AOF Activities & Events
In commemoration of International Women's Day, AOF proudly presents Darien DeLu and colleague Ellen Schwartz from Sac-WILPF, the Sacramento-valley branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Darien and Ellen will inform & engage us about women's votes in today's political environment.
With the centennial of women winning the right to vote in California fast upon us, what is the value of voting in today's political world -- especially after the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which cut limits on campaign donations from corporations and other groups? What is the role of today's voter? Furthermore, women's votes in the US have consistently shown striking differences from men's votes -- what might explain these differences? How have women's votes changed the political landscape in the US?
Darien De Lu grew up in Sacramento and continues to return to the City of the Confluence after various sojourns in other US cities and wide-ranging global travels. For most of her life she has been an activist for numerous peace, justice, and environmental issues. She has been arrested for civil disobedience actions and helped organize nonviolence "monitors" for such actions. Many who have never met her rely on "Darien's Ballot Guide" to the California ballot measures, which she researches, writes, and publishes for each election. Darien is also a long-time member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WLPF). In 1995 she traveled with some 200 other WILPFers on a chartered train from Helsinki, Finland to Beijing, China for the United Nations Women's Conference. She later served for nearly ten years on the U.S. WILPF national board - including as UlS. Co-president.
The WILPF is an international activist organization which works through over 20 "sections" in countries around the world and in the United Nations as a recognized non-governmental organization. WILPF emphasizes analysis and strategic activism. WILPF seeks to find, point out and address the connections among organizations, structures, and issues, to get at - and eliminate - the root causes of war.
Please note: this months General Meeting will be in Room 9 of the Sierra 2 Center, not the usual Room 10. The rooms are close, so no one should get lost. Just walk up to the door to Room 10 and turn around. Voila.
