In the words of Coretta Scott King, “Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not only for celebration and remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service … it is a day of volunteering to feed the hungry, rehabilitate housing, tutor those who can’t read, mentor at-risk youngsters, console the broken-hearted and a thousand other projects for building the beloved community of his dream.”

In the wake of this week’s tragic earthquake in Haiti, I can almost hear Dr. King’s voice asking us to serve this Monday on the day that we remember this great man’s life.  On the news, we have been looking at images of the incredible destruction and sadness, from families who have lost their homes, to families and friends who have lost their loved ones. For this magnitude of devastation to hit Haiti, already the fourth poorest country in the world and the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, it is incomprehensible.

Monday, we celebrate the life and legacy of a man who taught us not to fear the incomprehensible in life, but to realize our power to make a difference.  We know what Dr. King would tell us.  He would tell us that all of us can do something to help.  That each of us must reach out to those in need. He would help us realize our incredible power in the face of life’s most uncontrollable moments.  That power is the gift of service.

It should not take a tragedy of this week’s earthquake in Haiti to wake us all up from our own personal day to day challenges, to look beyond ourselves, and be moved to ask “how we can help.”

It has always been my dream that we would help children to realize we all have this power through service to make the world stronger and to lessen another’s suffering in a time of need.  I think Dr. King’s dream was a world where all children grew up knowing how to extend a hand and feeling responsible to do so.

Each year, Children for Children, an organization near and dear to my heart, celebrates the life of Dr. King by providing opportunities for young people to volunteer and discover their power and potential to make a real difference in the world.  With over 4,000 young people volunteering at large service events in New York City, to small groups of children gathering around the country, young people are realizing their ability to contribute to the greater good in all sorts of ways.  From packing toiletry care kits for shelters, to holding read-a-thons to fundraise for Red Cross relief efforts, kids are showing that you are never too small to make a big difference.

Dr. King’s life of service showed us the power of one individual to make a difference.  But his legacy and his dream of the “beloved community” was a vision of what could be if we all came together to build a better world.

I believe that in 2010, we will see more Americans than ever before showing our strength as a society through service.  I hope you will choose to be a part of this.  If you are looking for ways to volunteer, you can visit www.childrenforchildren.org; www.handsonnetwork.org; and www.mlkday.gov or use some of the ideas below:

Children for Children

The Youth HandsOn Network

31 Ways to Teach Kids the History of Dr. King through Service

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service 2010 marks the beginning of a year of service as millions of Americans honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering in their communities.  The day builds upon the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with President Obama’s resonant call to service.

Our Goals:

• To lead the younger generations in celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s visionary leadership and values and honoring his legacy.
• To present a public event that engages people in communities across our nation in powerful conversations about issues that shape our nation.
• To create a platform for family volunteering.
• To empower parents to teach their children about Dr. King’s legacy of nonviolence, equality and respect.

The Importance of Family Service

Engaging parents and their children in service together has important positive outcomes for everyone involved. It benefits:

• Children and youth by cultivating positive values, such as caring and empathy, and by developing a commitment to service both now and in the future.
• Parents by giving them more quality time with their children and all the other benefits of volunteering for adults, including increased interpersonal skills and improved mental and physical health.
• Families by increasing their sense of cohesion, well-being, and connection to the broader community.

The 31 Ways

The “31 Ways” below are service projects that teach young people about Dr. Martin Luther King  Jr. through service-learning.  The thirty-one “Ways” correspond with the thirty-one days in January.  A family, school or group can mix and match their service projects from the list, and towns, cities or school districts may choose to complete one service project each day of the month.

Youth and Family-Friendly Service Projects for MLK Day: Specific to Dr. King and His Movement

1. 31 Days of Peace, Kindness and Justice - Read a different quotation on peace, kindness, diversity or justice over your school’s PA system every day in January.

2. Welcome Cards - Celebrate diversity by making cards to welcome new immigrants to your city.  Include information such as important local phone numbers and recommendations of places to go and things to do or see in the area.

3. MLK Day Book Club - Read Martin’s Big Words, by Doreen Rappaport (grades K- 5), and discuss the book as a group.

4. Dream to Read - Organize your children or group to read books with children younger than them, on the topic of Dr. King.  (See book list, below.)  This promotes literacy by creating enthusiasm for all that we can learn from books, through Dr. King’s inspiring story.

5. Creative Expressions of Dr. King’s Legacy - Research the history of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement and teachings.  Think about what significance or importance they have to you or your world and express this creatively through poetry, art, writing, or another creative medium, teaching this history to others in your community.

6. Wall of Dreams - Read Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  Trace yourself on large paper and cut the shape of your body out.  Draw your clothes and features on the shape, and choose excerpts from the speech to write and illustrate, along with dreams of your own.  Display all of the papers on the wall to make a “Wall of Dreams.”

7. Opinion Letters - Keep Dr. King’s message of civic engagement alive by writing a letter to President Obama or a local government official to express your opinion on a topic of your choice.

8. The Power of Peace Cranes - Read Sadako and the Thousand Paper  Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr, and make peace cranes as a symbol of your commitment to peace.  Display in your school or community.

9. Diversity Quilt - Make a Diversity Quilt celebrating diverse cultures, nationalities, and appearances, and donate it to a community location or organization for display.  Include drawings, stitching, quotations, or short statements of what you will do to celebrate diversity and keep the peace.

10. Bookmarks - Create bookmarks celebrating reading in a variety of languages and give them to the public library for distribution to library patrons.

11. Buttons - Make buttons with civil rights symbols and slogans.

12. A Benchmark for Social Change - Design bus seat covers that allow people to better understand what is possible when they make a commitment to social change.  Have the covers placed on functional school or city buses.

13. Inspirational Dr. King Murals - Help paint a mural bearing an inspirational Dr. King quote to beautify a local community center or school, while inspiring other youth to make a difference.

14. Civil Rights Activity Books - Use a computer program to create word searches, crossword puzzles, mazes, and matching games on the theme of Civil Rights and Dr. King.  Compile the activities and design a colorful cover to attach, creating an activity book. These books can be donated to afterschool programs, hospitals, or transitional housing.

15. Food for Thought - Use diverse foods as a discussion-starter on the topic of diversity.  Work with your family or group to make “Earth Cookies” using vanilla and butterscotch chips in addition to chocolate, and an assortment of white and brown eggs.  Or, make trail mix with a variety of ingredients.  Use these recipes as metaphors for diverse peoples working well together or coexisting in harmony.

16. Host a Read-a-thon or Essay Contest - Organize a read-a-thon, essay contest or other academic contest or on the topic of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or civil rights, or service and civic engagement.  Utilize the book list below for possible essay topics, or choose Civil Rights quotations as themes.

Youth and Family-Friendly Service Projects for MLK Day: Other Community Issues

17. Fleece Scarves - Make a fleece scarf to donate to the homeless or anyone else in need of support in the winter.

18. Tactile Valentines for Blind Senior Citizens - Make a tactile Valentine, using raised letters, to be given to a blind senior citizen on February 14^th.  Optional: Make a lavender sachet to accompany the card, appealing to the senior citizens’ senses.

19. Cat Toys and Dog Bandanas - Assemble cat toys and design “Adopt me!” dog bandanas for residents of a local animal shelter.

20. Canned Food Collection - Organize the canned food in your kitchen and take the extras to an MLK Day food drive - or, organize your own food drive for MLK Day.

21. Food Bank Bags - Take your food drive a step farther by decorating paper bags with positive messages about healthy eating and packing the canned goods in them. Include print-outs of healthy eating tips, recipes, and exercise ideas. Donate finished bags to a local food bank.

22. “Lights Out!” Light Switch Plates - Create “Lights Out!” light switch plates to remind your family to turn off the lights when leaving a room.

23. The Voting Patrol - Talk to adults about voting and make sure they are registered.

24. Peace Bracelets - Make peace bracelets to be donated to victims of domestic violence, bearing white or dove-shaped beads to symbolize young people’s commitment to working toward peace.

25. Environmental Coloring Books - Assemble home-made coloring books with an environmental theme, to be donated to children in the hospital with a packet of crayons, as a fun and educational activity.

26. Birthday Cards for Homebound Seniors - Color birthday cards to be given to elderly homebound individuals along with their Meals on Wheels meals.

27. Paper Flowers - Create paper flowers out of colorful tissue paper and chenille sticks to be donated to a community center, hospital, or nursing home. Write positive messages in cards to accompany the flowers.  Optional: flowers can be combined to form centerpieces for soup kitchen tables.

28. Peace Garden - Turn a vacant lot into a garden or bird sanctuary or create a garden at a local shelter or childcare center. Partner with neighbors or the receiving organization to engage the community in planning and helping.

29. Create Environmentally Friendly Household Cleaners - Make a kit containing safe and healthy household cleaners for friends and family.

30. Community Pancake Breakfast - Organize a free pancake breakfast for community members to celebrate MLK Day, a day when students will not be at school to receive free breakfast.  Fundraise for the necessary ingredients and resources, and allow families to make donations at the door if they choose.

31. Stimulate through Art - Give low-income preschoolers a head start by creating felt boards that stimulate curiosity, creativity and learning about the world around them.

Children’s Books on Dr. King:

Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport (grades K- 5)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day by Linda Lowery (grades K-5)

Lives and Times Martin Luther King, Jr. by Emma Lynch (grades K-3)

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Robert Casilla (grades K-3)

Who Was Martin Luther King Jr.? by Bonnie Bader (grades 3-5)

Martin Luther King, Jr. by Amy Pastan (grades 5-8)

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King Jr. and Clayborne Carson (grades 7-8)

Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life by Marshall Frady (grades 7-8)

M.L.K. Journey of a King by Tonya Bolden (grades 8-12)

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King and James M. Washington (all ages)

Copyright 2010 (c) Children for Children/Youth HandsOn Network

“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s “Theory of Relativity” to serve. You don’t have to know the Second Theory of Thermal Dynamics in Physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Imagine that you recently had a baby through a cesarean section and had planned on taking off a few years to stay at home to care for your new baby. Now with the economic recession forcing many women back into the workforce, you find that you too need to re-enter the workforce to help your family make ends meet. The problem? Good luck finding health insurance. Insurers in most states are permitted to consider gender when determining both individual and group rates and therefore women are frequently charged much more than men for premiums.  Moreover, a C-section can be viewed as a “pre-existing condition” and insurers can now refuse to pay for future C-sections or deny a women who has had a prior C-section from health coverage entirely. Equally abhorrent, in eight states and in the District of Columbia, insurers can legally deny a woman’s health insurance application if she has been the victim of domestic violence.

In actuality, the impact on women from our current health care system is even worse than just the odious discriminatory practices mentioned above. Skyrocketing health care costs and a lack of access to affordable health care have had a greater impact on women than men according to a Commonwealth Fund study that examines how our current health care system affects women in this country. The statistics cited in the study are staggering: seven in ten women have no insurance or are underinsured, face medical debt or are facing a cost-related issue affecting their access to health care. More than half of all women in the Unites States have had to refuse necessary care due to cost. Many women are simply not able to find coverage for maternity care at all.

One of the main problems facing women in obtaining health care is that women still earn 78 cents for every dollar that men earn. Yet women use more health care than men, in large part because of women’s reproductive care needs. Exacerbating the situation are the higher premiums many insurers charge women and thus the impact is that women have more trouble than men obtaining the critical health care that they need and therefore more women than men end up being underinsured.

When women make the majority of health care decisions for families (which they do) and when women are more likely than men to visit the doctor more frequently and be proactive about their health (which they are), we as a society are making a grave mistake in not putting quality, affordable health care for women at the top of the agenda in the health care debate.

Women are a majority of the country’s population (52 percent) and constitute more of the overall vote nationwide than men (in every Presidential election since 1980 more women than men proportionately have voted-8million more in the 2000 election and 9 million more in the 2004 election.) Yet where are the advertising campaigns in the health care debate targeted to women or the grass roots mobilization of women’s groups? I have never seen such a blizzard of ads in a non-Presidential election year as we have seen in this current health care debate, yet I have yet to see an ad geared to women. Women have the most to gain by a passage of a health care bill (a prohibition against insurance companies charging more for premiums for women than for men as many currently do, a reversal of the policy allowing insurers to deny coverage based on a prior C section or domestic violence incident, universal coverage of maternity care, premium subsidies which will make health care more affordable for women and families.) Women also have the most to lose if heath care reform fails yet you wouldn’t know it from the paucity of dialogue on this issue.

The messaging from the Obama Administration on what women stand to gain and lose in the health care debate has been terrible. We are the only industrialized nation in the West that does not provide universal health care, and yet, the dialogue out of Washington has focused on everything but the impact to women. The President should stand up and say how can we as a society tolerate a system that so blatantly discriminates against a group that comprises over half of our country and that clearly is not putting women’s health on equal footing. If the Administration fails to pass a strong plan for universal health care, our nation’s chance at ever doing so will be severely comprised for years to come. We are overlooking one of our best assets to get the message out–women–who will raise their voices loudly as they have for generations to protest the perpetuation of a system that does not properly treat women equally and that blatantly does not put proper value on maternity and a women’s overall health.

Recently, two friends of mine have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Both were non-smoking women with children who ate a healthy diet and exercised. Each confided to me that they wondered why them?

As recent reports show that cancer death rates have only fallen 5 percent in the past 50 years, versus a 64 percent plunge in heart disease death rates, I find that women are often left with conflicting data about what to do to be proactive in protecting themselves against cancer. After my friends’ diagnoses, I decided to return to a topic I had read much about: the association between alcohol consumption for women and cancer.

For years, studies would tout the benefits that consuming moderate quantities of red wine (the proverbial glass with dinner) in protecting against heart disease. Then this year, came a stunning study that showed that even the consumption of a glass a day of wine or other alcohol can considerably increase a woman’s cancer risk. Here is some valuable information from WebMD about the latest studies that you should know about:

Previous studies have linked alcohol intake with an increased breast cancer risk. Alcohol may change the way the body metabolizes estrogen. Many breast cancers are fueled by the hormone estrogen. Therefore, regular use of alcohol is thought to increase the risk of breast cancer by increasing blood estrogen levels.

The new study tracked the health of 122,000 women since 1976. They were free of cancer at the start of the study. Every four years, the women were asked how much alcohol they had used during an average month in the past year.
By 2002, nearly 6,000 of the women developed breast cancer.
When compared with teetotalers:

• Women who drank the equivalent of a half glass of wine a day were 6% more likely to develop breast cancer.

• Women who drank a glass or two a day faced a 21% increased risk of breast cancer.

• Those who drank more than two drinks a day were 37% more likely to develop breast cancer.

However, the risk was much greater in menopausal women:

• Menopausal women who drank a half glass of wine daily increased their chance of breast cancer by 18%.

The elevated risk was also more pronounced for women whose tumor growth was fueled by the hormones estrogen or progesterone — a group that accounts for about 70% of women with breast cancer.

I will be exploring this issue and other topics related to what measures women can take to be proactive about their risk of cancer. Let me know your thoughts and any personal experiences you or family members or friends have had.

As I set out to enjoy some vacation time on Long Island with my husband and 3 young boys, I made sure that we were vigilant about tick checks.  I have had too many friends over the years whose children have had Lyme disease.  What I didn’t think to be concerned about is spider bites.

As I ate dinner outside one night at a local restaurant, I felt something bite me on my foot.  Thinking it was a mosquito, I swatted away at my foot and didn’t think much more of it.  When I came home that night my foot was slightly swollen, red, painful and itchy.  I put some hydrocortisone on it and went to bed.

When I woke up in the morning, my foot was severely swollen and throughout the morning began to throb, and the swelling coupled with the pain, made it difficult to walk on it.   In the place where the bite had occurred there was a large quarter shape size yellow blister.  I went to see the doctor and he quickly determined that it was a spider bite and that it had, even in such a short time, become infected.  He put me on antibiotics and drained the blister.  Within a day or two I felt much better.

While most spider bites are not harmful to humans, there are 2 types of spider bites that can be:  the black widow spider and the brown recluse spider. As the Mayo Clinic website points out:

Black widow spider

The female black widow gives the more serious bite, but its bite is rarely lethal. You can identify this spider by the red hourglass marking on its belly. The bite feels like a pinprick. You may not even know you’ve been bitten. At first you may notice only slight swelling and faint red marks. Within a few hours, though, intense pain and stiffness begin. Other signs and symptoms of a black widow spider bite include:

• Chills

• Fever

• Nausea

• Severe abdominal pain

Brown recluse spider
You can identify this spider by the violin-shaped marking on its top. The bite produces a mild stinging, followed by local redness and intense pain within eight hours. A fluid-filled blister forms at the site and then sloughs off to leave a deep, enlarging ulcer. Reactions from a brown recluse spider bite vary from a mild fever and rash to nausea and listlessness. On rare occasions death results, more often in children.

However, even if you are not bitten by one of these types of spider, it is very possible that a spider bite from any type of spider can get infected as mine did.  Here, fast action is critical.  If the area around the bite becomes red and hot to the touch, you should seek medical treatment as I did.  The bottom line is that if you or your children have any of the symptoms I have outlined above, be proactive and see a doctor.

Any student of urban planning or New York City’s history, has encountered Robert Caro’s epic biography of Robert Moses, the aptly titled “The Power Broker.”  I read this book in my college Urban Sociology class at Columbia and recently re-read it last year.  One point about the book that has recently been raised, is that the book strangely omits any reference to civic activist Jane Jacobs who repeatedly battled Moses over his ill advised plan to build a four lane super highway through Washington Square Park in New York City or his plan to erect a 10 lane elevated highway (dwarfing the FDR Drive in comparison) through the hearts of Soho, Little Italy and Chinatown. Thankfully Jane Jacobs won these battles.

A new book by Boston Globe reporter Anthony Flint, entitled “How Jane Jacobs Took On New York’s Master Builder and Transformed The American City,” profiles these herculean struggles.

One such battle particularly caught my eye.   Jacobs had organized rallies, protests and political opposition to Moses’s Washington Park superhighway. The opposition worked and, as the New York Times notes in a recent review of Flint’s book,  Moses angrily exclaimed “There is nobody against this. Nobody, nobody, nobody but a bunch of, a bunch of mothers.”

I have found that on too many occasions to count, people have overlooked the power that mothers have when they organize around an issue.  Whether it is building a new school or park, fighting against overcrowding of the schools or lobbying for equal wages, it is frequently mothers who are at the forefront of these battles, yearning for better conditions for their children.  If Robert Moses only knew the power that women exert in society today, he would have never said those words.  Just think–nine million more women than men voted in the last 2 Presidential elections,  proof of the strong civic and political involvement of women in American society.

The notion that Moses had of “mothers”– that their opinions didn’t matter, that they weren’t politically potent, that they were weak, was proven wrong time and time again by Jane Jacobs.  She demonstrated that these women’s opinions did matter, that they were terrific organizers, and that ultimately they were successful in fighting the ultimate power broker in New York.

Women across the country should sound a collective sigh of dismay at the antiquated and frankly harmful comments recently made by former GE CEO Jack Welch.

Speaking at a human resources conference, of all places, where one expects to hear more gender friendly rubric, Welch proclaimed: “There’s no such thing as a work-life balance,” going on to explain that a woman’s choice to have a family makes career advancement all but impossible.

What kind of message does this send to young girls today?  The message is essentially: Don’t even try because you can’t have it all - Choose one or the other.

I regularly interview women for my show “Give and Take”, who do have it all- they are mothers with high powered careers.  These women are resolute, dedicated and supreme multi-taskers.  Take the case of Liz Lange, who started a maternity fashion empire, all while raising two young kids AND battling the ravages of cervical cancer, which included grueling rounds of chemotherapy and radiation.  Campbell Brown, who hosts a national cable news show while raising two young boys, is another great example.  Both of these women demonstrate that, while it may not be easy, it is possible to flourish as a working mother.

While Welch focuses on the boardroom as a major obstacle to women who choose to raise kids while climbing the corporate ladder, there is a plethora of evidence that proves him wrong.  In my conversation with Alexandra Lebenthal, who is herself a prime representation of an accomplished CEO and mother, she pointed out that while some women have left Wall Street- many have done so to start their own companies, as evidenced by the fact that women employ more people than all of the Fortune 500 companies put together.  There are also a number of women who have briefly exited the career highway to start families only to make successful returns to the corporate world later on.

Despite the countless women who have proven it is possible to balance career and family, there are still significant roadblocks in corporate America.  According to a 2008 census of Fortune 500 companies performed by Catalyst.org, a leading non-profit organization that works to build more inclusive workplaces for women globally, the advancement of women in corporate leadership continues to stagnate, with only 15.2 percent holding board of director positions, as compared with 14.8 percent in 2007.  There has also been an increase to 66 from the 59 companies in 2007 with no women at all on their boards.

We still have a long way to go in providing more opportunities for women in corporate America but we will never get there if the attitudes that are passed down reflect the belief that a woman “can’t” have it all.

Despite an overall increase in the number of young females participating in competitive sports, there is still a great inequality in the athletic options available for young women in many of our public schools. Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting gender discrimination in federally funded school programs has been a constant source of debate from elementary school to college level athletics, as the argument that females have less interest and therefore less need for involvement sports persists.

Yet, studies show that both sexes who participate in after-school sports programs have better grades, better conflict resolution skills, and better overall relations with their peers. There is ample evidence to support the idea that if young men and women are kept busy with structured activities outside of school, they are more likely to continue their education and stay out of trouble. In the last thirty years, girls’ sports programs have expanded in size and scope, with many schools reporting nearly equal numbers of female and male athletes.

However, as a recent New York Times article illustrated, these reforms have largely bypassed lower income, urban communities. Katie Thomas follows a day in the life of a middle school’s girls’ basketball team in the Bronx that is sustained through the sheer persistence of a coach and his players. Despite a lack of school funding, unforgiving schedules and parents who don’t always manage to provide the necessary support, these young ladies manage to keep their team alive, validating the fact that females have just as much need for sports programs as males.

With the current economic crisis affecting federal, state and city budgets across the board, funding for public school sports programs has been one of the first things to be cut. The meager resources that schools and parents retain are usually directed to boy’s teams, as there are far more scholarships and back channels for getting into college as a male athlete. Rebecca Lobo, Mia Hamm and the Williams Sisters may be celebrated role models but unless their daughters are well over six feet tall or preternaturally gifted with a soccer ball or tennis racket, it is unlikely that struggling parents will see the practical benefit of investing time and money in after school and weekend sports. The problem of lack of financing is compounded by the fact that traditional roles that may seem antiquated to modern scholars are still very much in place in immigrant and lower income households.

This means young ladies are expected to help with the childcare and domestic upkeep for their extended families, while young men are free to pursue athletics with their greater free time. As private and public efforts are made to shore up our public schools, this particular issue is often placed at the bottom of the list. Yes, math and reading are fundamental but athletics are also an essential component of the developmental process. As we fight for academic resources and better nutrition in our public schools, let’s not lose sight of this vital aspect of our educational system.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s recent decision to resign from the Belizean Grove women’s club is an unfortunate step back for women’s rights. There is absolutely no reason why she should have to resign from this club. The Code of Judicial Conduct states that no federal judge should be a member of an organization that practices “invidious discrimination,” or the barring of membership “on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin”. This club does not meet this definition because as Judge Sotomayor points out, men have attended numerous functions of the club and have never applied for membership and then been denied.

The right has sited the Code of Judicial Conduct to attack Judge Sotomayor on this subject and impede her nomination to the Supreme Court. However, it is hardly plausible to argue that women who have been the subject of discrimination for so many years should not be able to congregate and belong to a women’s association that clearly does not discriminate.

Frequently in today’s society, women and men are deciding not to pursue political office or put their name forward for a political appointment due to the scrutiny and politically motivated partisan attacks that they would have to bear. Women comprise 52% of the US population yet hold only 25% of elected office. When New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum appeared on my show “Give and Take,” she stated that this scrutiny was one among many reasons she has decided not to run again for office.  Furthermore, when hundreds of positions in the Obama administration have yet to be filled, and 96% of judgeships for US district courts and courts of appeals remain vacant, why on earth would we allow yet again a politically motivated and superfluous attack to result in resignation from this club?

If we really want people to consider public service as a career, we must stand up and remain firm in our resolve to fight back against these scurrilous attacks. I am disappointed that Judge Sotomayor descided to resign from this club (or more likely was told to do so by a skittish administration). She would have set a better role model by sticking to her gumption and remaining in the club.

As the protests in Iran over the recent election results continue, an opportunity for the United States to strongly support democracy and women’s rights was sadly lost this week. This week President Barack Obama proclaimed that there was not much difference between Mir Hussein Moussavi and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he stated: “Either way (the United States is) going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighborhood and is pursuing nuclear weapons.” Yet, with respect to women’s rights–one of the key issues for reform minded Iranians–this is absolutely not the case.

Moussavi campaigned on restoring women’s rights in Iran and promised during the campaign that, if elected, he would “reform laws that are unfair to women” and disband the so-called “morality police” force who regularly arrest women they view as inappropriately dressed. Zahra Rahnavard, Mr. Moussavi’s wife who is something of a feminist icon in Iran, said during a campaign rally for her husband: “We should reform laws that treat women unequally. We should empower women financially, women should be able to choose their professions according to their merits, and Iranian women should be able to reach the highest level of decision making bodies.”  When thousands of Iranian women are risking their lives, and literally could face arrest or execution, to rally for an overturn of the election results in Iran, it is disheartening and deeply disappointing that our President has not struck a firmer tone of support for protesters in Iran who are marching peacefully for freedom of speech, women’s rights, democracy and transparent elections.

While President Obama and his advisors state that they do not want to “meddle” into internal Iranian affairs, and while we all know the cold harsh political reality that Obama wants to preserve his ability to negotiate with Ahmadinejad over nuclear weapons, we cannot sacrifice the very ideals that we are trying to promote throughout the world. It is hardly meddling to issue a strong statement of support for the protesters who are trying to reform the oppressive regime in Iran.

We have to remember that women face not only real discrimination in Iran but also persecution just for trying to peacefully exercise their rights. Numerous Iranian activists who have worked on women’s rights initiatives, such as the campaign to collect one million signatures demanding an eradication of discrimination against women in Iran, have been arrested and imprisoned. Women are forced to wear the hijab and the morality police have arrested many women if they are not properly covered. Legally, men in Iran have the sole right to divorce and to have custody. In court, a woman’s testimony is equal to half that of a man and men can forbid their wives from working outside the home. While the government has now technically disavowed stoning, it nevertheless exists in the penal code as punishment for women who commit adultery.

The fact that women, and men, are turning out in droves day after day to protest the election results and the oppressive regime in Iran, deserves our support. When we look back at how other Presidents have used strong rhetoric to promote ideals that the Unites States is trying to promote (whether it be Kennedy’s famous 1963 “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech or Reagan’s “Tear Down that Wall Mr. Gorbachev”), we have seen US Presidents insert their beliefs and ideals to promote change. While clearly President Obama must tread carefully with regard to the ultimate goal of getting Iran to stop its nuclear program, we cannot turn our backs on a historic opportunity to have a reform minded movement in Iran that ultimately may be our best hope of producing a solution on the nuclear issue.

Today I interviewed Geralyn Dreyfous, executive producer of the Academy Award-winning Best Documentary Feature “Born into Brothels.” This film is an eye-opening story about children born and raised in the impoverished red light district in Calcutta, India, where over 7,000 women and young girls live and work as prostitutes. It also shows the positive impact a single woman, Zana Briski, makes on their lives through art and education.  Geralyn is known for her pioneering work in combining social action with film.

She has also produced the documentary films “The Day My God Died,” which presents the stories of young girls abducted and forced into sexual servitude, and the 2009 Academy Award nominated documentary feature “The Garden,” which exposes the plight of local farmers in South Central Los Angeles to take back their land from wealthy developers.  Geralyn believes that each film should have a social purpose and that through film we can help to solve many of the world’s problems by taking action after we exit the theatre.  We discussed her hope to tackle the subject of female empowerment and sexual abuse through film despite the difficulty of depicting these personal and private experiences.  We even talked about President Obama’s recent Cairo speech, during which he spoke about women’s rights. I got the sense from Geralyn that she feels tremendous hope and promise about the way the Obama administration will deal with women’s rights around the world.

Make sure to check out the very important work that Geralyn is doing with several organizations, including Kids with Cameras, which raises money and awareness about children affected by poverty, abuse or conflict by teaching them photography and exhibiting and selling their work. Kids with Cameras is currently working on raising money to build the Hope House, a safe-haven for 150 children from Calcutta.  There they will receive the education and nurturing necessary to escape the cycle of neglect that would otherwise be their fate. Geralyn also sits on the board of High Road for Human Rights, which promotes the right of all people to a life of dignity and justice through educational projects and grassroots advocacy.

Visit http://www.highroadforhumanrights.org/ to locate a chapter near you or learn how to start one.  Geralyn reminds us all that one person can make a difference by taking simple actions after witnessing injustice, whether on the movie screen or in your local community.