Catherine Conover, Associate Editor & Communications Coordinator of the young women's magazine, New Moon, will be in Washington D.C. this week with two girls representing New Moon's readers. They'll be in D.C. for two days, March 20 and 21, to hand-deliver girls' letters to Congress and to meet with members of Congress.
The letters are from girls ages 8-14 from around the U.S., who ask Congress members to take seriously the issues these girls take seriously. Twenty-six of the letters have been published and are featured in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue.
The New Moon delegates will be joined on Capitol Hill by girls from the D.C. area. The group will celebrate their successes at a New Moon open house at Busboys and Poets in D.C. on March 21st from 4-6 pm. Erin Vilardi of the White House Project will speak at the event about women and power, and New Moon is waiting for final confirmation from several other speakers.
If you're in the D.C. area, say hello and give a big cheer to the girls of New Moon. In the meantime, check out some of their kick-ass letters.
Dear Senator Casey:
I am 11 years old, and I care about many issues. One is equal pay. When I read New Moon Magazine today, I found that I would in my life make $700,000 less than boys my age will BECAUSE I'M A GIRL. When wymyn
(women) work hard, they make 77 cents per dollar a man makes. We girls and wymyn do great things, and look how we are rewarded. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Caley
Pittsburgh, PA
Dear Senator Elizabeth Dole:
My sisters and I think that global warming is becoming a very big problem. I think that you guys should do something about it, like make laws saying people have to use efficient cars and other products that are actually useful. I love our earth. Keep it clean.
Love,
Emma
Chapel Hill, NC
Dear Senator Warner,
I am writing to draw your attention to the money we spend each day on the armed forces. While visiting the UN, I saw a chart telling the difference between the money spent on the war and the money spent on abolishing it. I know our military needs to be strong, but not that strong. I am asking you to consider others. There are so very many in need.
Eliza
Richmond, VA
Dear Representative Tammy Baldwin:
I think that you should do all you can to stop global warming. Like vote for laws that save energy and work to educate people about it. If we take a stand, maybe we won't melt.
Thanks for your time,
Isabel
Madison, WI
Dear Representative Joe Bolkcom:
I am writing to tell you about what is happening in Darfur. More than 400,000 people have been killed. Some people had to leave their homes and have been starved, raped, and hurt. This is happening because the militia called Janjaweed started fighting SLA/SLM & JEM. Please try to stop this or help in any way you can.
Love,
Kylie
Iowa City, IA
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I love new moon! It is the best magazine I have seen for girls.
Kids are activists by nature, I kind of think. When my daughter was 6 we went for a walk one summer day, and she found a dead butterfly on the side of the road. She ranted all the way home about cars hitting butterflies. When we got home, she made signs and hung them up in the neighborhood "please watch out for butterflies!"
She came up with this on her own. (end brag.)
Ahhh, little feminists. I love it when that happens.
Further, the ordinary day-to-day facilities of a place can often offer the most rewarding experiences. Hong Kong’s transport system is a case in point. It has great diversity and is affordable, frequent, always on time and a joy to use. For instance, the midlevel escalators are, at 800m, the longest escalator system in the world. It is free. First thing in the morning they take people down the steep Hong Kong island hill to work. Then at 10am they switch directions and take people up the incline. The escalator floats past the ever-inventive shops that advertise themselves on the higher floors of buildings, creating a strip of high-level shops. The areas it passes below have regenerated, affirming the truism that transport is the maker and breaker of cities.
The Peak Tram funicular railway is a more typical tourist pull but it is still heavily used by locals because it gives an astonishing view of the city. The Star Ferry that runs continuously between Hong Kong island and Kowloon gives you a glimpse of the city from sea level for practically nothing.
Hundred-year-old double-decker trams trundle around Hong Kong Island at a leisurely pace. The MTR underground system is clean, fast and very frequent and the Airport Express Link speeds you to and from the airport while you watch the personal TV that is in the back of every seat. When even transport is pleasurable in its finest detail, there’s no need to fetishize obscure historical relics in order to create an experience for the tourist. The everyday becomes as central to the tourism experience as more rarefied cultural attractions on offer.