Today is International Women's Day (and the commemoration of Edward King)

I am still in quiet mode at an undisclosed location ;-) through the end of the week, but I commend to you the biography of Edward King, whom the Episcopal Church remembers today and who is not one of your better-known saints. You can find info about him at the Daily Prayer website. Just scroll down and click “about Edward King.” (Speaking of King, greetings to any of you from Ripon College Cuddesdon who may be reading this.)

And, of course, it’s International Women’s Day.

The U.N. gets a bad name these days, but have a look. Did you know the U.N. had a cyberschoolbus?? (Note: It has a section on the Millennium Development Goals. Though you can look elsewhere on the U.N. site at the one for grownups too.) For your children, or friends who are children, or friends who have children, here’s this cyberschoolbus resource for International Women’s Day. (It’s actually not a bad FAQ for adults!)

Only reading this in the evening? There’s always the weekend. Make this International Women’s Week. We do that with Earth Day at Guilford College, where I teach.

And the World Council of Churches is in the middle of its Decade to Overcome Violence. Overcoming violence against women and children is one of the themes in this decade.

And let’s not forget the Green Belt Movement...

... or the Grameen Bank and its microloans, which serve mostly poor women.

In a hurry? Nice FAQ on the Grameen Bank here.

The unrelated but sort-of-related Grameen Foundation is here. Similar purpose.

Don’t forget the women closer to home and organizations like Oakland's Women of Color Resource Center (when you go into the site, you will see some International Women’s Day resources), Raleigh, NC NOW, the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCCADV),* and the Women's Lunch Place in Boston. There are similar resources all around the world. (Shoutout to Padre Mickey and the Lovely Mona in Panama and a salute to the Hogar de Niñas.)

********(Yes, men do suffer from violence in the household, though the overwhelming majority of victim-survivors are women. Note the NCCADV's "2006 Man for Change" award! Men can become partners in this work. There are also resources for both women and men at the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault, NCCASA. )

The Indigenous Women’s Network is here.

And remember the arts!

There is an International Women's Day website with a gazillion resources, and I am not sure who runs it – it’s a .com, not a .org, so that might mean it’s a profit-making group. Anyone know? I haven’t had the time to do the research.

There are lots of resources on, for, and by women in churches and other religious and spiritual communities, but that reminds me, I must get back to my writing...

Peace be with you all.