I made the mistake of turning on the TV during a mid-day break and all this bad news jumped out at me about misogyny, bigotry, religious intolerance and other things that don’t seem to fit in today’s world.
All I could do was just shake my head and wonder about what’s happening now and what’s going to happen with civility breaking down all around us. It’s not okay, and we need to do something about it.
Here in our community something is being done which directly contradicts what I just saw in the news. Next week will be Women’s Week in Morgan Hill. That’s right, we’re going to celebrate what others have been getting all misogynistic about—women just being women.
Now that could be a dangerous thing to say but I mean it in only the best of ways—what were you thinking?
I spend most of my time these days doing volunteer work in our community. That means spending the vast majority of my time working with women. Strong, smart and hard-working women.
I sit on nonprofit boards and committees, the majority of whose members are women. I work with staff at City Hall—the majority are women. I work with a lot of downtown business owners and managers—the majority are women. I look to our local representatives in the State Legislature and Congress—the majority are women. This speaks volumes to me.
Okay, so we’re going to have a week of events celebrating women, and who better to put this together than two smart, hard-working women, right?
The idea came from our newest City Council member, Caitlin Jachimowicz, who teamed up with one of the smartest and hardest working women I know, Brittney Sherman. This pair has put a lot of energy into assembling a full week of programs and fun opportunities (I know there were others but these two made it happen).
The week kicks off on Monday with a special showing of the movie “Hidden Figures” at the Cinelux Theater. That movie alone addresses and messes with the whole misogynistic and bigoted atmosphere out there.
Tuesday is dedicated to effective communications with elected officials. Then, on Wednesday our City Council will formally proclaim this week “Women’s Week”.
Thursday is a big night because there will be a “Leadership Professionals Panel” made up of women. Some of our finest will be sharing the stage with special guest Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. We have some impressive local women leaders. Do not miss that!
Friday and Saturday includes honoring women at the Friday Night Music series and celebrating the passing of the 19th Amendment (Google it), respectively.
Sunday holds an event every woman should be a part of—the “When I grow up” mixer. Young women are invited and the adult women are asked to dress as they do when they go to work in their diverse responsibilities. This is an opportunity to inspire young lives and for women to mingle with their peers.
Celebrating women in our society shouldn’t be the exception and a big deal, but unfortunately it still is.
For more information about times and locations please go to: morganhill.org/womensweek.
John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be contacted at
ta*****@ya***.com
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