story about a kidnapped child. --English

My New Identity
Community Voice: Arduizur Richie-Zavaleta, U.S.
Professional photographer and sociologist Arduizer Richie-Zavaleta explores the meaning of theQuinceanera, a Mexican traditional ceremony for young women. --English

Everything
Community Voice: Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, U.S.
Author, nurse and practicing Muslim Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali talks about the assumptions patients make about her dress, her personality, and her embodiment of religion. --English

Intimate Symbols of Power
Community Voice: Joyce Polance, U.S.
Joyce Polance’s bold paintings show women in the midst of personal transformation and healing as they confront power dynamics and challenge conventional thinking. --English

Patsy Mink: Ahead of Her Time
Community Voice: Kimberlee Bassford, U.S.
Documentary filmmaker Kimberlee Bassford remembers the leadership and determination of Patsy Mink, the first woman of color in Congress and co-author of Title IX legislation. --English

This Opportunity Brought to You by Feminism
Community Voice: The White House Project, U.S.
Marie Wilson, director of The White House Project, reflects on how feminism paved the way for U.S. political candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. --English

Women Speak Out
Community Voice: Diane Bush, U.S.
An experimental artist explores the Viet Nam War, media censorship, and the War on Terror. --English

Art across Borders
Community Voice: Gabriela Pickett, U.S.
Mexico-born Gabriela Pickett uses art as social commentary, often depicting the conditions of Mexico’s indigenous peoples. She calls on women to come together to harness their collective power. --English

The Blue Star
Community Voice: JB, U.S.
Artist JB contemplates common representations of power in the fine arts and in popular culture, offering an alternative to what we think of as powerful. --English


WORLDWIDE

Women, Natural Disasters, and Reconstruction
Community Voice: Women Thrive Worldwide, Worldwide
Women Thrive Worldwide, a non-profit organization that advocates for U.S. foreign policy to foster economic opportunities for women, remembers the cyclones in Myanmar/Burma and the disproportionate impact that natural disasters have on women and children's lives. --English

Art for Refugees in Transition
Community Voice: Art for Refugees in Transition (A.R.T.), Worldwide
A.R.T. aims to improve the quality of life for refugees and displaced groups through programs that enable the preservation of traditional art forms. --English

Congo: Stop Sexual Violence
Community Voice: Global Fund for Women, Worldwide
The Global Fund for Women calls for the international community to take action to put an end to the epidemic of rape and sexual aggression in the Democratic Republic of Congo. --English

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