Hosted by The Public Square, Eleanor Smeal, the Feminist Majority Foundation President, pivotal policy maker, and one of the main organizers for the upcoming March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C., comes to Chicago as the keynote guest for a debate on the future of feminism called We’ve Come a Long Way, but Where are We Headed? The Legacy and Future of Feminism.
Smeal will be joined by Beth Richie, head of African American Studies at UIC; Mary Morten, the first African American to serve as the mayor’s liaison to the gay community and the past president of the Chicago Foundation for Women; and Lisa Jervis, creator and editor of Bitch Magazine.
The program takes place on Thursday, April 1, at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State Street, 6 p.m. Admission is free. Reservations are encouraged. For information, call Public Square at (312) 993-0682.
The feminist and womanist movements, in all of their variations and complexities, have transformed the lives of American women and men over the past century. There is still much controversy about the legacy of those movements, and perhaps more importantly, there are looming questions about the future agenda of feminism, politically and personally. These questions, related to the lives of women of color, white women, lesbian/ gay and transgendered people, men, and the current generation of young women and girls will be tackled in this debate.