Category: Sarah Gantz
For Local Women, Equal Pay Law is the Beginning
LEDBETTER
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Sarah Gantz
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 29, 2009
WASHINGTON —In 1964, the Civil Rights Act demanded equal pay for women. But decades later, with women earning only 78 cents for every dollar men earn, wage discrimination remains an issue.
President Barack Obama Thursday signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, the first of his administration. For many women, the law, which reverses a 2007 Supreme Court decision that required lawsuits for wage discrimination based on sex, race and other factors to be filed within 180 days of the first unequal paycheck, represents a step toward workplace equality.
“I think they felt their hands were tied and they didn’t know exactly what to do about it,” Carrie Johnson, 56, of Framingham, said of female friends who dealt with workplace discrimination years ago. “There’s the piece about not knowing for sure. It’s not down in black and white.”
Lilly Ledbetter, now 70, worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in Gadsden, Ala., for 19 years before being tipped off that her male co-workers had been receiving higher pay during her entire career at the company. In 2007, the Supreme Court threw out Ms. Ledbetter’s case, saying she should have filed charges within the first 180 days of the initial act of discrimination in 1979.
“This Supreme Court case ranks up there with some of the most egregious cases of all time,” said Lauren Stiller Rikleen, a law partner of Bowditch & Dewey in Framingham and executive director of the Bowditch Institute for Women’s Success.
The law signed Thursday allows wage discrimination charges to be filed within 180 days of the most recent unequal paycheck.
The law has been heralded as a milestone victory by women’s activists nationwide, but many women say the law’s legal significance is overshadowed by how it will thaw conversation about wage discrimination, a topic long coated in icy taboo.
“I don’t expect that as of tomorrow we’re going to have fair wages across the board and everything is going to be fabulous,” said Shelley Errington Nicholson, the director of women’s programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “But there’s going to be more dialogue.”
Ms. Errington Nicholson raises awareness of wage discrimination at WPI by helping women prepare to negotiate salaries and stand up for themselves in predominately male science and technology workforces. But 10 years ago, when she accepted her first job out of graduate school, unequal pay was not part of the conversation.
A year into the job, she said, she realized that a man with the same education, qualifications and experience who had been hired at the same time she was for the same position had received a starting annual salary of $10,000 more.
“It was kind of like that dirty little secret that everyone knew,” she said of the sex-based pay discrepancies tainting the entire company, which were brought to light when Ms. Errington Nicholson approached her boss, a woman who found herself in a similar situation.
The new law, Ms. Stiller Rikleen said, “doesn’t make an equal workplace.”
Women still make only about 78 cents for every dollar men make. And, while 60 percent of two-parent families depend on the income of both the husband and wife, women’s earnings constitute less than 40 percent of the average family income, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau.
More important than how effective the legislation will be in diminishing the wage gap between men and women is that the issue of wage discrimination is back in the limelight, some women say.
Linda Cavaioli, a member of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, said she thinks fighting wage discrimination on a national stage will raise public awareness about the issue. “It gives it more teeth,” she said.
Ms. Cavaioli, of Worcester, said she hopes the national attention will help advance the legislation she has been working on with State Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, to address wage discrimination on a state level, now that the topic is open for discussion.
###
Millions Turn Out for Moment in History
COLOR
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Sarah Gantz
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 20, 2009
WASHINGTON – Vincent Bates had been standing outside, in the cold, smack-dab in the middle of more than a million people crowded onto the National Mall, for more than five hours by the time Barack Obama was sworn-in as the 44th President of the United States And Mr. Bates said he wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Every type of American you could imagine was there,” said Mr. Bates, a dean at Mount Wachusett Community College. “They were just so happy to be there. They could not wait for the moment…they couldn’t wait for a better tomorrow.”
It took only minutes to make history. As Barack Obama solemnly swore to protect the Constitution, the throngs of people who had waited months, years, lifetimes for that moment burst into a celebration—hugging, jumping up and down, snapping photos of everything in sight.
“I looked over and my wife was crying and I was sort of welling up,” said Eric DeMeulenaere, a professor at Clark University, who watched the ceremony from the Rayburn House Office Building. Listening to President Obama’s speech, he said he felt “this sense of accomplishment that we've done something amazing in this country and yet a sense of beginning.”
Mr. DeMeulenaere said it was important for him and his wife, who is black, to bring their two daughters, Mykah, 7, and Tyla, 5, who are biracial, to the inauguration because, “I want them to see they are also part of making history.”
Mykah and Tyla have been reading children’s books about their new president since the election campaign, and have been campaigning hard for a dog of their own since hearing about the pup Sasha and Malia Obama are getting, Mr. DeMeulenaere said.
Tim Concannon, 23, of Wrentham, was among the thousands of people who thought they had it made with a ticket for the Capitol grounds standing area. But instead of watching the musical performers that preceded the swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Concannon and his friend, Sam Raymond, 23, of Wrentham, stood packed in a line hundreds of yards from the gate, while the ethereal choir voices from the Capitol stage floated over the crowd.
The gates were not scheduled to open until 9 a.m., but Mr. Concannon was in line before 8 a.m. The line inched forward—like a colony of emperor penguins huddled together for warmth, as one voice in the crowd mused—and, three hours later, Mr. Concannon was still in line. But he had no intention of leaving.
Dozens of people did not make it into their ticketed areas, as the sections filled to capacity. Before the inaugural ceremony began, the National Mall closed, as well, too full to admit more people.
“I guess I could come down for the next time the first black president is elected, but I just don’t know when that’s going to be,” Mr. Concannon joked. He, like most people enduring the cold weather and crowds, were in good spirits.
“They were filled with such a calmness and a peace,” was how Mr. Bates described the crowd inside the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station, where crowds were so thick they stood still.
The Metro stations along the National Mall closed periodically until the platforms emptied. While people waited to filter out of the Capitol South station early in the morning, they responded with a thrice-pulsed “Obama” chant to a Metro worker’s megaphone call to “keep on moving.”
“Tremendous!” and “Amazing!” were among the exclamations with which Mr. Bates described his experience. Hours after the ceremony, words flush with ecstasy flooded from him, but he recalled a humbling feeling of disbelief while listening to Mr. Obama speak.
“It’s really happening, that was my thought. It’s really happening—a black man is going to lead this country,” said Mr. Bates. “It was a moment of exaltation and joy that maybe, maybe for the first time this country can turn the corner from an ugly past.”
“Hopeful,” said Mr. Bates, reflecting on how he felt walking away from the ceremony yesterday. “Hopeful was all I felt.”
###
Witnessing History, Whatever the Price
Cost
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Sarah Gantz
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 19, 2009
WASHINGTON — Carrie and Caitlin Howland, of Shrewsbury didn’t think they would be able to attend the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama but on Friday they got a call from Rep. James McGovern’s office informing them that there were two tickets available. Luckily, they had made a hotel reservation in Baltimore the day after the election.
The Howlands, like hundreds of others, had put their names into a lottery for tickets and were informed in December that they were being put on a waiting list. But they turned out to be some of the lucky few who managed to score tickets to the nation’s biggest event.
Americans from across the country have flocked to the nation’s capital to witness Obama being sworn-in as the first black president. If they weren’t able to get tickets like the Howlands, they can watch the ceremony from the National Mall with binoculars. Both options are free, but to get here, people have negotiated difficult to find and expensive hotel reservations, long restaurant waits, deadlocked traffic, and suffocating crowds. However, many people say, the financially and emotionally taxing logistics are all worthwhile to see history in the making.
Ms. Howland and 10-year-old Caitlin stood in line outside the Cannon House Office Building Monday for more than an hour, waiting to pick up their tickets from Rep. McGovern’s office. They were still hundreds deep in line at noon, but the door was in sight and they showed no sign of discomfort, aside from their red noses, exposed to the 36 degree air.
“It was a 95 percent chance that we would not get the tickets,” said Caitlin, nodding her head, nearly immobilized by her puffy jacket and ski cap, to emphasize the unlikelihood. With odds like that, a long wait in near-freezing temperatures is a small price to pay. Besides, Ms. Howland said, they got a great deal on their hotel in Baltimore, 40 miles away, by booking in advance.
As of Sunday night, 10 of the 15 Holiday Inn hotels within 10 miles of Washington, D.C. were completely booked, according to the company's online Reservation Desk. Among those that still had vacancies, the Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge in Arlington, V.A., seven minutes from the inaugural festivities, offered a standard room for about $590 online. On January 21, the room is available for $168.
Rather than shell out hundreds of dollars for a hotel room, many people set on attending the inauguration said they are staying with relatives and friends living in the area, even if they will have to travel further to get to the ceremony Tuesday.
Eric DeMeulenaere, his wife and two daughters decided to stay with a friend who lives in Silver Spring, Md., about 10 miles outside Washington. "We're somewhat concerned, but we’re figuring it out," Mr. DeMeulenaere, an assistant professor at Clark University, said about the predicted sardine-can crowds forecasted at the National Mall, where the public can watch the inauguration without a ticket.
But for some, the price is worth being in the middle of the city. “So we’re shelling out $800 on the hotel,” said Richard Lesavoy, of Merrimac, who reserved two nights at a Doubletree Hotel for himself and his wife, Liz. “We’ll be eating on the cheap.”
Restaurants will undoubtedly be packed, once the millions of people crowded on the National Mall become hungry after standing for hours, but restaurateurs are prepared, according to Lynn Breaux, president of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. Overstocking supplies, increased security, extending hours, and asking staff to spend the night are among the preparatory measures restaurant owners are taking, Ms. Breaux said, adding that "a lot of air mattresses have been purchased."
Chris Jarvis, 50, and his wife Linda Gross reserved tickets for the train into Washington Tuesday from a relative’s home in Baltimore, said Jarvis, of Leyden, a professor at Hampshire College who is formerly of Worcester. Typically, Mr. Jarvis avoids crowds, he said, but is willing to brave them Tuesday. “This is too big a historic event to miss,” he said.
Ms. Howland said she and Caitlin planned to leave their Baltimore hotel at 4 a.m. in order to catch the Metro into the city this morning before it gets crowded and to fit in as much sight-seeing as possible after the inauguration, Ms. Howland said.
“My mom and I believe this is a once in a lifetime experience,” said Caitlin. “I’m going to tell my grandchildren’s grandchildren about it.”
-30-
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Makes History Again
Photos by Caroline Bridges
SOLDIER
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Sarah Gantz
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 19, 2009
WASHINGTON — Eli Biddle lied about his age. He was 16 in 1863, not 17, as he told the recruiters he met on the street. Mr. Biddle had been booted out of class for refusing to sing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” While wandering around Boston, he decided to join the army, even though he was one year shy of the age requirement.
Until those days following the Emancipation Proclamation, Mr. Biddle's race would have been a more formidable barrier to enlisting. But the unit he joined was the newly formed 54th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry, one of the first all-black army regiments.
“These people were fighting just to be called American. Now, we’re electing an African American president,” said Mr. Biddle’s great-grandson, Michael Coblyn, of Amherst, who is a member of a reenactment group of his great-grandfather’s regiment. “It’s something that was beyond their dreams.”
Tuesday, the Boston-based honorary unit will march in the inaugural parade in honor of the nation’s first black commander in chief and the men of the original 54th Infantry who, they say, helped make Barack Obama’s election possible.
“Way back when the 54th was fighting for freedom, they were also fighting for him to be in this position,” said Bobby Berry, 79, of Boston, during a break from drill practice at the African American Civil War Museum Sunday. “It was not all glory, and peaches and cream,” Mr. Berry, who plays a sergeant major, said of the infantry’s role in the Civil War and the civil rights movement.
The 54th was among the first official all-black regiments and is remembered for spearheading the Battle of Fort Wagner, in which the regiment suffered heavy casualties, but also demonstrated its dedication to the Union. “It opened America’s eyes to equality,” said Emmett Bell-Sykes, 35, who plays a second sergeant. “In that way, they were pioneers.”
Named the 54th Massachusetts Glory Brigade, after the movie “Glory,” which chronicles the regiment from its formation to the attack on Fort Wagner, the Boston group of enactors has been performing for schools and marching in parades since its founding in 1992.
Their main event is marching in the parade Tuesday, but since arriving in Washington Saturday, the brigade has been busy with a schedule of demonstrations, squeezing drill practice in between.
Sunday, the soldiers practiced standing at attention (heads up, shoulders back, heels together in a V, musket perpendicular to the right hip), while an officer adjusted the position of a man’s canteen and knapsack slung across his brass-buttoned wool jacket.
The brigade is a family tradition for Mr. Coblyn. His three sons are also members. His father, George, founded the group with Benny White, the current lieutenant. Mr. Coblyn’s oldest son, Christopher, 25, said being part of the brigade a responsibility that comes with the honor of being a descendent of a member of the historic group.
Richard Massey is also proud of his connection to the 54th Infantry. Mr. Massey, a 74-year-old who grew up in Worcester, is the great-grandson of Alexander H. Johnson, the regiment’s teenage drummer.
Mr. Massey has spent hours researching his great-grandfather—a romantic poet with admirable penmanship. An advocate of civil rights “long before all that came about,” Mr. Massey said, Mr. Johnson had dreamed of starting an African American veteran’s group in Worcester, but was unsuccessful.
Now, he said, “They’d be rolling over in their graves if they saw.”
###
Burncoat Choir Does DC
Photos by Caroline Bridges
CHOIR
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Sarah Gantz
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 17, 2009
WASHINGTON — In one gulp, Rachael Brown swallowed the mint she had popped in her mouth to stave off hunger just in time for the opening line of the Star Spangled Banner. Ms. Brown, 17, is a self-proclaimed “very loud soprano” for the Burncoat High School Select Choir, which gave an impromptu performance on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives Saturday morning.
“We do that now and then,” said Casey Evans, a 17-year-old tenor, who explained that the 23-member choir often bursts into song unexpectedly.
The group is in town for the Presidential Inaugural Heritage Music Festival, a competition for student ensembles scheduled to coincide with the inauguration of Barack Obama. They have been seeing the sights, including the nooks and crannies of the U.S. Capitol on a tour guided by Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester).
Mr. McGovern and his 7-year-old daughter Molly led the group, a parade of swishing matching windbreaker jackets and camera flashes, through the Capitol’s ornate halls to the House chamber, where few visitors venture and even fewer sing.
“There’s not a lot of singing going on on the House floor,” said Mr. McGovern, who described their a cappella rendition of the national anthem as “absolutely beautiful.”
Seated in a cluster of House member’s chairs, the choir listened as Mr. McGovern explained the building’s history and gazed up at the bullet hole in the ceiling left by an attack by Puerto Rican nationalists who fired into the chamber from the gallery in 1954.
“It’s kind of like the cafeteria,” Mr. McGovern said of where the members sit in the chamber, explaining that, although there are no assigned seats, he and the other representatives migrate to the same general vicinity every session.
It was after filling the lavish staircases with their echoing “wow”s but before peeking into the chamber’s couch-filled cloakroom—“Where we hang out,” said the congressman—that David J. Twiss, the director, called for an E-flat and the choir began to sing the national anthem.
The group has spent the past five months, including four rehearsals when school was closed in December because of the ice storm, perfecting a three-song a cappella set they are to perform Sunday night.
Last April, they placed first in the chamber chorus division and second over-all at a similar competition in Williamsburg, Va.,, but awards are not the group’s priority, Mr. Twiss said. “Our goal is to do our personal best.”
“I don’t think they have any idea how important it was to have done that,” Mr. Twiss said of their House chamber performance. “But someday they will.”
Rose Murphy understood. The 17-year-old said she was so excited to get on the bus Friday morning when the group left Worcester that she woke up early and triple-checked that she had everything.
“It’s one of those things I’ll never forget,” said Ms. Murphy. “Every time I see C-SPAN I’ll think of it.”
###
