V O L U M E I V / I S S U E V I I / J U LY 2 0 2 0
U . K . P O L O S E A S O N O P E N S W I T H A S O C I A L- D I S TA N C I N G P R I N C E O F WA L E S C U P AT R OYA L C O U N T Y O F B E R K S H I R E P O LO C LU B
M ICH E LLE OBAMA JACI N DA A RD E RN K A M A L A HA RR I S M I C H E LLE LUJA N G R I S H AM J E N N I F E R LO PE Z N AO M I OSA K A + 22 M O RE
WHY WOMEN SHOULD LIFT WEIGHTS THE GRANDES DAMES OF WINE-MAKING
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Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand
Stanley Pierre-Etienne
Joshua Jakobitz
Luxury Contributor
Contributing Photographer
Mark Wine
Lifestyles Contributor
Michael J. Snell
Brand Representatives Anne-Isabelle Saint-Pierre - Dubai Rudy Volel - New York City Michael J. Snell - The Hamptons Stanley Pierre-Etienne - Caribbean Sara Ali - London
Publisher
Style Contributor
Philippe Lucas
Editor-in-Chief
Fitness Columnist
Joey Velez
Wellness Columnist
Cezar Kusik
Wine Contributor
Raphael Dapaah Art Contributor
Jyoti Paintel
Anne-Isabelle Saint-Pierre Style Contributor
William Smith Philanthropy Contributor Gregory Bertrand Copy Editor
Elle Chrysler
Polo Contributor
Spiritual Contributor
page Photo 12 by Š Maison Christian Dior, Photographer Virgile Guinard
Claire Barrett
Head of Photography
Eva Espresso
Jessica Foret Wax - Santa Fe Charles Ward - Montecito K & Co. Media - Los Angeles Contributing Photographers
Alice Gipps Equine Photography Sophie Carre Virgile Guinard
Polo Lifestyles is a publication of HT Polo Publishing Co. 995 Detroit Avenue, Suite A Concord, CA 94518
Content Copyright Š Polo Lifestyles 2020 All Rights Reserved. For information or to advertise Contact editor@htpolo.com Read online at www.pololifestyles.com Cover illustration of Michelle Obama by Leslie L Brown Jr.
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SCOREBOARDS & COCKTAILS S O C I A L D I S T A N C I N G
PRINCE OF WALES CUP ROYA L COU NT Y O F B E R KS H I R E P O LO G ROU N DS
page 44 POLO LIFESTYLES EDITORS & CONTRIBUTORS
Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand
Josh Jakobitz
Publisher Polo Lifestyles @haiti_polo_captain
Elle Chrysler
Stanley Pierre-Etienne
Polo Contributor U.S. Polo Connection @ellechrysler
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Claire Barrett
Head of Photography Claire Barrett Photography @clairebarrettphoto
Editor-in-Chief Polo Lifestyles @joshuajakobitz
Eva Espresso
Mark Wine
Jyoti Paintel
Fitness Columnist Functional Muscle @functionalmuscle
Spiritual Contributor Polo Lifestyles @jyotipaintel
Michael J. Snell
Gregory Bertrand
Style Contributor Photographer Lifestyles Contributor Lanmou Pou Ranyon Eva Espresso Photography MJS Groupe @stanleypierretienne @eva.espresso @agnello_1
Copy Editor Polo Lifestyles @bertrand7367
Raphael K. Dapaah
Cezar Kusik
Vernissage Contributor Dapaah Gallery @dg_luxe
Wine Contributor Polo Lifestyles @cezartastesearth
Joey Velez
William Smith
Wellness Columnist Philanthropy Contributor Velez Mental Performance Santa Fe Comm. Fdn. @velezmentalhealth @willismith_2000
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Retrospective: Dior's Tiepolo Ball page 28
Vernissage: Mami Wata inspiration pg 116
Chanel Cruise Collection page 110
The importance of rituals page 135
WOMEN + POWER
20 20 E D IT IO N
These women are taking on modern issues and shaking up the status quo. See who's inspiring us this year. page 52
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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ach year, we open up the nominations for our Women + Power issue to every contributor. This year, no fewer than 117 nominations were made, from philanthropists and activists to movie stars and politicians. Narrowing down the list and curating the profiles is one of my favorite parts of this issue. Having grown up around strong female influences, I agree with Michelle Obama, who rocks this month’s cover, that women have always been leaders, even when circumstances kept them from being recognized or eligible for positions. Just this morning, I listened to a podcast with Tracee Ellis Ross, who I just think is to-diefor tbh, and her authenticity and rawness really spoke to me. Growing up in the shadow of her mom, Diana Ross, couldn’t have been a better recipe for absolute self-sabotage or entitlement, yet she has shared the spotlight while at the same time paving her own path and legacy. In her new movie, “The High Note”, she sings – something she has never done on-screen before. When she finally played the demo for her mom, sitting in the car, they shared the moment, and then Diana turned, with tears running down her face and said, “Finally.” What courage and what self-awareness! Our final, edited-down list of Women + Power 2020 is 28 inspiring leaders who are shifting paradigms and expectations. They are environmentalists, activists, philanthropists, educators, royalty, professional athletes and business leaders. They come from a long line of innovators who include Madame Clicquot, profiled by wine writer and sommelier Cezar Kusik this month in our Wine Review section. They are poets and thinkers, inspired by generations of spiritually connected women, who, like Jyoti Paintel, can guide us through unknown circumstances with familiar and calming rituals. They are glamorous, like the women in our retrospective on the Dior Tiepolo Ball last year in Venice. They are you, and you, and you! Stay inspiring, Josh Jakobitz josh@pololifestyles.com
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Photo by © Maison Christian Dior, Photographer Virgile Guinard
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bakerhouse1650 Because a good night's sleep is essential, we love @fretteofficial
jeffreymarksinc Social-distancing and mask-wearing around the yacht season as some ports begin to re-open
eva.espresso Shooting Faberge's fun line of Pride rings is perfect for social distancing page 24
archigardenist
cam_kuzon
Castle dreams, meet garden dreams. Let's escape somewhere soon.
Fresh-picked bouquets from the garden to brighten every space as we work from home
irinakazaridi Katerina Morgan launched her silk scarf collection featuring polo motifs
ladolfinapoloteam Father-son polo duo Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso head to the U.K. where polo is starting back up
athaiti A country's heritage is it's soul, the Tourism Association of Haiti is rebranding it's nation's heritage
vakiano.artisans Accessories in every size and shape for all of your polo and equestrian dreams
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Click and comment on our choices... tag @pololifestyles. We will share noteworthy comments with you next month.
ascotracecourse Say it with style and say it with pride, we remember great times at Ascot Race Course
hermes Horses are poetry at Hermes, the iconic brand of luxury equestrian accessories
townandcountry Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves McConaughey are taking on social issues
coachhousewellington The showroom is open again in Wellington for the area's newest and most luxurious project
robbreport A virtual exhibit of Jean-Michel Basquiat is just what we needed this month
globalpolo Live coverage from the U.K. polo season where social-distancing polo kicked off this week
er_stbarths Islands like St-Barths have reopened for tourism, with some major precautions in place
horseroof What's better? Giving the gift or the reaction of delight when you get a loved one new boots?
slimwines The Prince of Wales Cup in the U.K. was held without spectators at the Royal County Berkshire Polo Club page 25
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Photos by Š Maison Christian Dior, Photographer Virgile Guinard Š Maison Christian Dior, Photographer Sophie Carre
Retrospectie · 2019 ·
TIEPOLO BALL
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2019 TIEPOLO BALL · VENICE
NEXA ORGANIZED THE BALL OF THE CENTURY W I T H D I O R A N D V E N E T I A N H E R I TAG E
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t has been a year, and thinking back to the Tiepolo Ball now is like revisiting a dream, a fairy tale swirl of atmospheres, characters, costumes, lights, decorations and music. On 11 May, 2019, together with Maison Christian Dior, Venetian Heritage organized the Tiepolo Ball, conceived as a re-enactment of the iconic “Ball of the Century” created by art collector Carlos de Beistegui page 30
in 1951 at Palazzo Labia in Venice. At that time, the costumes had been designed by Christian Dior together with Salvador Dalì. In 2019, Venetian Heritage and Dior decided to revive the event, once again at Palazzo Labia, in the Tiepolo-frescoed ballrooms. Nexa was entrusted with the general production, so we mustered the best of our relations, partners, top vendors and organizational services to recreate, together with Dior and Venetian Heritage and their guests, the magic of the Ball of the Century.
The curtain opened with a dance performance, a veritable poem in motion, in the space outside Palazzo Labia, while our stewards—wearing black cloaks and “bauta” masks—welcomed the ball-goers, most who were wearing historical costumes when they landed at the water entrance of the palace. At the entrance of the palace, decorated with antique furniture and furnishings, orange and lemon trees filled the air with exotic fragrances, and fairy tale characters strolled among the guests while a classical quartet played.
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The gala dinner took place in the eighteenth-century rooms on the first noble floor of Palazzo Labia; 10 rooms, 17 beautifully laid out tables, tablecloths created with iconic Fortuny textiles, antiques on tables divided by theme and color, a blaze of flowers and fruit elegantly displayed among the custom-designed china and crystal flown in directly from Paris. The opulent tablescapes were inspired by the Tiepolo frescoes and hinted at the different times and world locations depicted on the walls. The
artistic arrangements read like an encyclopedist’s illustration of tableware through the centuries. Each room featured a story and a place in time, from the Meissen Room to the Trianon Room, and the Murano Room. The table styling ranged from Egyptian to Moorish, Oriental, Renaissance, Baroque and Classicist, each giving a distinctive yet cohesive identity to the room. Fifteen antique dealers were involved in providing the components for the lavish centerpieces. After dinner, beauty was again center stage: the inner courtyard of the pala-
zzo, surrounded by the sumptuous ground floor architecture, was canopied to create the illusion of a night sky, a fairy tale atmosphere of swathes of blue velvet spangled with lights like small bright stars, celestial figures and a moon-catcher fishing for a silver globe from a tall ladder. A magical night, the kind you see only once in a lifetime! Kudos to Nexa for organizing the Tiepolo Ball, and an enormous pleasure to remember, hoping that our events and our beloved Venice will soon shine again! Content courtesy · Nexa - Event & Travel Designers ·
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The creation of this exceptional clock draws its inspiration from the concept "tempus fugit" (times flies), providing an endless source of fascination. Whether long or short, friend or foe, time runs wild and free. The idea of "taming" it - not to gain mastery over it but rather to better appreciate it - this was the starting point of the amazing adventure which gave birth to the mare and her foal, an automaton and exceptional clock baptized “Hippologia.� The Parmigiani Haute Horlogerie Manufacture has mastered the fine art of creating beautiful timepieces shrouded in mystery. Through its restoration work, Parmigiani is intimately acquainted with historical masterpieces, enabling it to hone its own creativity. This manifests itself in the form of unique timepieces, each a real piece of watchmaking bravura. In the past, the manufacture has already created many table clocks decorated with sculptures reproducing a dynamic movement. This year, Parmigiani Fleurier wanted to dream bigger and go further.
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2 0 2 0 P R I N C E O F WA L E S C U P Photos by Alice Gipps · www.alicegipps.com · @alice_gipps@equine_photography Opposite, top: Facundo Pieres on the ball; bottom: Les Lions team line-up
S O C I A L- D I S TA N C I N G P O L O O P E N S W I T H T H E P R I N C E O F WA L E S C U P AT T H E R OYA L C O U N T Y O F B E R K S H I R E P O LO C LU B
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This page, top: Gonzalo Pieres; left: a Park Place Polo groom warms up a pony; right: Gonzalo Pieres (white helmet for Park Place) battles Santiago Laborde (black helmet for Les Lions) Opposite page, top: Alejandro Muzzio; left: Santiago Laborde; right: Dillon Bacon takes on Gonzalo Pieres All photos by Alice Gipps @alice_gipps_equine_photography
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WOMEN POWER 2020 EDITION
VOLUME IV / ISSUE VII / JULY 2020
WOMEN + POWER JACINDA ARDERN
PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND
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Jacinda Ardern Modeled a Drastic Lockdown with Straight Talk and Mom Jokes
eading New Zealand from isolation, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern coaxed her “team of five million” into accepting extreme restrictions. But the lessons of her success go beyond personality or charm.
crises of communication when leaders must persuade entire populations to suspend their lives because of an invisible threat. Watching Ardern on Facebook, her favored conduit, is a lesson in rhetorical blending: epidemiology brightened with empathy, law leavened with mom jokes. And it has been strikingly effective.
Halfway into a Facebook Live video last week, updating the world on New Zealand’s plan to reopen restaurants, schools and even movie theaters, Ardern noticed a concern cropping up among the commenters: they thought she looked tired.
Ardern helped coax New Zealanders — “our team of five million,” she says — to buy into a lockdown so severe that even retrieving a lost cricket ball from a neighbor’s yard was banned. Now the country, despite some early struggles with contact tracing, has very nearly stamped out the virus, exiting isolation with just 21 deaths and a few dozen active cases.
She had plenty of reason to be exhausted, managing a pandemic as well as a daughter in diapers. But instead, she blamed the unflattering beige curtains behind her, then spun her phone around to show off the vintage cane furniture with green frond upholstery in her favorite room at the official residence. “This is a fabulous chair,” said Ardern, a global progressive icon, plopping down after the brief tour. “And this is a much better corner, because where I was sitting before was right next to the nappy bucket, which I’m going to admit was not the freshest place to be sitting.” “So,” she continued after a deep breath, “when it comes to health services, you’ll see those starting to wind back up.” Pandemics are often described as page 54
But at a time when Ardern, 39, is being celebrated in some quarters as a saint, a lot gets missed. Halos can make heretics out of legitimate critics, including epidemiologists who argue that New Zealand’s lockdown went too far, that other countries suppressed the virus with less harm to small businesses. And Ardern’s canonization diminishes two powerful forces behind her success: her own hard work at making connections with constituents, and the political culture of New Zealand, which in the 1990s overhauled how it votes, forging a system that forces political parties to work together. Whether it is the world’s best-designed democracy, as some govern-
ment geeks claim, Kiwis have been clear about what they want. No single party has won a majority since 1996, encouraging a culture of cooperation, moderation and openness. “There is more responsiveness required,” said Richard Shaw, a politics professor at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. “You have to be seen listening, and in substance actually listening, because you don’t have the institutional wherewithal to simply ignore what others think.” That attentiveness is a vital component of Ardern’s leadership style — what has come to be known as her politics of kindness.
The Jacinda Method Much of the world first saw Ardern in action after the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attacks, when she stood with the Muslim victims of a white supremacist mass shooter and declared: “They are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not.” The urge to draw people into an “us” rather than an “us versus them” has served New Zealand well during the coronavirus pandemic, when truly everyone is being threatened. It follows an evolution in how Ardern speaks and handles leadership. As recently as a few years ago, she presented herself as a much more conventional politician, posting videos about homelessness, social workers or a new bike repair station.
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With her 2017 election victory, however, she seemed to emerge from the constraints of what might be expected from a typical (male) politician. She quickly became a leader who could talk policy from a podium, dress down a sexist commentator on camera or post a Facebook video encouraging a rugby team while a cat on her lap struggled against a plastic collar the size of a lampshade.
could do the work of both a mother and a world leader. She made them watch. When Ardern returned after about six weeks, her Facebook presence became more active — a flood of scenes from home and work as she communicated her way through the challenge. With each update, she got better at boiling down government into a conversation you might hear over dinner.
In June 2018, she opened up even more to her audience, with a Facebook Live of herself leaving the hospital with her newborn daughter, Neve. She was the first world leader to give birth in office since Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in 1990. The comments pouring in were overwhelmingly positive, but hinted at high expectations.
They became a model for how she has communicated online during the pandemic.
Her response was not to hide from critics who questioned whether she
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The Coronavirus Diaries In her most popular Facebook Live video, from just before the start of the lockdown on March 25 — 5.3 million views and counting — Ardern appeared in a faded green sweatshirt after putting Neve to sleep. Her elbow
on her knee, she asked everyone to be kind. “Stay at home, break the chain and you’ll save lives,” she said. It was the start of a relationship that was less saint and disciples, more friends or teammates. “You’ll be seeing me lots and lots,” she told the people tuning in. And they have. With an election scheduled for September, the next phase of New Zealand’s coronavirus response will require Ardern to do a lot of adapting and explaining. Facebook will be where to find her. In her video detailing the eased restrictions, Ms. Ardern, who did look tired, even in her favorite chair, promised viewers she would stay in touch. “Thanks for joining me,” she said, smiling. “And look after yourselves.”
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WOMEN OWER PO
“A great sign about the direction of the campaign,” the organization said on Twitter.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE
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Jean-Pierre is the author of “Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America”. She also was deputy campaign manager for Martin O’Malley’s 2016 presidential bid, served in the Obama White House as regional political director in the office of political affairs, and worked on President Barack Obama’s 2012 and 2008 presidential campaigns.
AC TI V I S T & C A M PA I G N O RG A N IZE R
arine Jean-Pierre, a Haitian-American political campaign organizer, activist and adviser, has joined Joe Biden’s presidential campaign as a senior adviser after serving as chief public affairs officer for MoveOn.org and as an NBC and MSNBC political analyst.
The networks said that Jean-Pierre is no longer a contributor following her
In June, at a MoveOn forum, a demonstrator stormed the stage as Jeannew campaign post, where she will fo- Pierre spoke with Sen. Kamala Harris cus on engagement with communities, (D-Calif.), then running for president. including with African American and The man took the mic from Harris, women voters. but Jean-Pierre put herself between him and the candidate before security “I am thrilled to announce that I will escorted him out. be joining the Biden campaign as a senior adviser,” she wrote on Twitter. “It was a scary moment,” Jean-Pierre “This is the most important genersaid afterward. “At the time, I wasn’t al election in generations and I just thinking that.” She said that she was could not sit this election out.” thinking of the Virginia Beach shooting massacre and the increase in white suMoveOn said that she would be premacy hate crimes. “I was thinking, taking a leave of absence to join the what is going on? And I just acted,” she Biden campaign’s senior leadership. said. page 57
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WOMEN + POWER AVA D U V E R N AY D I R E C T O R & E D U C AT O R
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Disrupting the code of silence around police aggression and misconduct
irector Ava DuVernay, whose 2019 miniseries "When They See Us" started a national conversation about the five teenagers of color wrongly convicted in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, will tell new stories about police brutality through her latest initiative, the Law Enforcement Accountability Project.
The initiative will fund 25 short-term projects including film, theater, music and literature over the next two years through Array Alliance, DuVernay’s non-profit for diversity in film. Kicking off with a $3 million budget backed by the Ford Foundation and producer Ryan Murphy, LEAP’s mission is to disrupt the code of silence that exists around police aggression and misconduct.
DuVernay has been spurred to action after watching the disturbing video of George Floyd’s death shot by a 17-year-old onlooker, who filmed Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck. The officer, who has been fired and faces charges of second-degree murder, revealed the “invisibility” of abusive police officers like she had never seen before. “We actually watched both parties’ faces perfectly framed. It was both men right in your face, right to the lens, one begging for his life and one taking his life,” DuVernay told Ellen DeGeneres. “It made me realize that we have let police officers who abuse off the hook by allowing them to recede into society and kind of disappear.” DuVernay’s groundbreaking work has gained heightened relevance as a source of education for non-black people on the history of American
racial discrimination in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. In April, Netflix made DuVernay’s 2016 documentary on the intersection of race and mass incarceration in the U.S., "13th," free to watch on YouTube for teachers to show students during quarantine. However, since the death of Floyd sparked a new wave of digital activism against police violence two weeks ago, the Academy-Award nominated film has been trending on Netflix. DuVernay is also known for her 2014 historical drama "Selma," which looks at Martin Luther King Jr.’s voting-rights march against racial injustice to Montgomery in 1965. Last month, DuVernay launched the online education initiative ARRAY 101 to provide learning guides for her company’s film and television series. The first guide released accompanies her Emmy-nominated Netflix series "When They See Us."
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WOMEN + POWER MARY BARRA GENER AL MOTORS CEO
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n response to the social justice marches and calls to action inspired by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, General Motors CEO Mary Barra is stepping up her commitment. Now is the time, Barra says. She announced to her employees in an internal memo that the company has created a 12-member “inclusion advisory board” to guide the global automaker in its effort to improve diversity and inclusion in its ranks. Barra, the first woman to lead a car company with a female chief financial officer by her side, has been recognized nationally for her commitment to diversifying the workplace and her board of directors. The task force includes two of Detroit's most accomplished young Black leaders: Tonya Allen, page 60
CEO of the Skillman Foundation, and entrepreneur Dennis Archer Jr. Allen has established herself as someone who not only provides a voice for Detroit children but also helped to provide philanthropic dollars when so many organizations abandoned the city and gave up. At the top of the internal announcement letter, Barra wrote: “Our Work Continues.” “Last month, as part of my post in response to the death of George Floyd, I assured you that General Motors would take several immediate actions. One step was to create an Inclusion Advisory Board of internal and external leaders that I will chair.” Along with Barra, the other 11 members will guide GM’s work to improve “diversity and inclusion ... with the ultimate aspiration of making GM the most inclusive company in the world,” she wrote.
Barra said, “We have a lot of work to do as a board and as a company, but this is an encouraging start. I continue to be inspired by your notes, your personal stories, and your commitment to doing your part to make our company and our world a better and more equitable place for everyone.” She encouraged her company to “continue the dialogue” with each other and in social circles “because dialogue leads to understanding, and understanding leads to change. Together, we will do this.” •
On June 2, she wrote a passionate letter after the Minneapolis police brutality case.
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On June 3, she joined Detroit leaders in making a public commitment to work to change the corporate culture.
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On June 5, she announced a $10-million investment in organizations that promote racial justice.
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G R E TA T H U N B E R G C L I M AT E C H A M P I O N
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reta Thunberg has said the Black Lives Matter protests show society has reached a tipping point where injustice can no longer be ignored, but that she believes a “green recovery plan” from the coronavirus pandemic will not be enough to solve the climate crisis. Reflecting on the protests that have swept the globe in recent weeks, the Swedish climate activist told the BBC “It feels like we have passed some kind of social tipping point where people are starting to realize that we cannot keep looking away from these things. We cannot keep sweeping these things under the carpet, these injustices. People are starting to find their voice, to sort of understand that they can actually have an impact.” The coronavirus pandemic had instilled hope in her as governments acted in the face of an emergency, but the climate crisis “needs to be treated with the same urgency,” she said. “It shows that in a crisis, you act, and you act with necessary force,” she said. “Suddenly, people in power are saying they will do whatever it takes since you cannot put a price on human life.” “The main message that underlines everything we [as climate activists] do is, ‘Listen to the science, listen to the experts’, and suddenly you hear everyone everywhere is saying that. It feels like the corona crisis has changed the role of science in our society.” The 17-year-old has been using her time in lockdown to study, despite taking a sabbatical year from school to travel and campaign on the climate crisis. She sailed across the Atlantic last year to attend UN climate summits, eventually ending up in Madrid to address talks originally to be hosted in Chile. “I thought I’m just home anyway, so I might as well just jump in the class in my free time as a bonus. It doesn’t really count, but I love studying so much,” she said. She has also used her time to produce a radio program, “Humanity has not Yet Failed”, reflecting on some of her experiences and meetings over the last year and looking at some of the challenges the world faces in tackling the environmental crisis. “The climate and ecological crisis cannot be solved within today’s political and economic systems,” she said. “That isn’t an opinion. That’s a fact.”
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WOMEN + POWER DR. JILL BIDEN
E D U C AT O R & F O R M E R S E C O N D L A DY
Tireless campaigner, tireless mother, tireless professor
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he life of Jill Biden, an educator who worked fulltime while Joe Biden was Vice President, defends him from protesters and is a crucial part of his 2020 campaign.
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has gained dramatic momentum in recent weeks, with the former Vice President securing the votes needed to capture the Democratic nomination for president. In the wake of Coronavirus fears and Black Lives Matter protests after the killing of George Floyd, his messages and appearances have calmed and comforted. As a result, his poll numbers are climbing. One person in his campaign has come out as one of his most forceful surrogates: his wife, Dr. Jill Biden. She has campaigned tirelessly alongside him throughout the 2020 election season and stood by him throughout his decades-long political career. The Bidens, who have been married for 43 years, have also endured a series of highs and lows, from his vice presidency to the 2015 death of her stepson, Beau Biden. Jill’s drive dates back to her early years in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. When she was 15, she started her first job as a waitress. “From an early age, I
knew I wanted my own money, my own identity, my own career,” she told Vogue. She was set up on a blind date with Joe Biden by his brother, Frank. “The guys I had dated (wore) bell bottoms and clogs. When Joe showed up at my door, I took one look at his perfect suit and his leather loafers, and I thought, ‘Thank God it’s only one date.’” But when the date was over, she had changed her mind drastically, telling her mother: “Mom, I finally met a gentleman.” Joe was nine years older than her, with two living children from a previous marriage. He proposed to her five times before she accepted. “By that time, of course, I had fallen in love with (his) boys, and I really felt that this marriage had to work. Because they had lost their (birth) mom, and I couldn’t have them lose another mother,” Jill recalled. Jill continued to work full-time, taking only two years off at one point to care for their burgeoning family. She remained largely uninterested in the politics of Joe’s job until 2004. Her strong opposition to the Iraq War led her to urge Joe to seek the presidential nomination again. In 2008, she took on a more public role alongside Michelle Obama, to campaign for the Obama-Biden ticket. Following the
election and her assumption of the title Second Lady, she continued to teach full-time, becoming the first full-time working Second Lady in history. The loss of her stepson Beau in 2015 was devastating for Jill, who said later, “My life changed in an instant. All during his illness, I truly believed he was going to live, up until the moment that he closed his eyes, and I just never gave up hope.” Beau’s death led Joe to announce that he was not going to run for the 2016 presidential election. Jill stood by his side when he made that announcement at the White House in October 2015. But when he decided to run in 2020, it was much to do with Jill. According to The New York Times, she was “enthusiastically” in favor of his decision. Since then, she has tirelessly campaigned for her husband, even pulling out of her teaching responsibilities temporarily to do so. Sometimes Jill even takes on more commitments than her husband, throwing fundraisers, parades or even house parties. But throughout the race, the Bidens have demonstrated a united front, and Joe looks to his wife to keep him going.
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WOMEN + POWER DR. AUMA OBAMA CHANGE MAKER
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ommunity activist, sociologist and author, it seems like nothing can hold Dr. Auma Obama, founder of Kenya’s “Sauti Kuu” (Powerful Voices) Foundation, back.
But what does it take to bring about positive change? The half-sister of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, presented three characteristics that game changers share at Julius Baer’s Global Young Partners Reunion in January. “Poverty is no excuse.” “Development aid has to be linked to economic development.” “Once others hear your voice loud and clear, they realize you exist.” These are only some of the convictions that Dr. Auma Obama has – and she is not afraid to shout them from the rooftops. The passionate community activist was born and raised in Kenya before leaving for Germany, where she completed her doctoral degree in Philosophy at the University of Bayreuth. After returning to Kenya to work for CARE International, the page 64
half-sister of Barack Obama established the Sauti Kuu (Powerful Voices) Foundation in 2010.
erned by fear. Change makers, on the other hand, dream big, are creative, and think critically.
Perhaps she says it best herself in the following short essay she penned recently.
Many years ago, Barack visited me in my small one-room apartment. While lying on his camp bed, he told me that he would quit community work to study law. He wanted to enter the American government because he believed that this was the only way to make a change. He was dreaming big.
When did you last inspire someone? When did you last say: “I want to be a better person, I want to do greater things, I want to give my best?” Take some time to reflect on these questions because they are important. Wealth does not define you. Wealth does not make you a better person. Wealth does not turn you into a lioness or a lion. The formula to achieve this can only be found within yourself. You cannot be passive and complacent. You must take up every challenge that comes your way because every challenge is also an opportunity. I frequently get invited to events to speak about myself, my foundation and my family. After I have completed my presentation, however, a lot of people approach me and ask, “But what can I do? Where am I in this? I can’t achieve all of these things because I don’t have a big name behind me, I lack of something etc.” It took me a while to understand that it’s not about me. It takes a certain personality to be a change maker. How you see yourself and how you feel about yourself is crucial. In my opinion, it all boils down to three characteristics:
1. Change makers dream big
Most of us do not even try to change the status quo because we are gov-
If I had told Barack at that time that he was not going to make it, he simply would have replied, “Of course I am!”
2. Change makers fail – but do not give up
Confidence is another defining attribute of change makers. They say, “I can do this, even if I’m afraid.” They fight their fear and pick themselves up from the floor, even if they made a mistake or failed. And they fail many times in a row. The difference is that they keep on going and strive for the best. Leonardo da Vinci called this “stubborn application”. “I will do it stubbornly because I’m sure it’s going to happen anyway,” was his life motto.
3. Change makers are human and compassionate
Finally, yet most importantly, true leaders carry humanity and compassion in their hearts. They realize that they could be the beggar in the street and never judge a book by its cover. Change makers know that they are not better than anybody else and that they could not have achieved anything without the help of others.
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WOMEN + POWER NAOMI OSAK A TENNIS CHAMPION
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aomi Osaka, the world’s highest-paid female athlete, says the voices of prominent athletes can be more influential than those of politicians and is determined hers will be heard on the subject of racial injustice.
The two-time Grand Slam champion has faced a backlash on social media after throwing her support behind the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while pinned face down by three Minneapolis police officers on May 25. The 22-year-old Osaka, who has a Japanese mother and Haitian father but grew up and lives mostly in the United States, says she has no intention of backing down and hopes to
help drive real and permanent social change. “I’m vocal because I believe in the movement and want to try to use my platform to facilitate change,” Osaka said. “George Floyd’s murder and the situation generally in America has had a big impact on me. Being silent is never the answer. Everyone should have a voice in the matter and use it.” The death of Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis police has sparked worldwide protests against racism and calls for reforms in U.S. law enforcement. Osaka said she had marched in Minneapolis and attended other Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles, where she lives. She says the climate has changed considerably since quarterback Colin
Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem before a 2016 NFL game and paid for his protest by being ostracized by the league. “Colin has been putting this message out since 2016. It took a pandemic, an economic crisis and a torturous murder on camera, all at the same time, for people to really hear him,” she said. “It shouldn’t have been that way. If the NFL wants to show that they really care the first thing they should do is take a knee together and give Colin his job back.” “I do think this time there is a different feel and energy, and the protests are so far reaching. There have even been BLM marches in Japan! That makes me so happy,” she continued. “So I’m hopeful for change, I’ll keep campaigning for change, and I demand a better future for the next generation.”
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WOMEN + POWER L AURA HARRIER ACTRESS
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n Netflix’s “Hollywood”, Laura Harrier plays Camille Washington, a rising star. The casting couldn’t be more fitting, as Harrier is also doing some rising of her own— and this is a breakthrough moment.
Since 2017, the 30-year-old actress was featured in a Marvel movie—she played Liz in “SpiderMan: Homecoming”—as well as the Oscar-nominated flick, “BlacKkKlansman”, and now, Ryan Murphy›s “Hollywood” series on Netflix. Camille is clearly one of the most talented actresses signed at Ace Studios. But she is also the only black actress— which means she is not offered leading
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lady roles. Thanks to “Hollywood’s” twist of revisionist history, however, Camille eventually gets her chance to shine as the star of a movie based on the story of Peg Entwistle, a struggling performer who infamously jumped off the Hollywood sign.
“He just said he had a new project, and he wanted to meet me, and to get to New York, the next day,” Harrier said. She answered the call and “BlacKkKlansman” ended up being nominated for six Academy Awards.
Harrier shines among the “Hollywood” star-studded cast, including Rob Reiner, Jim Parsons, Joe Mantello, Holland Taylor, Patti LuPone, Darren Criss, Dylan McDermott, Jeremy Pope and Samara Weaving.
Harrier is a vocal advocate for on-screen diversity since the start of her career—much like her “Hollywood” character, Camille.
Spike Lee personally sought her out for “BlacKkKlansman.” After appearing in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Harrier jumped to the provocative film about race relations. In fact, Lee called her directly for the part of Patrice, interrupting her vacation.
“I want to do romantic comedies and other films in which you don’t see people who look like me; movies where you’ve never really seen people who don’t look like Kate Hudson. I don’t know what people’s thought process was when they believed that audiences couldn’t connect to seeing people of color fall in love,” she said.
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WOMEN + POWER BETHENNY FRANKEL R E A L I T Y T V S TA R & H U M A N I TA R I A N
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n the pilot episode of Real Housewives of New York, Bethenny Frankel turned on her stove. “I’m a natural-food chef,” she said in voiceover, by way of introduction. “I want to be a household name, like a modern, healthy Martha Stewart.” It was just one of the things she was known for in 2008, like her fluffy dog Cookie, her desire to find love, and her signature “skinny-girl margarita.” Since then, Frankel has taken on many professional titles; one of them, increasingly, is humanitarian. With her BStrong initiative, she springs into action around disaster relief, contributing critical supplies and funding to Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Maria and Irma, California after the wildfires, Mexico City after an earthquake. Now, with the rest of the planet, she has turned her attention to COVID-19. She has raised over $15 million so far, using the money to coordinate the delivery of masks and hazmat suits, and to direct funding to hospitals, healthcare systems and police officers in New York City, New Orleans, San Francisco and more. At a time when many celebrities seem brutally tone-deaf, logging into their Instagram accounts for live sessions from their mega-mansions, Frankel, 49, appears to be using her money and influence for good. In 2017, Frankel launched the BStrong initiative, which provides disaster supplies and coordinates their delivery via shelters and local organizations. In a heartbreaking 2018 episode of RHONY, Frankel, and page 70
co-star Dorinda Medley traveled to Puerto Rico, where they handed out $300 pre-loaded cards and bottles of water to weeping recipients. Why has disaster relief become Frankel’s raison d’être? “I am an intense business person. I dive into whatever I’m passionate about and don’t come out until the mission is over...I am a ‘get it done’ executor and I don’t do red tape or complaining,” Frankel said in an interview last week. “I just figure it out. Disaster relief is for an intensely organized person who can handle the fastest rollercoaster on earth.” For their work on the global pandemic, Frankel and BStrong have teamed with a 501(c)(3) organization, Global Empowerment Mission, to raise funds and work directly with PPE manufacturers to drop supplies at hospitals, health clinics, health departments, police departments and healthcare companies. Occasionally, they give the money straight to these essential departments. “With this donation, we continue to make sure our staff are able to suit up for this fight,” said Paul J. Connor, the chief administrative officer at Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital. The hospital received 4,000 masks and 500 bio hazard suits from BStrong and Global Empowerment Mission. “We are grateful that Bethenny Frankel and her BStong initiative will protect our healthcare heroes.” While her volunteer work may seem herculean, Frankel’s current daily routine during coronavirus might not be all that different from the one happen-
ing in your house. “We wake up and snuggle with the dogs, watch TV, start learning and reading. Then we may get into an art project,” she says of life with her 9-year-old daughter, Bryn. “I am the day-to-day operations—organizing my daughter’s school, cooking, dog groomer, running my business, and relief effort.” She is also diving back into that original professional passion. “I’ve been cooking all three meals and loving it,” she says. “I am always creative with my freezer and pantry, but it’s very creative to plan the meals out. I’ve been to the market twice in a month, so I am foraging daily.” One item on her regular to-do list that you might not be able to relate to, though? Rallying celebrities like Mindy Kaling, Amy Schumer, Ellen Degeneres, Katie Couric and many more to contribute. A few days ago, Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camilla Alves McConaughey stepped up, donating enough money to cover 80,000 masks for essential workers in Austin, Texas. “We worked closely together during the Puerto Rico crisis. As entrepreneurs, I was able to see first-hand her ability to execute against all odds, and I was deeply impressed,” says Grant Verstandig, the founder of Rally Health. He and the Verstandig Family Foundation have donated $1.3 million to BStrong to assist with coronavirus issues. “As I ramped up my Covid relief efforts at my foundation, I knew she was someone who could make a difference.”
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When asked why more celebrities and privileged people are not stepping up, Frankel doesn’t take the bait to bash them further. “I have no idea what other people are doing,” she says. “I know this takes a very organized, strategic person who is an executor. This is a non-partisan, ‘don’t complain, don’t explain’ effort.”
Still, Frankel’s not superhuman, and she feels the same anxieties as anyone about the pandemic and its aftermath. “It’s normal for people to feel trauma, PTSD, anxiety and fear. This is an unprecedented crisis, so we should have unprecedented feelings,” she said. Structure helps, she added: “Even taking a hot bath and putting clean clothes on resets the day.”
And her BStrong work brings a kind of comfort, too. “It’s a project. It’s productive,” Frankel says. She recently posted on Instagram, wearing a big cozy sweater and flannel pants. “If there is one thing Coronavirus has reminded us of is what is real and what is important,” she wrote, “Because everything else is just filler.” page 71
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WOMEN + POWER TR ACEE ELLIS ROSS ACTRESS & PERFORMER
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ctress Tracee Ellis Ross has been in the entertainment business for years — from her work in “The Lyricist Lounge Show”, the ensemble sitcom “Girlfriends”, and her current Golden Globe-winning role as Dr. Rainbow "Bow" Johnson in the ABC comedy “Black-ish”. Ross talks about processing a global pandemic and witnessing protests for racial justice nationwide and what the current moment can mean for Black narratives and representation in Hollywood. “I feel very encouraged about what is happening right now. It also feels untenable and destabilizing,” she says. “But there are real structures in place and systems in place that continue to keep things as they are. And they need to change.” She also shares her frustration with an ageist Hollywood. “We still live in a world where ageism, sexism, rac-
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ism, they are alive and well,’” Ross tells Sam. Yet she points to the example set by other women she admires. “Look at Michelle Obama. Look at my mom. Look at Jennifer Lopez. Look at Sanaa Lathan. Look at Gabrielle Union.” Ross says the way women are treated across different industries makes her ask one question: “Why you get to a certain age and you stop dreaming?” In the current climate, Hollywood insiders expect to see more Black narratives, which, to Ross, is long overdue. “Look at our world, guys! Look at what this looks like! We’ve been here! By the way, this is the other thing I always say in terms of hair, I’m like, we’ve been beauti-
ful forever! Our hair’s been coming out of our heads like this forever. This is not new. Black girl magic might be a new term, but it’s an old experience,” she said. “It’s the same thing I said and what I meant at the Golden Globes, like it might be, have been, 35 years since a Black woman was nominated or won. But it has not been 35 years since a Black woman has been the lead in her life. That is, that is not new information we have been — it’s lovely to see yourself in that way. But we’ve been here being incredible forever. Telling our stories, being our
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stories, being in our lives, running our lives, doing our lives. So that’s not new.” In “The High Note,” Ross sings on-screen and produced seven demos during production, but she didn’t tell her mom, icon Diana Ross, about the singing until she felt confident about her performance. “I didn’t tell her I was singing in the movie, [but] not on purpose, I just didn’t,” she said. “Finally, after we had recorded enough of the demo tracks and I felt like I was kind of gaining my footing a little bit, I was like, ‘Mom, I’m ready for you to hear.’ She’s like, ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘The song.’ She was like, ‘OK.’ So, by then she knew, and I picked her up in my car. Listening to music in the car is always great because you’re in sort of, you know, an enclosed space with speakers.” “So, I picked her up. We sat in my car in her driveway. And she sat in the passenger seat. And we were holding hands on the, you know, the little thing in between the armrest. And then she finally — you know, she’s got a lot of hair. So I couldn’t see her face when she was looking for it. And then she kind of finally turned to me and her face is covered in tears. And she just looked at me and said, ‘Finally.’”
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WOMEN + POWER H I L L A RY C L I N TO N TH E WO M A N I N TH E PA NT S U IT
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n “Hillary,” a documentary now playing on Hulu, director Nanette Burstein mines 1,700 hours of unseen footage from the 2016 campaign and more than 35 hours of new interviews with Hillary Clinton to explore the politician and the person behind the pantsuit. Beyond the documentary, Clinton still commands major attention as she speaks nearly full-time about the health, civil rights and economic crises associated with the current presidential administration. “We’re seeing that play out dramatically right now between COVID, and the economy, and the terrible decisions made around peaceful protesters, and trying to send in the military — and so much that is contrary to the Constitution, to our fundamental values to humanity,” Clinton said. “So, I have carried with me this real sense of deep responsibility that, ‘Oh, my gosh, I just can’t bear the fact this man became president.’ For whatever combination of reasons, and there page 76
were a lot of reasons, I win a popular vote and lose the electoral college by literally a handful.” For the 2020 election cycle, Clinton vowed that she was determined to help Joe Biden win the upcoming November election. “I’m spending most of my time trying to do everything I can to retire him, and to send him back to the golf course full-time,” Clinton said. As an early adapter of the term, she doesn’t hold back on Black Lives Matter either. “This protest that is going on” — in response to George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers — “it really is a kind of moment of moral reckoning,” Clinton said, noting that people could no longer ignore images of police brutality shot on iPhones. “They can’t turn away from that 8:46 minute video. They can’t turn away from the look on that policeman’s face where he just literally shifted his body and put his hand in [his] pocket and put greater pressure on Mr. Floyd’s neck. Because they can’t look away, they have to come to grips with what has gone on.”
Clinton believes that there have been changes in the dialogue about racism in the United States. “Black Lives Matter was considered a kind of radical statement a few years ago,” Clinton said. “I remember I was criticized, I was attacked online, for using it. And I get it, and now, we’re at a different point because people’s awareness, consciousness and actual events that they now see on their phones has changed the debate.” Clinton experienced gender bias throughout her campaign as voters responded to her differently based on their own biases about women. “I really did feel that I was this walking Rorschach test,” Clinton said. “That people would project onto me all kinds of feelings and experiences in their own lives. Obviously, it was most apparent around my decision to stay in my marriage, which was a very painful, personal challenge. We talked, obviously, quite a bit about [that] in the documentary, and it was not easy. I felt like I was making, at the end of the day, the right decision for me, my family. And therefore, I was very much at peace with that.”
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WOMEN + POWER EVE EWING POET & AUTHOR
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ve Ewing’s, @eveewing on Twitter, (trust me, she is worth the follow) lists of titles runs long. She is a poet, an essayist, a comic book writer, sociologist and professor from Chicago, Illinois.
Her poems, non-fiction and essays focus on race, gender and social justice. Her poetry has been published in many journals including, The Rumpus, Adroit Journal and Tin House, while her essays and interviews can be found in outlets such as The Atlantic, Medium and the New York Times, while her comics are published by Marvel, where she is best known for “Ironheart”, which is about Riri Williams taking over the role of Ironman from Tony Stark. Currently, Ewing has two books of poetry out. There is 2017’s “Electric Arches”, a collection I implore evpage 78
eryone to read, whether you are into poetry or not. It is a seminal work in the literary canon and one that NPR called one of the best books of 2017. In 2019, Ewing released her second collection of poetry, “1919”, which is a collection of poems ruminating on the aftermath of the 1919 Chicago race riots. In 1922 the government released a report titled “The Negro in Chicago: A Study on Race Relations and a Race Riot” to analyze the causes of the 1919 riot. The concept of Ewing’s “1919” is that each poem, is in a way, a rebuttal to many of the claims that the government report made. But, perhaps her most famous work to non-poetry-readers is “Ghost in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side”. In 2013, then Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a wave of unprecedented—for a city the size of Chicago—school closure as a way to address budget issues. In her book,
Ewing argues that this decision did not take place in a vacuum and that the closing could be attributed to a system of systematic racism. The schools closed were in majority minority neighborhoods, which were already affected by a lack of public housing and other necessities. In part, the city government chose to close these schools in the Chicago Public school system because of under enrollment. However, this under enrollment was caused by the same government’s destruction of public housing in the area. As an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Chicago and former teacher and student of the Chicago Public School System, it is no wonder that Ewing has such a passionate voice for what goes on in her hometown’s school system. Eve Ewing is truly an important voice for social justice in this generation. Gregory Bertrand Polo Lifestyles 2020
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WOMEN + POWER S TA C E Y A B R A M S VICE PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL
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tacey Abrams is the focus of renewed national attention thanks to her very public campaigning for the same V.P. slot that she declined last year. But a lot – namely everything – has changed in the last year.
As the former minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives and serious gubernatorial candidate in the last election cycle, she navigates opportunities where she is usually
the only black woman. “I understand a few things,” she is famously quoted for saying. Those things include the importance of speaking up and asking for what you want. “I have been brought into this national conversation since last year,” she said. “And, at each phase of the conversation, I always answer directly, because I know that people of color, that young girls, are watching me and how I respond. My obligation is to be who I am, and to not allow traditions to continue and perpetuate the consequences.”
In Abrams’ home state of Georgia and across the country, we are only beginning to see the social consequences of covid-19—and political implications generally lag behind social ones. “The pandemic will pass. We don’t know when, and we don’t know what will replace it, but the most important message I want to deliver is that leadership matters,” Abrams told me. “Leadership that tells the truth, leadership that has competence, and the skills and the proven deliverables.” page 79
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WOMEN + POWER MICHELLE OBAMA A U T H O R & I N S P I R AT I O N
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After the White House, who is she "Becoming"?
ormer First Lady Michelle Obama has a book, “Becoming”, and a Netflix documentary about the aforementioned book. The documentary is a peek into the world of a former First Lady who very much would like to return to a normal life but understands that will never happen.
Propelled to the world’s stage as her husband, Barack Obama was running for president, she lived in the White House for eight years, showcasing a picture-perfect existence while championing causes close to her heart. Since leaving the White House in 2016, she has been able to speak more freely about the extreme pressures of being the first Black inhabitants at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Her memoir, “Becoming”, explored those years, but that’s just a snapshot of who Michelle Robinson Obama is – and, freed from protocol and political correctness, who she is becoming. Shonda Rhimes, writer and TV producer, recently interviewed Michelle Obama about why voting matters – maybe now more than ever before. SHONDA RHIMES: 2020 has been an uncomfortable year. One that I’ve found to be, at times, scary, frustrating, painful and yet hopeful at times. The peaceful marches worldwide after the wrongful death of George Floyd come to mind. It has been an important year. When you look out at the world right now, what gives you hope page 82
for the future? And is there anything that this experience we are all living through right now has revealed to you that makes you hopeful? MICHELLE OBAMA: With everything that’s gone on over these past few months, I know a lot of folks out there have been confused, or scared, or angry or just plain overwhelmed. And I’ve got to be honest; I count myself among them. I think we’ve all been there. Our foundation has been shaken—not just by a pandemic that stole more than 100,000 of our loved ones and sent tens of millions into unemployment, but also by the rumbling of the age-old fault lines of race, class and power that our country was built on. The heartache and frustration that boiled over after the losses of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others has caused a lot of us to grapple with the very essence of who we are—the kind of people we want to be. But even in that, I find hope. I think a lot about the younger generation growing up right now, about how they’re seeing just how fragile even the best-laid plans can be. In this tumultuous period, they’ve been learning something that often took previous generations years, or decades, to understand: that life can be unfair. It can be unjust. And more than anything, it is always uncertain. But if you live by foundational truths, like honesty, compassion and decency, and if you channel your frustration into our democracy with your vote and your voice, you can find your true
north even in times of crisis. Because of all this upheaval, this generation is learning those lessons faster than folks our age did. They’re learning it together and making their voices heard. And I couldn’t be more inspired by so much of what I’ve seen. So even while there’s a lot of pain out there, and that pain is very real, that’s something that gives me hope—the hope that this generation will not only learn these lessons earlier than ours ever did but apply them in ways that we never could. But also, let me be clear: Making progress on these issues isn’t just on the shoulders of young people. It isn’t just on people of color. It’s up to all of us, no matter what we look like or where we come from. We’ve all got to do the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting out racism and fighting for real justice. It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own. I hope we all have the strength to take that first step. SR: Yes, that is my hope as well. The first step and every step thereafter. We’ve had so many pivotal moments in history where a huge segment of this country has had to come together to promote and protect equal rights. August 18 marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women in the United States the right to vote. When you look back at the events that led up to the ratification of that amendment and the struggle to secure equal rights for women, how important is that moment? What does it have you thinking about right now?
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MO: I am thinking about how the story of progress in this country is written by the people who believe what should happen actually can happen. One hundred years ago, there were plenty of naysayers who thought granting women the right to vote would lead to societal decline. And there were plenty of others who were sympathetic to the cause but dismissed it with an “Oh, well, that will never happen.” But history is made by the people who show up for the fight, even when they know they might not be fully recognized for their contributions. That’s why I think it’s so important we spend this anniversary reflecting on all those women who fought for us today, but especially women of color like Sojourner Truth and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. The suffrage movement may not have been fully welcoming to women like them, but they kept on working anyway. They weren’t thinking about themselves; they were thinking about their daughters and their granddaughters. SR: So many people seem to feel that voting or not voting does not directly affect them. What do you think has led them to feel that way? MO: You know, some folks don’t see the impact of their vote on their dayto-day lives—if the trains still run, the kids are still going to school and they still have a job, what difference does one vote really make, right? When you get whole families thinking like that, whole communities, then you start to see how the impact multiplies. But the pandemic has pulled the curtain back on that line of thinking. It showed us just how important it is to have competent leaders in office—leaders who prioritize their citizens’ well-being over their own poll numbers. We have all sorts of examples right now of that leadership in action and its effect on our daily lives. So, every single person out there needs to ask themselves, do they trust the folks in charge to make the right call? Whether it’s school boards or statehouses or those in Washington—are my neighborhood’s page 84
interests being represented, or are they being ignored? They’re questions we should be asking every year, in every election, and at every level of government. Because when a crisis hits, there are no do-overs. SR: You and I have talked about voting a great deal over the years, and I am here to tell everyone that Michelle Obama explains voting’s importance better than anyone I know. But it’s not as easy when the rest of us try to explain voting to our own friends and family. So for everyone here, can you give us some clear, simple talking points that we can use on why voting is so important? MO: Talking about issues, our duties as citizens, the impact our votes have—that’s all important. But for me, when I’m talking to young people, I like to ask them a simple question: Would you let your grandma decide what you wear on a night out to the club? Would you want her picking out the car you drive or the apartment you live in? Not many people want someone else making their decisions for them, especially when that person might not see the world the same way as they do. That’s what happens when you don’t vote: You are giving away your power to someone else—someone who doesn’t see the world the same as you. You’re letting them make some key decisions about the way you live. And the truth is, that’s exactly what some folks are hoping you’ll do. They’re hoping that you’ll stay home so that they can make these important decisions for you.
forth, but it is by no means a prerequisite to casting a ballot. Because at the end of the day, someone is going to be making the decisions about how much money your schools get and how tax money is distributed. Voting gives you a say in those matters. It can also be your way of saying that you care about your community and the people in it, that you are going to keep showing up and making your voice heard, even when the candidates don’t set your heart on fire. Because if you wait for that to happen, you might be waiting a long time. And meanwhile, the world moves on without you. But when we all vote, in all elections, we get the kind of responsive leadership that speaks for our families and our communities. SR: The COVID-19 pandemic has added another layer of complexity to the process of going to the polls and casting our ballots—and ensuring the health of everyone, regardless of their politics or party affiliation, is a primary concern. Obviously, now there are new challenges. How can we make voting both safe and accessible for all voters in this coming election?
SR: I remember after the last election hearing anecdotal evidence that some people did not vote because they did not feel “inspired by” or “excited by” the candidate choices. What do you think about this need for inspiration? Should it influence voter turnout?
MO: Nobody should have to choose between their health and making their voice heard. We all deserve safe ways to register and vote, which is why my nonpartisan When We All Vote initiative is working overtime to ramp up efforts to expand access to vote by mail, early in-person voting, and online voter registration. People shouldn’t have to endanger themselves or their families to participate in our democracy, especially when the public health risks can be so easily avoided, and an election can still run smoothly and fairly. And as we’ve seen for years, options like voting by mail and early in-person voting help make voting easier for Americans of all walks of life.
MO: Voting is so much bigger than one election, one party or one candidate. It’s great to feel inspired by candidates and the visions they put
SR: I have three daughters, and I’ve always shared with them my passion for the importance of voting. In fact, I always take my younger children with
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me into the voting booth, just like my mother took me. Do you have any suggestions or ideas for seeding the concepts of voting and citizenship in younger kids and tweens? MO: Taking them to vote with you is so important! Your tweens may not like to admit it, but they really do look up to you—and seeing Mom or Dad heading to the polls every time an election happens is something they won’t forget. That was certainly the case for me. I also think we should make a bigger deal out of registering to vote by your 18th birthday. It should be a rite of passage that’s celebrated like when you get your driver’s license or go to prom. That’s a big part of the idea behind our “My School Votes” program, which gives students
and educators the tools they need to register every eligible voter at their school. Because while seeing what your parents do is compelling, being a part of what your friends are doing is awfully persuasive too. More than four million young people will turn 18 in 2020, and if we can get them and their friends excited about voting right now, they can all start building voting into their lives from square one. Then, hopefully, it’ll become a lifelong habit. SR: In the last few election cycles, we’ve seen a lot of women run for public office. When you see the field of candidates who have stepped forward and run, how does it make you feel? MO: First, I want to say: Women have always led. Even when they’ve been
denied official positions of power, they’ve still done the work of keeping our communities together and fighting for a better future for our children. But it does feel exciting and different that so many women, especially women of color, are running and taking their rightful places in government. A democracy should actually look like the country it represents, and the women who have been stepping up to lead are doing so much to help bring us closer to that ideal. And the consequences of all this can’t be undersold. When you have a wider range of lived experience at the table when decisions are being made, you get better decisions—decisions that take a wider range of people into account. And that, in the end, is good for everybody.
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WOMEN + POWER CAMIL A McCONAUGHEY PHILANTHROPIST
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amila Alves McConaughey is a fashion and lifestyle expert and entrepreneur born in Brazil and now residing in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Matthew McConaughey, and their three children.
She also runs the Women of Today website and a foundation called Just Keep Livin’, which works with kids from some of the country’s poorest schools, all of which she’s currently doing from home. page 86
McConaughey, 38, a self-professed lover of house hunting, ended up buying a home in Austin she initially thought was too big (there’s an elevator), and she’s filled it with items from her travels to fit her eclectic style. Her home office, surrounded almost entirely by glass, is where she seeks solace during these trying times—or until a prayer tent she’s designing has been completed. McConaughey also takes comfort in helping others, including handing out masks to essential workers in rural parts of Louisiana and Texas. She said
that giving back to the community has helped her get through the trying times presented by the coronavirus. “The lanes we picked were education, food and protection. Finding ways to help and having a purpose [has] helped me stay sane. I encourage everyone to find that... it can be something big; it can be something small. It can be as simple as helping your neighbors who are elders, doing something nice for the front line workers who’ve been going through a lot. Having that purpose really makes a difference in dealing with this time,” she said.
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KEISHA L A N C E B OT TO M S M AYO R O F AT L A N TA
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tlanta Mayor and former judge Keisha Lance Bottoms knows what it is like to have the police come to your home, tear everything apart, including your box of toys, and watch your father be taken away, hands cuffed behind his back. When that happened, during her childhood, police ordered 8-year-old Bottoms and her two older siblings to sit on the sofa and not move. Even after the officers left, Bottoms stayed put for hours, afraid of trouble if she moved. That traumatic experience, friends say, helps explain how she makes tough decisions as a mayor to address unrest over police violence and discuss the issues in an empathetic way that has resonated across the country. Atlanta’s 60th mayor – and only the second African American woman to serve in that role – has emerged as a leading figure amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “Her life experience is a uniquely African American experience,” said friend and fellow mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, S.C., “that of a woman to whom nothing was given.” Nearly three weeks after Floyd’s death, the anguish over a police killing repeated itself in Atlanta when Rayshard Brooks was shot Friday outside a Wendy’s after officers responded to a call about him being asleep in his car in the drive-through lane.
Bottoms fired the police officer who shot Brooks, and the incident led to the resignation of Police Chief Erika Shields, a Bottoms ally who will remain in the department. “Up until Friday, I thought we were doing it right,” Bottoms said on CNN Sunday. “People are looking to us to lead, but when these things continue to happen over and over again, we’re asking ourselves the same questions. How do we lead during this time?”
review board and intervene to prevent the use of excessive force by fellow officers. “There is a fierce urgency of now in our communities,” she said, quoting one of the city’s favorite sons, Martin Luther King Jr. “It is clear we do not have another day, another minute... to waste.”
On Monday, following the shooting, she decided not to wait for recommendations from the advisory panel she recently created on use-of-force policies and unveiled several executive orders.
During her years running the city, Bottoms created Atlanta’s first fully staffed Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, blocked the city jail from housing federal immigrant detainees and established a website aimed at sharing key financial information such as city budget, expenses and vendors.
At a news conference carried live on cable television, Bottoms said she would require Atlanta police officers to employ de-escalation techniques during confrontations, report all use of deadly force to the city’s citizen
She also ended cash bail bonds. “If you get stopped for a traffic ticket and you don’t have $200 to pay, you don’t stay in jail simply because you are poor,” she said. page 87
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WOMEN + POWER J EN N I F ER LO P E Z PERFORMER & ACTRESS
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ennifer Lopez shared the conversation she had with her kids about the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter on social media. The superstar singer and actress took to Instagram in early June to post footage from the Black Lives Matter protest she attended in Los Angeles alongside her fiancé, Alex Rodriguez. In the caption of Lopez’ post, she revealed that her 12-year-old
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twins, Emme and Max, made the couple a sign to take with them to the protest. “Max told me a few days ago, ‘You know mom, since you have a following like some of my YouTuber gamers and they ask us to support things and we do, you should do that for George Floyd,’” Lopez wrote on Instagram. “I said, ‘Funny you say that baby, I am planning a few things. Do you want to help by making a sign?’ And they did!!”
Lopez went on to explain the tough conversations she has had with her kids about social injustice. “We talked about how if one person doesn’t have justice then no one does,” Lopez continued her message. “That this country was built on the belief of freedom and justice for all.” “We must take a stand for what we believe in and fight against the injustices in this world,” she told her followers on Instagram. “So we continue to peacefully protest until there is change.”
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WOMEN + POWER KAMALA HARRIS
S E N AT O R & 2 0 2 0 P R E S I D E N T I A L C A N D I D AT E
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emocratic California Sen. Kamala Harris is considered a potential running mate for Joe Biden.
But unlike other possible contenders, she has avoided making a public pitch for the ticket. Six years ago, when President Barack Obama had to replace his departing attorney general, he offered the job to Harris, who led the California Justice Department — the first woman to occupy that role in its history. page 92
Harris declined the promotion for several reasons, according to advisers from the time. She had not served a full term. She had her sights set on a higher profile in the Senate or as governor of California. Some envisioned a future presidential run. In that view, the job was a political dead end for a motivated and barrier-breaking figure. It also highlighted a personal trait: She would not be pressured into a position she did not want. Today, Harris —a senator from California who ran for president last
year — finds herself at another political crossroads and is approaching it with similar caution. Though she is among the favorites to become Joe Biden’s vice-presidential nominee, joining him on the Democratic ticket, she has kept a noticeably lower profile than other possible contenders. In several interviews, Harris has said she would be honored to serve with Biden, but there is no public campaign similar to that carried out by Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor in Georgia. There is
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no surrogate lobbying effort like the one for Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, which includes direct polling presentations. Instead, even people close to Biden — often bombarded with pleas from those vying to be his running mate — have remarked about how little they have heard from Harris and her allies. Allies of Harris said she was taking the conventional, low-key route to being considered for vice president, rather than appearing to deliberately audi-
tion, hoping that this approach more closely suits a traditionalist like Biden. Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who endorsed Harris in the Democratic primary race, said Harris’ Washington backers believe that the running mate will not be selected by public audition and that her presidential campaign and executive qualifications will speak for themselves. This does not mean she isn’t privately maneuvering, according to more
than a dozen people familiar with her activities or with Biden’s search for a vice president. Harris has dedicated the five months since she ended her campaign to housecleaning, steps meant to position her better for what comes next: whether it is a vice-presidential bid, a longer career in the Senate, a run for governor or a position like attorney general in a Biden administration.
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WOMEN + POWER PAT T Y L U P O N E B R O A D W AY S U P E R - S TA R
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oled up in her home in rural Connecticut, Patti LuPone has been working furiously during the pandemic. The theaters are dark, but the two-time Tony Award winner does not need a stage to perform. As a bona fide Broadway royal, she has the power to turn even her cellar into one of the world’s most coveted venues. LuPone has been on a whirlwind virtual publicity tour for “Hollywood,” Ryan Murphy’s limited series on Netflix, in which she
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plays a failed silent-screen actress who becomes a Hollywood mogul with a socially progressive agenda after gaining control of her husband’s studio. Between social media check-ins with her fans, a good many shot from her theatrical romper room of a basement, she has been lending out her formidable talents to award shows, benefit readings and special events, including the starry birthday bash that was held for Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday. At a time when musical theater buffs are suffering extreme withdrawal, she’s been a singing cavalry, rescuing the deprived with her Broadway-style bel canto.
LuPone, 71, was supposed to be performing the role of Joanne in the Broadway revival of Sondheim’s “Company,” which came wreathed in raves from London. But COVID-19 stopped the show in previews. Instead, she has been on a bit of a media blitz for “Hollywood.” “There’s something to be said about being overexposed in quarantine. I’m starting to feel that. The interviews are primarily about “Hollywood,” which I’m happy to do what I can to promote,” she said. “But I’ve been getting so many email requests. My husband said I’m busier now than when I’m working.”
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SANNA MARIN
PRIME MINISTER OF FINLAND
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s the world’s youngest female prime minister, Sanna Marin is, for many, a symbol of progression and hope. The 34-year-old diplomat and mother sits at the helm of a five-party, left-wing, woman-led coalition government, and balances her home life with her ambitious plans for the future of Finland. Marin’s face lights up when she talks about her daughter, Emma. “She doesn’t understand any of this. Once, she was looking at a magazine, and there was a picture of me, and she said, ‘Stupid magazine! Not mother.’” In the photos on her iPhone, where she is hugging Emma, make-up free, she looks like any other young mother.
Of course, she’s anything but. At 34, when some are still fumbling into adult life, Marin is at the helm of her party, the center-left Social Democrats, who won the most votes in Finland’s last general election. In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, Marin’s leadership has been widely praised as cool, calm, and collected. After announcing a partial lockdown – all schools, government-run public facilities, and restaurants were to be shut down – a public poll found that 66% of people agreed with the measures. “It wasn’t something I planned,” says Marin, dressed in the black trouser-suit and high-heeled pumps she often wears in photographs. She took office in December 2019 after her predecessor resigned over his handling of a series of strikes. Formerly the minister for transport and communications,
the Social Democrats agreed: Marin should take the top job. “We have to make sure we’re building society in a way that is not only socially and economically sustainable, but also environmentally sustainable,” she says of her government’s main goals. Her most impressive project is Finland’s commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2035, one of the most ambitious targets for reduction in the world. Elsewhere, Marin is trying to safeguard the legendary Nordic welfare state for future generations and tackle the country’s gender pay gap. “I want to make sure that everyone can have a good life, no matter what their backgrounds are,” she says before I go. “That’s what I’m interested in: the issues. I’ve never paid much attention to myself.” page 95
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WOMEN + POWER MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX
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R E L E V A N T R O YA LT Y
eghan, Duchess of Sussex, was the top news story for weeks before being overshadowed by a global pandemic. Her nuclear family’s dramatic departure from the inner workings of the most popular royal family in the world amplified the resounding change and shakeup her presence has brought to the Windsors.
the union, an ugly underlying segment of racists and bigots launched a campaign of harassment on the Duchess. The press swarmed her at both public and private engagements. Her personal mail was stolen and published. To combat this, the Windsors blocked the personal phones and social media of staff working closely with her. The Establishment spread various rumors within staff and consultant positions about her pregnancy to weed out disloyal attendants who sold stories to the press.
Two summers ago, when then-actress Meghan Markle wed the son of the Prince of Wales, she became the first biracial member of the storied royal family. While part of society cheered
In the midst of this, the Duchess carried on her public life as though nothing had changed. She worked with British Vogue editor Edward Enninful to curate an issue around
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women who inspire her. She and the Duke of Sussex toured extensively, even as time drew closer to the birth of their first child. Following the birth of Archie, the Sussexes retreated from public life. Media hounding and wild stories about the royal couple drove them to plan an exit from working as full-time members of the royal family. When the story leaked to the press, the Sussexes were quick to respond and make major moves. Nothing could have prepared the Duchess for life under the microscope, and her husband announced their withdrawal from the royal family as an act to preserve his own family. Recalling how the press hounded his mother, Princess Diana,
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until her death, Prince Harry negotiated and reconfigured a very modern relationship between the Sussexes and the Establishment. The Sussexes, only weeks later, were photographed in Los Angeles, delivering supplies to a shelter. The move to Los Angeles coincided with the Covid-19 outbreak, which has led them to shelter in place with Archie at Tyler Perry’s Bel Air mansion while
they look for permanent housing. They manage to stay relevant and connected throughout social distancing. The Duchess recently recorded a speech for her high school alma mater, in which she condemned the death of George Floyd and showed her support for Black Lives Matter. As an important cause for the Sussexes, they have been speaking with the Black Lives Matter community leaders and
organizers to become involved and contribute to the movement for racial justice. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has changed the monarchy more distinctly and in less time than anyone in modern history. But it this level of authenticity that endears her and her family to a world that is hungry for relevant royalty. page 97
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WOMEN + POWER ISABELLE ALLENDE STORY TELLER
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hilean national treasure Isabel Allende is the author of 24 works of fiction and non-fiction including, “The House of Spirits”, “Eva Luna”, “Island Beneath the Sea”, “Of Love and Shadows” and “Ripper”, which have sold over 74 million copies in 40 languages.
At home in San Rafael, California, Allende devotes much of her time to human rights causes when she’s not churning out another bestseller. Growing up in Chile, the only female
writers she knew about were old or dead with sad stories and sadder personal tragedies. “I love telling stories. I like to write and never thought that I could be a writer because the only women writers that I knew about were all some old British spinsters that had died or had committed suicide. The rest were just males; the great boom of Latin American literature was a bunch of men. There were no women there, so I never thought that I would be a writer, but I could be a journalist. I found a job in a feminine, very avant-garde magazine that started to deal with feminism early on when it wasn’t an issue in Chile
yet. I had found my perfect niche, and that’s how I began writing. I wasn’t thinking that I was giving a voice to women. It was just random energy and the wish—the desire—to change everything, to change the society, the culture, the religion, everything.” Allende’s new novel, “A Long Petal of the Sea,” tells the story of two refugees who forge an unlikely bond as they flee to Chile after the Spanish Civil War. Presenting themes of displacement, love and self-reinvention through a historical lens, the novel explores what it means to migrate and be in exile. page 99
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WOMEN + POWER YA M I C H E A LC I N D O R HARD-HITTING JOURNALIST
Being serious, incisive and tough as nails gets the job done
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BS NewsHour correspondent Yamiche Alcindor is among the winners of this year’s journalism awards from the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA). In recent weeks, Alcindor has made headlines for her clashes with the White House during press briefings and is the recipient of the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage. “Yamiche Alcindor is serious, incisive and — though she has a quiet demeanor — tough as nails,” the WHCA said. “Her asylum seekers report was exceptionally well done. She has interesting new takes on national stories. Her work on immigration and race are sensitively handled.” “Alcindor’s qualities reflect integrity, impartial analysis, breadth and depth of knowledge of the presidency and a love of the institution. We look forward to watching her work for decades to come.” Alcindor became a familiar face to the American public following her questioning of the administration’s response
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to supporting governors’ requests for ventilators. In a clip that has been replayed millions of times, Alcindor held her ground during an openly hostile exchange in the Rose Garden. The exchange was fact-checked, and her line of questioning proven correct. Her hard-hitting journalism is deeply rooted in her education and her early jobs as a reporter. She was a moderator at the sixth Democratic debate. Following the exchange in the Rose Garden, Alcindor tweeted, “President Trump today at the White House said to me: ‘Be nice. Don’t be threatening.’ I’m not the first human being, woman, black person or journalist to be told that while doing a job. My take: Be steady. Stay focused. Remember your purpose. And, always press forward.” In a column in The Washington Post on March 30 , headlined, “Yamiche Alcindor wants an answer, thank you very much,” the paper’s media critic, Eric Wemple, weighed in. He quoted a PBS spokeswoman in defense of Alcindor: “She is doing exactly what is expected of a free press in our democracy: posing timely, pertinent questions
to those in power on behalf of the American people. She was hardly the only reporter in the Rose Garden yesterday, or at other times, to be on
the receiving end of such treatment. It will not deter Yamiche from asking fair and direct questions, especially at such a critical time.”
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WOMEN + POWER K AT E M c K I N N O N COMEDIAN
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n an emotional speech, comedian Kate McKinnon says the only thing that made being a lesbian less scary when she was younger was seeing Ellen DeGeneres on TV. McKinnon was not in the closet. She’s been open about being a lesbian for years. She joked about it with Jerry Seinfeld on “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and played lesbian characters with tongue-in-cheek authenticity in skits on “Saturday Night Live.” Even so, her sexual orientation hasn’t been talked about as much as that of page 102
some other famous actresses, particularly Ellen DeGeneres, to whom McKinnon presented the Carol Burnett Award on a Sunday night earlier this year at the Golden Globes. The award is a lifetime achievement accolade for her contributions to television.
in front of the mirror and thinking, “Am I gay?” And I was, and I still am. But that’s a very scary thing to suddenly know about yourself. It’s sort of like doing 23andMe, and discovering that you have alien DNA. And the only thing that made it less scary was seeing Ellen on TV.”
In her speech, McKinnon spoke candidly and with humor about being gay and the role DeGeneres played in her understanding of herself, and what it means for L.G.B.T.Q. people to see themselves represented on screen.
“She risked her entire life and her entire career in order to tell the truth, and she suffered greatly for it. Of course, attitudes change, but only because brave people like Ellen jump into the fire to make them change. And if I hadn’t seen her on TV, I would have thought, “I could never be on TV. They don’t let L.G.B.T. people on TV.”
“In 1997, when Ellen’s sitcom was in the height of its popularity, I was in my mother’s basement lifting weights
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CYNTHIA MARSHALL DA LL A S M AV E R I C KS C EO
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n the 25 minutes Cynthia Marshall sat next to Mark Cuban during a news conference earlier this year, the then-interim (now officially full-time) Dallas Mavericks CEO was able to accomplish what few have succeeded in doing with the longtime team owner. She kept the usually outspoken Cuban quiet. Marshall appeared in complete control during her first public appearance in her new position. Her goal: to clean up the environment surrounding the Mavericks, whose alleged culture of sexual harassment and domestic violence was outlined in a damning Sports Illustrated article in February. Marshall thanked all the women who spoke out in last week’s report and vowed to make the Mavericks’ workplace a model for other companies to follow. “I know a lot of this is in the past, and let me make it clear — if it’s in the present, it won’t stay,” Marshall said. “My brand is attached to it now.”
“I’m doing this, obviously, because a very passionate and heartfelt plea was made,” Marshall said. “It’s also personal. I want to do it for the sisterhood.” After rising through the ranks at AT&T, Marshall was promoted to senior vice president of human resources/chief diversity officer for the national office. In 2015, Marshall was named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise. A female boss once told Marshall she was too ethnic because she wore braids and red shoes with heels. That night, Marshall took out her braids and purchased a pair of neutral shoes. It’s a decision that she regretted, as she told a group of women at the Berkeley Women’s Empowerment Day to “stand your ground and be your authentic self.” Marshall was 11 years old when a teenager confronted her father at the front door of their home. Instead of staying in a back room with her siblings, Marshall was curious.
“I came to the front door and saw a young man point a pistol down, actually toward me,” she said. “My father responded in self-defense. Fortunately, it wasn’t fatal.” Marshall said the family was sequestered in the house for their own safety. When she returned to school, a uniformed police officer escorted her. The violence continued at home. Marshall was once hit so hard by her father that he broke her nose. The relationship was so abusive that the family was forced to leave the house. When they returned, everything was gone except for a mattress. “He said we’d be hookers on the street without him,” Marshall, who was 15 at the time, said. “At 15 years old, I responded, ‘No, we’re going to be the first in the family to go to college’ … and that I was ‘going to be the president of something’ one day.” Marshall received a full scholarship to UC-Berkeley. During her first week of college, she received a call from her boyfriend, who told her he was transferring from Fresno Community College to San Francisco State to be closer to her. Marshall’s response was, “I’ll call you when I graduate.” “I told him I have to focus. I told him I don’t have time for some smoothtalking cutie who wants to play when I need to study.” She kept her word and called him on her graduation day, inviting him to a party. He told her that he could not come because he was engaged. Marshall was able to persuade him to attend her celebration. “I’ve been married to that man for almost 30 years,” Marshall said of her husband, Kenneth. “I told him, ‘You were that close to missing your blessing.’” page 103
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WOMEN + POWER
ILHAN OMAR M I N N E S O TA S E N AT O R
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lhan Omar says protests are valid, but destruction is not.
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) admits it’s hard to walk the line between “extreme aggression” in confronting injustice and avoiding burning down cities as people protest the police killing of George Floyd in her home district of Minneapolis. “The unrest we are seeing in our nation isn’t just because of the life that was taken. It’s also because so many people have experienced this,” Omar said on ABC’s “This Week.” The Democrat’s district includes all of page 104
Minneapolis and some of its suburbs. “People are sick and tired of being sick and tired. And we need to really step back and say to ourselves, where do we actually [go] from here?” But the congresswoman also attributed much of the destruction to people “not interested in protecting black lives.” Setting fires risks the community that people claim to be standing for, Omar said, adding: “There are people who exploited the pain that communities are feeling and ignite violence.” Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Omar’s district as white police offi-
cer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. Three other officers stood by and did not intervene. All four were fired, and Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Omar has been on the ground in Minneapolis and urging people to stay home after the city’s curfew. She said having the National Guard present made community members feel better about not seeing homes and businesses burned. “When we see unrest take place, it is often the people saying they have had enough,” Omar said Sunday.
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M ICH ELLE LUJA N G RISH A M NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR
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hen she makes a public appearance, you will most assuredly hear a self-effacing comment from her as she mounts a step stool behind the podium. She is not a tall person. However, being small in stature is the only diminutive thing about Michelle Lujan Grisham.
She served three different Governors in her early career of public service by serving as the lead for the state’s Agency on Aging and then as Secretary of Health under Gov. Bill Richardson. She made a run for a seat in Congress in 2008, but came up short and ended up serving a stint as a local county commissioner.
As the 32nd Governor of the state of New Mexico, Lujan Grisham has honed her talents as a policy wonk and a get-things-done leader through decades of public service in a state her family has called home for 12 generations. Born in the once secretive enclave of Los Alamos, Lujan Grisham was raised in Santa Fe and went to the
To give you an idea of who exactly this firecracker is, Lujan Grisham herself often recounts the time she went undercover into a state-run nursing home, faked a stroke, and checked herself into the facility. She was neglected and robbed during the brief sojourn and it shaped how she sought to revamp the state’s entire agency and
University of New Mexico, earning both a bachelor’s and a Law degree.
its programs. It is that no-nonsense and hands-on approach that has become the hallmark of her style. Ever-dogged in her pursuits, Lujan Grisham made another run for the same House seat a few years later when the political circumstances shifted in her favor. Winning that 2012 election, Lujan Grisham went on to serve three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. There she garnered much attention, including in being elected as Chair of the influential Congressional Hispanic Caucus during her second term. When political fortune again turned in her favor, Lujan Grisham made a run for Governor, and in 2019, she became the very first Democratic Latina elected chief executive of a state. page 105
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WOMEN + POWER
When the novel coronavirus hit earlier this year, Lujan Grisham again shot into the national spotlight. Ushering in her previous public health experience, she took strong, evidence-based actions to control the spread of the virus in the state. Doing so was no easy decision. Shutting down large segments of the economy in one of the nation’s most economically disadvantaged states was a tough call.
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At the same time, Lujan Grisham’s name has been consistently floated as a possible Vice-Presidential pick for Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s nominee for the 2020 presidential election.
With polls consistently showing that most Americans are displeased with the current Administration’s response to the coronavirus, Lujan Grisham’s
record could prove a strong asset to the Biden campaign. However the possibility of serving on the national Democratic ticket turns out for Lujan Grisham, the challenges of 2020, a lifetime of public service, and an indomitable spirit have all eyes on her as one truly powerful and effective leader.
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FASHION & STYLE CHANEL CRUISE COLLECTION
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CHANEL SETS SAIL 2021 CRUISE COLLECTION
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photograph of the Brazilian model Mica Argañaraz wearing a vivid pink tweed jacket and tiered skirt with a sequined bikini bra top and a thin metal belt – a bare midriff look that was a key silhouette from the Chanel Métier d’Arts show in Paris last December at the Grand Palais – was one of several teasers that included several short videos of waves hitting the rocks released a few days prior as a preview of the much-anticipated digital presentation of the Chanel 2020-21 cruise collection via Instagram. Just past 6 a.m. Monday in New York or moments after noon time in Paris, pictures of the collection photographed in Paris last week with page 110
backdrops of the seaside to reflect the resort theme of holiday travel to the French and Italian Riviera as seen from pictures of actresses from the 1960s flooded Chanel’s digital platforms in the first of its kind presentation for the house. “Initially I had Capri in mind where the show was supposed to take place but [it] didn’t happen in the end because of the lockdown. So, we had to adapt. Not only did we decide to use fabrics we already had, but the collection, more generally, evolved towards a trip around the Mediterranean, the islands, the scent of the eucalyptus and the pink shades of the bougainvillea,” said Virginie Viard, Chanel’s creative director, via press notes sent
immediately following the online live viewing. Because of the closure of the factories, reusing existing fabrics and materials facilitated not only making the collection in a short time span and the production for store deliveries in late November but also aligned with Chanel’s commitment to sustainability in value and practice. The 51 looks collection in shades of pink and white classic jackets and loose pants for day wear, and black for streamlined evening light dresses are a positive reaffirmation of the brand’s signature looks and products. The looks conveyed the more casual and relaxed atmosphere of cruise clothes that focused more on making clothes that have longevity and can mix in
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with any existing wardrobe. Among the standouts were the white safari jacket tied at the waist with matching flare pants, the light pink, silk, short-sleeve, patch-pocket jacket with tailored cigarette shorts, and a long black coat with silver buttoning with a cropped top and hot shorts. Denim patch pocket capri shorts jeans paired with a simple white turtleneck, logo sliders as the footwear of choice and smaller bags capped off the low-key approach. A crisp ice-blue leather 2.55 bag will sure spark consumer demand, especially among the brand’s younger crowd. As the image and video montage came alive online, my first impression was that this digital presentation of the collection was a success. Background moods – the orange lighting at sunset, the waves of the ocean background, and the old concrete railings of a villa terrace overlooking the sea – gave the requisite “live” dimensions and ambiance to the digital show from a major luxury fashion house. However, there is no doubt that an actual live fashion show with models walking at the seaside resort town is preferable to an alternate reality of visuals that provided an approximation of the real thing. Chanel’s pledge for live fashion show bodes well for the future of shows however, the formats will be despite calls for changing the seasonal calendar. By Long Nguyen for The Impressionist, reprinted with permission page 113
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{PRIVATE VIEWING}
MALICKA SANGARET
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MALICKA SANGARET ONE-ON-ONE
AN INFATUATION WITH MYTHICAL WEST AFRICAN SEA DEITY MAMI WATA RAPHAEL DAPAAH Art Contributor @dg_luxe
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alicka Sangaret’s infatuation with the ancient, mythical West African sea deity, Mami Wata, comes as no surprise once you meet her in person. Standing at a statuesque near six feet tall, cloaked from head to toe in sapphire blue, with a penetrating gaze and disarming charm, it would be easy to suggest that she might be a modern incarnation of the folktale beauty. But, as I later come to uncover, she is so much more than meets the eye. Her appreciation for her ancestral traditions, stories and customs, is rivaled only by her love of the visual arts and creativity at large, rooted by a family legacy of arts and crafts, which include a distant familial tie to the Sidibé family and their most famous son, the iconic Malian photographer, Malick Sidibé. As she worked diligently on a new series of breathtaking mixed media portraits in her home studio, I dared to venture into her midst, averting my gaze, to learn more about her brilliant practice, and equally mysterious background. How long have you been painting, and
at what point did you consider yourself a professional artist? I started at seven years old, as my mother is a fine artist too, then I went on to study art in college. Four years ago, I decided to share my art with the world and make a living from it; that’s when I considered myself a professional artist. There is nothing better than living off your gift and passion. Tell us a bit about your background. Where were you born and raised, and what was your upbringing like? I was born in Paris and I grew up between France, the Ivory Coast and the U.K. My best memories are from my childhood in the Ivory Coast. I grew up living with my grandmother, who was a retired midwife, and a businesswoman. My mother was into advertising & marketing at the time and is still an incredible artist. I was a witty Gemini child curious about everything, trying everything, creating anything and always looking to learn something new. I would juggle between crafting, business and entrepreneurship with my grandmother, then would go to my mother’s studio and beg her for some paint and a canvas. Eventually, I could do so many things, yet I wanted to do more. Where do you currently live and work now?
I currently reside in London for now, and I work here until the end of this current collection. Your work today pays homage to your West African heritage and customs, especially folk stories and myths, such as Mami Wata. Why was it important for you to depict your culture in your work? My culture is in my DNA; it represents me, and it also represents my elders and ancestors. Our customs, stories, myths and traditions are insightful and can teach everyone something, regardless of your personal religious beliefs. My obsession with water lead me to learn and extensively research the connection of water with my culture, which inevitably relates to Mami Wata (mother of water - mermaid) Some parts of our culture, especially myths, are looked down upon until someone outside of our culture brings light to it and makes it trendy. I chose to celebrate it before it was popular. I use my culture as a tool to reinstall or re-interpret life. The most authentic work of art to me is being able to share your version of something to people, who although familiar with it, will learn something and walk away with a new perspective. My approach is unique, personal and thorough. It turns my work into a gift that keeps on giving. page 117
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How do you reconcile the age-old customs and traditions of your heritage, with contemporary culture and modernity? My work is personal, current, timeless and most importantly, educational. What I aim to communicate is experiences with references to elder’s teachings and counseling, which often refers back to the culture I live in the now. Contemporary is what I know and what I’m part of, anything I make that is current will be with a contemporary perspective. The color blue appears to be the prevailing palette of your work. What significance does it hold for you? Blue is a color representative of my childhood, which is a huge inspiration behind my art. From being dressed in blue most of the time to being gifted blue toys instead of pink because my mother loved blue. As I grew older, after rebelling against the color because I wanted everything
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pink, I noticed one day I was naturally more drawn to the color on my own for other reasons. Blue represents royalty, strength, boldness, diversity (in shades), peace, depth and, most importantly, water. I have an emotional attachment to the color and the element of water, which has turned into my signature. It is the best way for me to depict the element of water through my art. I play with lights and darks to express different depths. When you restrict yourself with one color, you think further into your ideas and ways to communicate via your art. You are a daughter of West Africa, with roots in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Mali, respectively. Each of these nations has a deep and unique history of visual arts. How have these diverse cultures informed your identity, world view and your artistic practice today? I’m heavily based on culture. My inspiration stems from folks that I have grown to love over the years who
are working with culture themselves. One of my favorites is Malick Sidibe, also from Mali, (who based on our last name and lineage is related to me) and is a famous Malian photographer who amazingly created timeless retro African photography. My mother, is of course, a huge inspiration because she introduced me to art and is one of the most talented artists I’ve known thus far. Coincidentally, I also have a few family members, like cousins and aunts, who are also professional artists and work in the industry. These are my visual art references. As for conceptual inspiration, everything is organic and generally pulled directly from childhood memories, life experiences and artisanal work like Bogolan pieces, mud cloth, cowry shells, etc. All things I’ve been surrounded by, and fell in love with from childhood. This is why you find some of these pieces in my work.
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As an artist of African descent, what are your views on the surge of interest in modern and contemporary African art? Six to seven years ago, I wondered how I could enter an almost non- existing market. I’m blessed to see the interest in African art rapidly growing as I’m building a name for myself. I say blessed because my mother’s generation did not have such a platform to excel within their craft and talent. It was appreciated then but not necessarily as valued and praised as it is now. The idea of being an artist is no longer viewed as an irresponsible life gamble. The amount of untapped talent within
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our culture, whether on the continent or in the diaspora, is endless and will continue to grow, as we, artists, prosper with the messages needed to be shared. It will benefit our communities, just like every other culture benefited from art, because art is meant to raise awareness and questions, bring forth the unspoken, and start conversations. You were scheduled to have your first solo exhibition in June 2020, which was unfortunately postponed due to Covid-19. How has the lockdown impacted your art? I planned 2020 quite well in advance, so the lockdown seems to have helped
in disguise because I was already planning on quarantining myself to finish all pieces for the exhibition, which would have been a tight but achievable deadline. Now I’ve taken time to focus on the art, finish pieces and start more before curating the exhibition. I strongly believe that when I’m able to set a date for the exhibition, I will be more than ready. What is next for you as an artist, and what can we expect in the future? An exhibition tour. For my first exhibition, my work will speak for itself !
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PATRONS' PLACE INSIDE THE MIND OF A COLLECTOR
RAPHAEL DAPAAH Art Contributor @dg_luxe
Raphael Dapaah brings another art patron to the pages of Polo Lifestyles this month with a Q-and-A with Dwight Smith. page 122
Name: Dwight Smith Occupation: Fair Housing Equal Opportunity Specialist Location: Kansas City, Missouri Collector Level: Patron When did you buy your first piece of art, and what was it? My first piece I actually bought and framed was one of those Keith Haring Montreux Jazz Festival posters. I
bought it when I was stationed in Germany way back in the early ‘90s, I still have that poster! How many pieces of art do you currently have in your private collection? The collection has definitely expanded into the hundreds; you kind of forget to keep score once you really get rolling. What drew you to collecting, and what does contemporary art by Artists of
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embellished with gold flake, this piece is all of the fire. Name three living artists you would love to include in your collection in the future. Henry Taylor, Betye Saar and Serge Attuwei Clottey. Name three late artists you would love to include in your collection in the future. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barkley Hendricks and Hale Woodruff.
African heritage mean to you? I’ve always been involved in the arts; it was just a natural part of our family life growing up; it was just something that was always available. Growing up with art in the house you, kind of learn by osmosis, and from there, I began to develop my own preferences, especially art by artists of African heritage. The exposure I thought was “normal” growing up turned out to be something exceptional and special. I knew at a very young age that I was going to have art by black folks all over my house when I grew up. Support for the culture was just a part of life, it was something to aspire to, something that was beyond expected. Which piece of art in your collection is your favorite, if any, and why? Ohhh that’s a tough one, I was once at an art party talking with another collector, and I asked her that very same question, and she was quick to drop her favorite piece is always the last one she bought. I totally understand the sentiment, but if I had to choose I have a lovely Derrick Adams print “Game Changing” 2015 published by Lower East Side Printshop (NYC) a beautiful recreation of the King of Hearts playing card
If you could have dinner with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be, and why? James Van Der Zee, the famed Harlem photographer. He captured so much black beauty. I’d just ask him to tell me stories about the people in his photos. Inspirational is an understatement. What about an artist and their work attracts you the most? Confidence in their message, it definitely shines through.
I think exposure and proximity over time helps to mold a great collector. The hardest part is often the jump into the pool, so if you are thinking about getting in this game I recommend you jump in and don’t look back, and always ask questions when you don’t know stuff, because collectors and art folks, in general, will not hesitate to share their art knowledge. What advice would you give to unknown and emerging artists who want to attract collectors and art patrons? The world has to see your work to know it, so create, create, then create some more. Then like the collector embrace those elements of the art world that actually serve you. Seek out mentorship and advice from those art world professionals who may end up being your future business collaborators. This way, you can at least have an understanding of the game, before you get played.
Is there a particular theme to your collection? My focus is on women and people of color, other than that I’m definitely drawn toward art that challenges the political status quo, you know that stuff that makes the average person a little uncomfortable. What advice would you give to a budding art collector who wants to start a collection? Look for every opportunity to learn. Seek out knowledge from wherever possible, embrace your local museums and galleries, and find other collectors and just learn. You’ll have plenty of time to buy stuff. What’s important early on is just free form learning. There are so many elements involved in collecting page 123
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Recently, drinks at the bar turned into drinks in our individual homes, but that doesn’t mean you have to drink alone.
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The Grandes Dames of Wine CEZAR KUSIK Wine Contributor @cezartastesearth
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n case you have not noticed, we live in turbulent times. Willingly or not, social media has turned our lives into a public commodity. From the most mundane of frivolities to moments of the most harrowing human tragedy: nothing is private, everything is subject to the possibility of public viewing. For better or worse, our phones, armed with their cameras, have become weapons in the fight against social injustices and abuses of power. Recorded images
of brutality against civilians are publicly displayed almost daily. The pot is boiling over, and the patience of the neglected and the underprivileged is running out. The political and social systems driven by greed, money and power protect and look after their own interest. They seem to be operating with impunity. “Greed is the source of all evil in this world”, as my grandma used to say. Women’s fight for equality has always been at the forefront of social struggle. A difficult battle in a world where men have dominated nearly all aspects of cultural, political and social life since the beginning of civilization. The world of wine has not been spared from this male hegemony. The signs of change have been starkly visible in re-
cent times, and it is time to pay homage to those women who historically, against all odds, have set an example and paved the way for a new generation of women in wine and beyond. In the early 19th century, even in “civilized” societies, a woman’s role was well-defined and unquestioned; bear children, raise them and run the household. That applied to all social classes. Women were excluded from the world of business. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, coined as the Grande Dame of Champagne, was one of the first to break that barrier. Upon the death of her husband, she took over the family’s champagne business at the age of 27. Not only did Madame Clicquot run a successful business, but she was also one of the leaders of a budpage 127
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Women and Wine Lalou Bize-Leroy
wasn’t for decades until the next women of comparable stature came along in the field of wine. Historically, Burgundy has always been a male-dominated wine region where land inheritance was always passed on to male offspring. This is why Lalou Bize-Leroy holds a special place in my wine-saturated heart. A pioneer, wine expert and shrewd businesswoman, she succeeded in the land ruled by men. Born into a prominent Leroy family with a long wine-making and grape-growing tradition, Lalou’s life was steeped in wine from the getgo, helping her in becoming one of the elite wine personalities of Burgundy. In 1955, at the age of 23, she joined her father’s negociant business and quickly became a force to be reckoned with. Her reputation flourished quickly, and from 1974, along with Aubert de Villain, she co-managed Domaine de la RomanèeConti and elevated it into one of the most prestigious and coveted wine producers in the world. While at DRC, in 1988, she established Domaine Leroy and added to it some premium vineyards purchased from Charles Neollat and Philippe-Remy.
ding industry at that time, an innovator and entrepreneur. She bottled the first vintage wine from the 1810 harvest, “The Year of the Comet”. She introduced the modern version of rosé champagne by adding red wine into the blend. She invented the “table de remuage,” a riddling table, which is a contraption that allows for the collection of dead yeast cells and sediment in the neck of the inverted champagne bottles for their efficient removal during the following disgorgement stage. In its simplicity, the device is still used in the industry and is indispensable in the production of champagne. Barely overcoming the adversities of the Napoleonic wars, she persisted in her page 128
determination and ironically found her most devoted drinker of her bubbles in the Russian Czar, Alexander I. In Clicquot’s lifetime, her production grew from merely 10,000 bottles a year to 750,000 annually. Not only that, but also, she played a major role in establishing Champagne as a world-renowned region. She also inspired and created opportunities for women in the wine industry. She died in 1866 and, in her honor, the house of Veuve Clicquot named their prestige champagne La Grande Dame. Madame Clicquot was a true pioneer. A lone ranger gifted with acute business instinct, drive and integrity. What makes her even more special is that it
After a series of disagreements, Lalou left DRC in 1992 and returned to her roots by devoting her full attention and energy to Domaine Leroy. From the outset, she began converting all the vineyards of the domaine to bio-dynamic cultivation—she was one of the precursors of that practice in Burgundy, and firmly believes that a vineyard’s ecosystem is a living organism in its totality, and as such, it should be treated holistically, where no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are allowed. Lalou views her land as an interconnected, symbiotic living system with all the natural elements within contributing to its health and prosperity. Her wines are considered some the best in the region, often fetching exorbitant prices. It is
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safe to say that Lalou Bize-Leroy was the first woman of huge prominence in Burgundy. Let’s now come (back to my) home and focus on my backyard of Northern California's wine countries. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, long before California entered the modern age of wine making (the 1960s), two women stood out as role models in the field: Hannah Weinberger and Isabelle Simi. The former presided in Napa, the latter in Sonoma. Both assumed the ownerships of the properties after the deaths of their husbands. Weinberger was in charge of her winery from 1882 until prohibition closed it in 1920. Simi’s winery survived prohibition in hibernation. Isabelle sold off her vineyard holdings but maintained the possession of the cellar containing 500,000 cases of wine. These were ready for sale the moment prohibition ended. Isabelle remained an active participant in the winery’s operations until 1970 when she retired.
The author at a favorite wine bar
The first woman winemaker of the modern era was Mary Ann Graf. In 1965 she was the first woman to receive an enology degree from U.C. Davis. Her first winery job as a chemist and an assistant winemaker was in the Central Valley at Gibson Wine Co. In 1973, she became the winemaker at Simi. Later on, she founded Vinquiry, a business venture which provided analytical and consulting services to the wine industry. She passed away in 2019. Nowadays, some of the best wineries of the nearby wine counties of Napa Valley, Sonoma and Central Coast are run by women. Names like Cathy Corison, Merry Edwards, Helen Turley and Heidi Barret, just to mention a few, are synonymous with world-class wines, and the influx of new, young female winemakers continues steadily. The same trend can be noticed globally. In recent decades, women winemakers have been growing in wine regions worldwide. Talented, ambitious and educated women are at the helms of some of the top wineries. The wine making
business’ migrant nature allows for an international exchange of workforce, ideas and experiences. Women are a big part of that exchange contributing to the business’ cosmopolitan nature; from French women picking grapes in Napa to ladies fermenting juice in Australia’s Barossa Valley and beyond. In the past, a sommelier profession was almost exclusively reserved for men. Most of us can conjure up an image of a suited up, pretentious Frenchman with a tastevin (tasting spoon), hanging from his neck. For the most part, the stuffy suit is gone, the tastevin is pretty much non-existent, and women are some of the best sommeliers in the industry. Italy claims to have more women sommeliers than men. Court of Master Sommeliers is a wine educational organization that prepares wine professionals for the hospitality industry. There are four levels of the certification, with the highest being Master Sommelier, which
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Women and Wine
is equivalent in difficulty to an academic PhD. One hundred and seventy-two in the world people boast the title of Master Sommelier and 27 of them are women with Emily Wines, Madeline Triffon and Gillian Ballance as my favorites. Master of Wine, based in the U.K., is along with CMS, one of the highest qualifications of the wine industry. Master of Wine encompasses a broad range of wine-related knowledge from wine making, viticulture, trade and history. Here the ratio is even more impressive. One hundred and thirty-seven women are Masters of Wine, making them one-third of today’s world’s MWs. Some of the best wine writers, critics
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and educators like Jancis Robinson, Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Sarah Jane Evans and Alison Eisermann, to mention a few, are women. While researching for this article, I was surprised and disappointed by the lack of information that was available about women in the wine industry. My personal knowledge and experience tell me otherwise. I have been a sommelier in San Francisco for 20 years, and I have observed, over the years, the number of women in the industry growing exponentially, from sommeliers and wine directors to wine merchants, wine educators and winemakers. There is a
vast number of wine professionals who are women, and the majority of them are masterful at what they do. Ultimately, it is a sad state of affairs that in this time and age we still have to address the issues of discrimination. The fact that we have to emphasize the gender or the ethnicity of a person in qualifying and quantifying their worth is embarrassing in itself. A person’s objectively evaluated skill, talent and efficiency of their labor should be the only testament of their value. Our natural instincts should dictate our behavior of common sense and lead on the path of fairness and justice.
Twenty-seven out of 172 sommeliers in the world holding the title Master Sommelier are women.
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SPIRITUALITY DEFINING THE DIVINE
RITUALS:
THE MAGIC OF LIFE
"The sacred is not in heaven or far away. It is all around us, and small human rituals can connect us to its presence. And of course, the greatest challenge (and Gift!) is to see the sacred in each other." ALMA LUZ VILLANUEUVA, MEXICAN-AMERICAN POET
JYOTI PAINTEL Spirituality contributor @jyotipaintel
T
his month I’m doing a Manifestation Ceremony during July’s new moon, and it could not be more poignant or laden with emotion—specifically hope and fear. I am asking for the courage to move forward with confidence in 2020 and the strength to peacefully accept the things I cannot control, which appears to be quite a lot at this moment. It was nothing short of astonishing to watch the Black Lives Matter movement catapult into action, this time with widespread support and global outrage at the unjust, racially motivated killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Sadly, there has been little reprieve on the streets. Breonna Taylor’s killers have still not been brought to justice, and still, yet Rayshard Brooks lost his life for a minor offense at the hands of law enforcement, causing new riots Atlanta. All three of
their names deserve a place in this month’s column. I also know there are many more. We cannot deny that the world is angry and scared, and the frustration has spilled out into the streets in the form of protests demanding radical social change. The riots and violent uprisings were undoubtedly flamed by the social inequalities that have been exposed as the novel Coronavirus pandemic’s deadly path wreaked havoc through the communities that have been historically disenfranchised: African Americans, immigrant communities, the elderly and society’s most vulnerable health-wise. The destruction brought on by COVID-19 continues to challenge nearly every aspect of our lives, and the most difficult change for many is the sudden loss of the ability to socialize and physically be with our community. The severe measures that restrict social interaction essentially take away what we desperately need most right now – each other. How can we have meaningful interactions when we are so limited in social mobility? Look around you, who do you spend a lot of time with? Nearly every culture has created rituals and ceremonies throughout history: wedding, birthdays and graduations are
memories that bond us to others in a way other ordinary unintentional interaction cannot. Pick a partner, a small group of family or friends that can safely participate in the following rituals and ask if they can commit to participating on a regular basis. Building Meaningful Connections with Rituals Ceremonies are an expression of culture - mechanisms that express and generate love, forge and declare the bond between individuals, and establish and identify community. Again, the point of these specific rituals are to meant to inspire gratitude for the people who actually have the chance to be around, so for once, a couple of these are done with others. You might feel skeptical, but believing is seeing, and not the other way around. You must believe in something you cannot see, touch or feel for manifestation magic to start to work. Here are some easy rituals that you can share with others to build the collective momentum of releasing the old and manifesting the new. Asking for Strength We might simply need to ask for the courage to keep going at this time, not only page 135
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If you feel that the events of the last few months have drained your vitality and the best version of your “self,” then try this ceremony to manifest strength. Decide on a place that is sacred and empowering and make a plan go there physically if you can do it safely.
It is better to do this ritual in a backyard or private space. Before arriving, have everyone write down on paper, everything they are afraid might happen, even if the fears might seem unlikely or unreasonable and have them bring ceremonial knives. It may be a cake knife with a pretty design on the handle for example, or an average pocket knife. Find some ribbon or string for everyone to tie onto the knives, making three knots to start the ritual.
Stand in a circle or face one another and be completely still and then raise your arms to the infinite skies above you for at least two to three minutes, breathing, feeling gratitude and imagining strength being sent down from above through your arms and into your heart. With joy say: “We are always sheltered and safe anywhere underneath these skies.”
In a safe place outside, make a fire and throw the papers in together and hold hands as the smoke rises, silently watching the papers burn up until they become dust. Take the knives and take turns gesturing the act of cutting through the smoke with the ceremonial knife. Believe in your own power in this moment. This is a ritual that is useful for relieving stress.
for ourselves but also to help friends and family who are also experiencing grief or hardship.
Releasing Fear Fear is a constant message that we must contend with far too often during at these times, but we don’t need to hang on to the fear we read and see every day; it simply is toxic for us. Limit your intake of news to five minutes a day; if something major happens, you will likely hear about it.
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At the end, each of you can say, “I release these fears, they no longer have power over me.’” Healing Chaos Many of us are functioning in the middle of perpetual chaos right now, so how can we stay centered?
This ceremony is actually performed alone and might take a little preparation and a small field trip. Find a body of water, it can be standing on a bridge above a creek, sitting by a river, small stream or small pond. Gather some small pebbles in a cup until you have a good amount. Allow yourself the time it will take to do this as slowly as you can, and if you get distracted by thoughts, gently coax yourself back to center by assuring your mind that you will handle the urgent matter later. Tell yourself, “This is my moment to feel calm.” Gently throw each pebble into the water and watch the ripples as they form, noticing the sounds, colors and the smells around you. Repeat until all the pebbles are gone. Set aside time for a tea ritual, especially if you can share it with someone. This powerful act of slowing down brings realizations and discoveries one sip at a time. Rituals are ways to personally create something we all need: a secret sanctuary.
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FUNCTION A L MUSCLE
WHY WOMEN S H OU LD LI F T WE IG HTS
The entire balance of your bank account and all the tips on the Internet can't help if you don't follow some basic guidelines.
MARK WINE CSCS, BA, USAW, PT, PES, CES @functionalmuscle Healthy Lifestyles Contributor
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s there a difference between men’s and women’s muscles? No of course not, muscle is muscle. The most misleading information in regards to women and resistance training is that heavier loads (weights) will make them bigger. Yes, heavier lifting does increase muscular hypertrophy, but it depends on your reps, variables, rep speed, rest time, sets and volume. Get my point? It is more than simply what you lift, but rather, how you lift it.
A proper training regimen's number one focus should be geared to altering body composition. If an individual is excessively overweight, or even obese, then a reduction in body weight should be expected. However, many of my clients haven’t seen a signifipage 152
cant drop in body weight, but they have seen a significant drop in body fat. In fact, one of my clients had to purchase a whole new wardrobe without losing more than five pounds! What happened? The body fat fell off and lean muscle latched on. In the remaining portion of this article, I am going to explain the methodology for successful resistance training for fat loss. Resistance training should incorporate: a. Multi-joint complex movements that require heavier loads. b. Shorter Rest Intervals coupled with heavier loads. c. Higher repetitions integrated into a heavier training regimen and only on select days. d. Move more and rest less. Multi-Joint (MJ) complex movements increase lean muscle while elevating fat loss. Heavier MJ movements result in increased caloric expenditure during periods of activity and non-activity. Increased caloric expendi-
ture, along with an elevated metabolic rate, leads to fat loss and lean muscle growth; thus, resistance training with heavier MJ movements is key. Another positive effect of MJ complex movements is its effect on Growth Hormone (GH) production. GH is a naturally produced hormone that is stimulated through resistance training and amino acid digestion. GH significantly increases lean muscle and burns fat (i.e. favorably alters body composition). GH is radically increased during MJ heavy load training. Short rest intervals during training have been shown to decrease the likelihood of muscular hypertrophy while increasing fat burning. Muscular hypertrophy is when muscles increase in size. This increase is what makes women afraid of heavier load training. However, muscle gain results in additional calories burned and an increased metabolic rate. This is a favorable side effect. Having a lower body fat percentage and a higher lean muscle percentage increases one’s healthfulness. Fortunately, heavier load training doesn’t mean that muscle size has to be increased.
Proven tip number one, make the rest intervals 30 to 60 seconds. Proven tip number two, combine two or three exercises back-to-back; this technique is referred to as “superset training.” Proven tip number three, perform four or more exercises in succession without rest intervals; this training methodology is known as “circuit training.” Proven tip number four, perform one set after another of the same exercise; this training methodology, known as “drop-sets,” requires the heaviest load for the first set and the succeeding sets get lighter. There is zero rest between sets during drop-sets. Higher Repetitions with lighter loads is another critical component of any successful training program. The problem that arises with this methodology of training is that it is performed too frequently. Incorporating repetitions of 15 or greater during every workout will place emphasis on improving your muscular endurance and cardiovascular levels but will not significantly aid in fat loss. Most women who have participated in high repetition training programs have had to couple it with a reduced-calorie diet to achieve significant results. However, the participant’s
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WHY WOMEN S H OU LD LI F T WE IG HTS body composition wasn’t altered with much significance. Solution, incorporate days where multijoint movements are performed in a super-set and/or circuit-style workout. During the workout, multiple exercises should be performed that incorporate a reduced load with 12 repetitions or higher. The weight that is chosen throughout the workout should be “true weight.” True weight is a chosen load that forces the participant to struggle to complete the prescribed repetitions. Example: if 15 repetitions were prescribed, then the weight that is selected page 154
should not allow the user to complete 30 repetitions. If the user does not fail at or near 15 repetitions than the load that was selected was incorrect. Instead, select a weight that leads to failure or near failure around 15 repetitions. Move more and rest less. Throughout their workouts, women should take less rest time in between sets and during the week they should have more active than non-active days. Moving more and resting less will increase one’s metabolic rate, fat-burning capabilities and overall caloric expenditure. All of these characteristics equate to a lean physique.
Heavier weights, coupled with shorter rest intervals, results in greater health and fitness for all women. By following the guidelines mentioned in this article women can expect a leaner physique and an increase in overall strength. Both of these side effects are a result of fat burning and lean muscle retention. Therefore, it is highly advantageous for women to utilize the techniques laid out in this article as a guide during their next visit to the gym… and never shy away from picking up the weights.
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MOLD YOUR MIND
ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE LISTENING: THE PATH TO UNDERSTANDING JOEY VELEZ MA, MBA @velezmentalperformance Healthy Lifestyles Contributor
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aise your hand if you have ever been in an argument. Now, raise your hand if you have ever been, whether formally or informally, in a discussion or debate. I assume that every single one of you raised your hand, if you didn’t, then I applaud you, and I hope you can still take something from this column. When arguments, discussions or debates arise, multiple individuals are page 156
trying to convey their side of the story, a particular message or discuss their beliefs. While it is important to speak your mind and share your opinion, communication breaks down based on how you respond when the other person is speaking. In particular, whether you are actively listening to that person or simply hearing them— because, there is a difference between the two. The results of that difference can impact the overall effectiveness of the conversation and the ability to develop a connection with the other individual. The Difference Between Active and Passive Listening There are a few key factors that differentiate active listening and passive listening. First, there is the meaning of the two terms; active listening requires that the listener fully concentrate, un-
derstand, respond and then remember what is said. Active listening involves analysis and understanding of the words that you hear and using that information to interpret the message that the ear receives. With passive listening, you are still listening to the speaker, but you are not trying to understand the meaning of the message. In other words, passive listening is more focused on the receipt of the message, rather than the actual interpretation of that message. Second, the level of connection and engagement differ for both types. As an active listener, an act which occurs at the conscious level, you are trying to connect with the speaker. You are an active participant with the intention of solving a problem or providing support. Therefore, your level of engagement is very high. You focus on the speaker’s
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message, their intent and what needs to be understood so you can assist them with their needs or concerns. As a passive listener, you are more disconnected and have minimal interaction with the speaker. Therefore, your level of engagement is very low or even nonexistent. The speaker might be trying to convey a message to you, but you could not care less. You would rather be somewhere else or thinking about what you have to do for the rest of the day. If you miss information as a passive listener, no big deal, and you move on. To be a good active listener requires effort and a willingness to understand the intent and purpose behind the speaker’s message. This allows you to increase your awareness of what you are hearing, and interpretation takes over when you begin to dive deeper into that message. Passive listening is the opposite, where you are listening for the sake of listening. For example, there are times when you may choose to listen to a person only to provide support by letting them vent, instead of helping them solve the problem, so there is an initial intent to be an active listener, but that changes when you realize the lack effort that takes. Then, you become a passive listener. Learning to Listen Changed My Ways I never truly understood the importance of active listening until I learned about effective communication in my graduate program. For as long as I can remember, it was about communicating in terms of right and wrong or making sure others understood what my point was. Never during that time did I consider what the other person was trying to communicate because I was so focused on my point of view or defending myself and my actions. This caused a lot of tension and left many conversations without much closure because I was either simply passively listening, or listening only to respond, instead of actively listening and trying to understand the other person. A common phrase utilized was “but what I am saying…”, which ultimately meant “I do not care about what you are saying, listen to me”. No conversation is going to be beneficial when one person is taking this approach.
Graduate school opened my eyes to what effective communication looked like, especially in the role of a listener. I never understood what “but what I am saying” looked like from the other side, or how it negatively impacted the conversation. I failed to see how that phrase negatively affected the other person. Then I started to realize how I felt when someone said that to me. I would check out of the conversation, begin to judge them and ultimately thought that they were not worth my time because they didn’t want to listen. Once I realized my hypocrital ways, I made an intentional effort to improve my listening abilities and become a more active listener. As a mental performance consultant, listening is a vital aspect of my job. However, I wanted to implement this in my personal life as well. I removed my thoughts and beliefs from the conversation to fully understand what the other person was trying to convey. The moment we start to impose our views on other people is when communication breaks down. So, I began to set my ego aside to truly understand what the other person was experiencing. While it took some time, I noticed that more of my conversations involved less tension and I was able to understand the other person’s point of view. This does not mean that I agreed with them every single time, but that was not the point. The point was to develop an understanding of what that person was experiencing. Once I became a better listener, an active listener, I felt myself becoming more open-minded and developing a broader picture of the world around me. How to Be a Better Listener The first step to improving your listening skills is to be focused and intentional. Focusing your attention on the speaker not only informs them of your interest in what they are saying, but it also increases your ability to consume the message they are giving. If you are not completely focused on the speaker, you run the risk of becoming distracted since our minds have difficulty multi-tasking. While you may be able to do multiple tasks at once, chances are you do not do these tasks well at once. When you become distracted, you are missing essential information the speaker is delivering. Keeping your focus
on the speaker minimizes your chances of missing information, and it also shows the speaker your interest. Secondly, keep an open mind when listening. Hold off on imposing judgment and avoid jumping to conclusions. Both of these actions compromise your ability to be an active listener and cause you to disengage from the conversation. It is perfectly acceptable to disagree with what is being conveyed, but your goal as the listener is to understand the thoughts and feelings that the speaker may be experiencing. You may not agree with their response or how they view certain situations, but you have to remember that these are not your thoughts. Listen to the speaker; try to understand where they are coming from so that you can respond more effectively. Finally, paraphrasing is an excellent way to improve your listening. Defined as expressing the meaning of someone else’s point using your own words to achieve greater clarity, paraphrasing, when done well, can show that you understand or that you are trying to understand. It tells the speaker that you aren’t merely just hearing them but being an active part of the conversation. There will be times where your paraphrase may be incorrect, which can result in the speaker feeling unheard and disappointed, but it can also result in a sense of appreciation. I’ll Leave You with This Active listening is a lost art. People can be so consumed with being right, defending themselves or proving their point that they do not listen to the message the other person is trying to convey. By focusing on the speaker and actively listening to their message, you will be able to understand their perspective more clearly. Understanding the beliefs and attitudes of other individuals can bring us closer together. While there are multiple ways to view situations, solve problems and complete tasks, it is impossible for everyone to get their way. However, if we listen to each other to try and understand each other, we can find common ground so that we can move forward together. It all starts with being able to listen to others. Learn to be a better listener. page 157
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