That’s the general persona I see this special issue taking. Also humorous, contemplative, spiritual, and meditative.
[I was going to make this a comment, but it’s too long, so if you have no idea what I am talking about, please refer to this diary (which has somehow ended up on the recommended list… whoa!). ]
One note… while the first special collaboration issue will center around women, the ultimate goal is not to start a women’s movement or anything, per se. It’s to show the connections between women around the world, and why someone thousands of miles away should matter to us. And to show how all our issues are intertwined… from the environment, to politics, to education, to feminism, to human rights, to… well anything. The participation of men in this project is not only welcome, but necessary. We’re all in this together, remember. Subsequent special projects will begin from a different point… say, labor. Why is that more important now than ever, how it interconnects with all our other issues, and so on.
Another goal is to funnel people through the magazine into more activity with blogs, as well as into more activity in helping to make changes politically and in their communities, working together to promote progressive values. diane101 had some suggestions about that, and I have some ideas as well, to pull people in from reading about the specific issues that interest them to showing them what can actually be done about them and how they can participate in an overall strategy.
Here I’ll give the basics of each area of interest. In later diaries, per BooMan’s suggestion, we can cover each area individually, and people can contribute research, writing, suggestions, etc. I hope to be able to find people actually within various countries outside of the US as well, especially in “third world” countries (I dislike that term), or at least people who know about them. Anyway here are the sections, as they appear in the magazine:
Politics – politics affect us all, in one way or another, whether we are interested in the subject or not, or if we participate in voting, or whatever. This can be approached in different ways… women in politics, their effect on legislation and overall political issues. Women shut out of politics, as they are in various countries. What changes can and should be made through the political process, and which changes should take a different tack.
As we begin discussions and research, I’m sure a number of different avenues will come up and we can decide which ones to go down, and how to connect the various issues.
Our Humanity – this area is fairly new, as it used to cover only human rights. Now it is human rights, the environment, labor and building society. My interest in showing connections pre-dates this diary, and one thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes labor, environmentalism and human rights are at odds with each other, competing for the same space. Or there is the issue of jobs and the environment, etc, an argument often promoted by those who don’t have the best interests of either group in mind. Divide and conquer. So, women and all these issues, and how all these issues connect to one another.
Areas also covered in this section would be religions, body image, education, war and its effects, and so on.
Page Break – Fiction, poetry, movie and book reviews, photojournalism
The Fat Man’s Kitchen – recipes, herbal uses, foods in different countries, etc. I have a tremendous amount of material I am still recapturing from the internet archive, for this and the other sections, that was lost due to computer crashes and server moves and such. Sigh. Anyway, thank goodness for the Wayback Machine!
Life… at Large – general life matters. How we live within our societies, personal anecdotes and so on.
Finding the Lion Next Door – ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things. All over the world there are people who are standing up against tyranny or oppression, or who are making a difference in their communities, or the world. Most unheralded and without the backing of international organizations or funds. They start with what they have, and do what they can.
Both Sides Now opinion/editorial. Mostly
Travel self explanatory, although for the special issue it can be used in a variety of ways.
Young Minds issues dealing with young people… kids, teens, young adults. Some stuff written by them, others about. How any of the above areas affect young girls and women around the world could be a topic here.
I’ve run through some of the areas pretty quickly, as I just wanted to give a brief explanation of what they were, and then let the project participants discuss and define how each thing will fit in. When we begin research and discussions in the specific areas, we can also discuss ways to promote action or sustained activity on various issues. Such as the pharmacists thing… I am in the midst of making a page on that now, but I always try to do too many things at once, so am not very far along yet ;).
