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Are You Aware? How to Be an Advocate
This is part IV in our Awareness Wednesday series on disability. Read the other posts in the series here. My third child, a daughter named Marisa, was born in 1991. The pregnancy and delivery went well, but after she was born, we began to see behavior that was much different than our first two children. She would tantrum (screaming at the top of her lungs) frequently as a baby, and a toddler. Because of the intensity of her crying, I kept thinking she must be ill. So she was taken to many doctors and was poked and prodded, so very many times. All her medical tests came back normal. But she…
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The Way of Openness :: Conventions for Productive Dialogue
Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye was the plenary speaker at the 2020 Mormon Women for Ethical Government spring conference. These are her remarks. To view the video of her presentation, click here. Thank you very much for the privilege of speaking to you today. I am very humbled to have this opportunity to share useful tools for difficult conversations. First, I will explain where I’m coming from, the experiences that shape my worldview. Then I’ll explain the Way of Openness, which is a set of conventions for productive dialogue, and give examples of how these conventions work in practice. Finally, I’ll leave you with some thoughts from where I am right now,…
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How MWEG Members Engage
Throughout the year members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) have been engaging in proactive advocacy, attending rallies, sending emails and making phone calls to their representatives, writing op-eds to their local newspapers, and more! The women of MWEG have included their family members and friends in their efforts to serve in their communities. No matter how big or small the contribution, our members are doing magnificent work. Take a look at some of your successes from the spring and summer: Many of you have been gathering with members of your state chapters and building relationships with state and federal representatives. For example, members of the Nebraska chapter met…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Buds if not Buddies
We recently concluded our Operation Purple Rain. Every day since May 1st, I, like many of you, sent letters to Congressman Jason Chaffetz in purple envelopes to urge him to act aggressively as Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform committee to explore Russian ties with our current administration. I wanted to add a little creative zest to the task so I wrote my messages in haiku. That choice made me focus on finding out more about the man and his actions. Since I’m only recently a resident of Utah, I didn’t know anything about him — including how to pronounce his last name. While looking for photos to accompany…
