Jane in the WORLD

“what will you do with your wild and precious life?”

Letter from San Francisco #1

Start with the light.

Everything starts with the light. So the writer, Pico Iyer, said about Australia. And yet this seems true of San Francisco too, at least where I’m tap tapping this piece.

I’ve arrived.

800px-Washington_Square_Arch_by_David_Shankbone
Washington Square_Arch – David_Shankbone (CC lic)

The night before leaving New York, Josh and I walked into Washington Square, to a night steeped in magic as a hula girl hooped with tiny lights bouncing out as she swung her hips and flipped her hoop around her heels. Nearby a gypsy band and their diva songstress warmed the crowd with their Romany blend while children splashed in the fountain, water splaying all around. Under the frame of the Washington arch a young girl played keyboard and mesmerized us with her harmonies while her Aunt watched on – “we came from Staten Island – my niece was emphatic that she had to come and play. So we did!”

I arrived in San Francisco as the Democratic National Convention was about to get underway. I also arrived to a warm welcome at the Global Fund for Women, my new home, where staff were happy to provide recommendations on what I should check out in SF including yoga studios, dance sessions, food carts and great places to eat, experimental music, nature in abundance, organics, cycling and joy!

I met with my new boss, Global Fund for Women President, Musimbi Kanyoro, a true global leader, as we planned appointments and events for the UN General Assembly and the Clinton Global Initiative. I’m conscious of how lucky I am and also of the responsibility to step up to support, advance and realize a vision to advance women’s human rights.

During my first week I raced home to see the latest speeches for the Convention including the one provided by Michelle Obama, poetic in her connection with all of us through her narrative, her love of husband, her daughters and her country and her clear call to action.

I watched Elizabeth Warren give a rousing address regarding a system that is rigged against the 99% and how Democrats provide the best chance to make decisions based on a commitment to a level playing field. Her emphatic statement that corporations are not people resonated strongly with the crowd as they rose to their feet time and time again.

Earlier that day I’d attended a conference where we’d heard that very little reconstruction that had occurred in Haiti since the earthquake and that poverty and disease was increasing as a result. And yet, at the same time, into this void, eleven Canadian oil companies had negotiated contracts in Haiti and were moving forward to capitalize. It seemed to reinforce that sense that corporations count more than people.

Bill Clinton’s was a healing speech, unifying and impressive in every way – given in full consciousness of his own mortality and with the satisfaction of a rich and influential career. He gave such a full throated speech, addressing key issues and ideas and painted a deeply humane picture of what Democrats stand for their values and their actions. I reflected that here at the Global Fund for Women, we’re on a parallel path – how do we best convey what we stand for, and what our impact is, what is the state of the women’s movement today and what do we hope will change in the next few years?

I began thinking about what Clinton’s speech would be like if it was given as one for the women’s movement and gender equality rather than for the Democratic Party and you can see my creative efforts here. It seems that the women’s movement could benefit from Clinton’s approach to making a compelling case for gender equality and I’d encourage others to build on this speech effort, wiki-style, to make it even more relevant and meaningful.

On my first weekend in San Francisco, I ferried across to Sausalito. It was the name that first captured my imagination. A seaside bay that’s also an artists’ colony, where writers and activists like Dave Eggers live with their families and where night kayaking, storytelling, clay-making and yoga all play their part. It seemed a good place to find a new abode.

While on the ferry, I thought back to the speech given at the Convention by President Obama – and the rush of energy when he mirrored to all those gathered at the Convention

“So you see, the election four years ago wasn’t about me. It was about you. My fellow citizens – you were the change. You’re the reason there’s a little girl with a heart disorder in Phoenix who’ll get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can’t limit her coverage. You did that. You’re the reason a young man in Colorado who never thought he’d be able to afford his dream of earning a medical degree is about to get that chance. Youmade that possible.”

It reminded me of Jane Tewson, the inspiring advocate and visionary who created Comic Relief and Igniting Change(formerly Pilotlight) whom I’m fortunate to call a friend and mentor. Aside from using comedy to raise billions of dollars for people in need in Africa, Jane was also involved with the UK organization, Time Bank, that encouraged people to volunteer their time. In a video they created called Turned Tables the opening shot starts with a person walking two dogs and the voice-over says ‘Two dogs, giving up an hour of their day to exercise a draughtsman.’ The whole idea was to flip on its head the concept of who is really giving to whom. Of course the message is that we often get far more back from volunteering than the person we think we’re helping when we give our time and energy for people and causes in which we believe.

In Sausalito one of my favorite Pete Seeger songs performed by The Byrds comes on the radio in the café where I’m sitting – ‘Turn, Turn, Turn. To everything there is a season…and a time for every purpose under heaven.. A time to build up, a time to break down, A time to dance, a time to mourn, A time to cast away stones, A time to gather stones together….’

Outside the café two young people are cartwheeling across the sidewalk while a man plays a tune on his banjo, his tiny dog sleeping on his shoulder. “I’m the last remaining hippie in Sausalito,” he says to someone stopping to pat his dog.

Not for long, I think, as I turn to go.

Jane Sloane

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