Leading the Way: Young Women's Activism for Social Change »

Mary K. Trigg is an associate professor in the department of women's and gender studies and director of leadership programs and research at the Institute for Women's Leadership, Rutgers University.

Leading the Way is a collection of personal essays written by twenty-one young, hopeful American women who describe their work, activism, leadership, and efforts to change the world. It responds to critical portrayals of this generation of "twenty-somethings" as being disengaged and apathetic about politics, social problems, and civic causes. Contributors reflect on controversial issues such as gay marriage, gender, racial profiling, war, immigration, poverty, urban education, and health care reform in a post-9/11 era.

Forward Mary S. Hartman xi

Acknowledgements xix

Introduction Mary K. Trigg 1

Part 1 Learning Leadership: From Life to Activism

1 Going Back Home: Teaching Literature and Poetry to Latino and African American High School Students Kristy Clementina Perez 21

2 Soldier in a Long White Dress: Notes from the Battle for Same-Sex Marriage Andrea E. Vaccaro 30

3 Living While Muslim: Human Rights Advocacy in the Post-9/11 Era Arwa Ibrahim 39

4 "What Are You?": Projecting the Perspective of the In-Between Ingrid Hu Dahl 49

5 Leading by Example: My Mother's Resilience and Power in the Fight against Poverty Rosanna Eang 58

6 Acting on a Grander Scale: Ending Health Care Disparities in the Latino Community Carol Mendez 67

7 Learning the Meaning of One: Reflections on Social justice Education Jessica H. Greenstone 76

Part 2 Reimagining Leadership: New Models

8 Storybooks and Fairytales from Rural Teso: Leadership as Local Problem Solving Sivan Yosef 87

9 Navigating Identity Politics in Activism: Leading Outside of One's Community Allison M. Attenello 96

10 Finding the Face in Public Health Policy: Leadership Learning through Outreach Courtney S. Turner 107

11 Eating with a Spoon: Learning from Women at the Grass Roots of Society Dahlia Goldenberg 117

12 Giving Voice to the Unheard: Writing with Women in Trenton Kristen Lyons Maravi 129

13 Moving through Message: Feminist Counternarratives for Social Change Liza Brice 139

14 The Transformation of a Chrysalis: Becoming a Global Citizen Sasha Taner 146

Part 3 Leadership in Practice: Creating Change

15 Changing the Face of Leadership: Legislatorsat Large for American Women Edna Ishayik 155

16 Choosing Nursing: A Feminist Odyssey Jan Oosting Kaminsky 167

17 Safe Keepers and Wage Earners: South Asian Working Women in the United States Anuradha Shyam 174

18 Blurring the Lines That Divide: Social Change through Activism, Politics, and the Space Between Shira Lynn Pruce 184

19 Practicing Leadership: The Unexpected Plunge into Politics Alanna Chan 195

20 Stories from the Sidelines: Career versus Family Megan Pinand 205

21 Creating Knowledge: Feminist Music Scholarship as Activism Mary Simonson 212

Contributors 223

Index 229