Letting go, moving ahead

All month we’ve been choosing what to keep and what to let go of at the Minnesota Women’s Press office. We lost our lease, so moving our office is a big change-not of our choosing. We had been at a location for over 20 years that had a big basement. Need we say more?

The whole staff has been letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose. Financial records from 25 years ago. The floppy drives that got put in a box “just in case.” The hand waxers that have been stiff since we went to electronic production processes years ago.

We chose what to carry forward to our new office-the things from our past that are meaningful, useful and will help us move ahead to new places. The artwork from a former staffer, a Vietnamese refugee who had embroidery work custom-made for us in her homeland. Plants that have been with us for years. Shelves of the “great books”-several hundred books by women chosen as the “best” by MWP book group members.

Ah, the metaphors of moving and carrying on. We’re doing just that in this issue of the Women’s Press, too, celebrating the 90th anniversary of women’s right to vote. We look back and carry forward the stories of the women who went on hunger strikes, demonstrated, went to jail and more to earn us the right to vote. We wonder if our country is ready to let go of the discrimination and injustice from our past that still exists today.

“The personal is political” is the theme of this issue. Sara Evans reminds us of the importance of knowing our collective heroic history. PRESS ON is the message Amy Brenengen finds in the Minnesota Suffrage Garden at the state Capitol. Members of the female-majority Minneapolis City Council speak about why having women in office matters. Patricia Torres Ray writes about the importance of women stepping up and speaking out, especially on behalf of children. Our columnists pick up on this personal is political theme, inviting you to run for public office.

Celebrate women’s right to vote by going to the polls. August 10 is the new date for the Minnesota state primary. Remind your friends to vote. Our generation of voters can make some history of our own by electing more women to office and the first woman governor in Minnesota.

Moving on. We feel a sense of gratitude and calm. Our old office holds many fine memories of women’s stories told through the pages we generated in that office space and in BookWomen discussion circles. We look forward to sharing more of those stories from this fresh space.


Coming Up:
In September we’ll be writing about Women and Worth. How do you measure worth? What makes you worthy?
Send a paragraph or two to editor@womenspress.com.

Deadline: August 10, 2010
September Advertising Guides:
• Spirituality Guide

• Elder Guide
• Consignment & Thrift Guide
Advertising deadline: August 10, 2010

ads@womenspress.com.

Special Women’s Directory advertising section in September issue!


In October we’ll be writing about circles. Feel like you’re going around in circles? Tell us about it.
Send a paragraph or two to editor@womenspress.com.

Deadline: September 10, 2010
October advertising guides: 

• Girlfriends’ Guide to Northeast Minneapolis

• Grrrls Go Green Guide

• Health Guide 

• Women & Pets Guide 

Advertising deadline: September 10, 2010
To place a ad in the Minnesota Women’s Press: 651-646-3968 or ads@womenspress.com.