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“Imagine”
Jul 27, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
“It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” is a song James Brown recorded in a New York studio in 1966, and, given the era in which he wrote, his words rang true. A map of Manhattan illustrates that men shaped the city and left behind their names as their calling cards.
I am Unworthy
Jul 22, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
The other day I pulled into the drive-through at Starbucks to order my venti latte non-fat milk extra foam, extra hot latte. I was taken aback when, rather than ask for payment, the barista informed me that the person in front of me had paid for my drink. I beamed behind my mask; in the time of the pandemic, kindness still visited. I proceeded to “pay it forward.” The vignette turned my thoughts to the woman who, more than anyone, had dedicated her life adhering to the biblical injunction, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Trixie: A League of Her Own
Jul 17, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
When one contemplates baseball’s greatest hit, most likely the image is of Yankee slugger Babe Ruth hitting the ball until it disappears into the horizon. However, the sport’s greatest hit was made not on the field, not in a stadium. Rather, it originated over a century ago in a New York City subway.
Where the Angels can Tread: Lucretia Mott: (Part One)
Jul 11, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Founding Father Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Clothes advertise the man.” His argument was that garments, like eyes, provide windows into the soul. Hence, apparel sheds light into pivotal moments in history and the architects behind the events. A top hat with a black band-the latter a tribute to the memory of his son- evokes a presidential assassination; a misshapen shoe recalls a life lost at Auschwitz; a purple robe trimmed with white ermine summons Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, a black leather jacket conjures the image of the Fonz.
How Long?
Jul 06, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
The pink hat with pussy-cat ears was so iconic during the 2017 Women’s March on Washington that Time Magazine featured the knit head covering on its cover alongside the caption: The Resistance Rises. A century before another women’s movement converged on the capital where a woman in flowing robes appeared astride a white horse. The rider, however, became a forgotten footnote in feminist history.
A Larger Circle
Jun 30, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Kermit groused, “It ain’t easy being green.” It was also not easy being black, female, and lesbian, with a propensity to psychological breakdowns. However, Pauli Murray prevailed and accomplished historical female firsts.
Santa’s Female Counterpart
Jun 28, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
In 1953, Edmund Hillary stood where heaven meets earth, a feat that made him the first man to scale Mt. Everest. Fifty-four years later, a woman who shared his surname also achieved a historical first, all the more remarkable as she did so in her seventh decade.
Good Revenge
Jun 22, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
A rite of passage for new parents is to take a photograph of their newborn thereby forever freezing that magic moment. The framed picture elicits nostalgia as the sands of the hourglass slip away. However, in a nod to irony, a baby picture, if the truth behind it had been discovered, would have proved a death sentence.
Free to Be…
Jun 21, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Did you ever attend a party and were worried that you were overdressed, underdressed, badly dressed? The anxiety of sticking out like the proverbial thumb because of unseemly attire is far better than feeling like you are forever trapped in the wrong anatomy. In 2018, Aimee Stephens, who suffered from gender dysphoria, sat in her wheelchair, accompanied by transgender activist actress, Laverne Cox, on the marble steps of the Supreme Court. A sea of supporters chanted her name, shouted their love.
A Civilization Gone with the Wind
Jun 19, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
A 1940 photograph captured a pivotal Oscar moment between actresses Fay Bainter and Hattie McDaniel. Today, the black and white image is considered politically incorrect as Fay’s jacket held a fox fur collar, the eyes of the animal reflecting its final agonized moment. However, at the time what was politically incorrect was the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences had broken the color barrier by making Hattie McDaniel the first African American to receive an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. Adorned with white magnolias on her hair and dress, Hattie’s sixty-seven second emotional acceptance speech stated she “hoped to be a credit to her race.”
June 14th is National Flag Day
Jun 11, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
The national anthem is consecrated to it, police arrested Abbie Hoffman for wearing it, Neil Armstrong left one on the moon. But who created the American flag?
June 12th is Loving Day
Jun 10, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
The Book of Common Prayer admonishes, “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” Unfortunately, to put asunder was an act the state of Virginia routinely enforced, thereby lending an ironic overtone to its slogan, “Virginia is for lovers.”
The Lion and the Lamb
Jun 07, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Words are fluid entities; they begin in one guise, and over time, transform to another. As a child, my mother bought me a Barbie House, and I was so excited I couldn’t breathe. As a too fleshy teen, when the scale registered a lower weight, I was so excited I couldn’t breathe. After high school, I left for the University of Edinburgh, and I was so excited I couldn’t breathe. In yoga class, we sat cross-legged on out bamboo mats and followed the teacher’s instruction to “Breathe.” In art history class, the professor projected a slide of the Sistine Chapel in which God’s outstretched finger breathed life into Adam. The 1970s equivalent of, “Keep calm and carry on” was the omniscient poster with its anti-anxiety message: “Just Breathe.”
If You Please
Jun 01, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
As Shakespeare’s Juliet leaned against her Verona balcony, she posed a philosophical question, “What’s in a name?” Her answer proved she was the possessor of a wisdom that belied her thirteen years when she surmised, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The passing of the centuries, however, made manifest that labels do indeed matter.
Be a Blessing
Jun 01, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
On May 24, 2020, The New York Times published on its front page the names of 1,000 people who had died of the coronavirus in the United States. The preface to the heartbreaking list stated, “They were not simply names on a list; they were us.” One of the entries was a woman whose life had been pockmarked by tragedy and yet she retained her indomitable spirit.
Dr. Rodriguez: Office Upstairs
May 27, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Chiapas was indistinguishable from any other hard-scrabble Mexican town: emaciated dogs wandered dirt roads, women peddled home-spun wares, men with leathery faces sat under the shade of a tree, hope for the future long absent. The sun was a remorseless eye that withered crops, flowers, dreams.
"Ride Sally Ride"
May 26, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
~Posted in tribute to Sally Ride Day, May 26th
The men who heeded the siren call of the sky are legendary: Shepard, Glenn, Armstrong, Aldrin. Then came Sally Ride, who blazed a cosmic trail when she became the first woman astronaut and shattered the glass dome of the galaxy.
I'll Rise
May 25, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
In 1970, Joni Mitchell lamented in “Big Yellow Taxi,” “No, no, no/Don’t it always seem to go/That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…” The song served as a red flag; in an instant, what we hold dear could assume the quality of mist and dissipate. The lyrics are apropos to the pandemic of 2020 when a virus- with the name previously only associated with a Mexican beer-sent the world scurrying for cover.
The Angel of the Battlefield
May 24, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Since the inception of the pandemic, the Internet has showcased countless posts of health- care workers with super-hero capes draped across their shoulders. As May marks the month Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross, now is an apt time to remember the heroine.
We Shall Not Sleep
May 23, 2020 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.” While Ophelia associated rosemary with memory, a 20th century woman used another flower to evoke the echo of yesteryear.
Memorial Day weekend is a holiday that signifies sales at malls, barbecues, and fireworks. Too often overlooked is the somber shadow that led to its creation.
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