Watch a streaming video of Dorothy Allison giving the 2008 Feminist Founders Reading, Creative Writing Program Reading Series, on March 3, 2008.
(Real Player is required.)

Farewell to a Woman of Note

We salute you, Ali Crown. It is with deepest gratitude that the Center for Women at Emory University bid an emotional and fond farewell to our champion and dear leader, as you move on to your next chapter. We will seek your counsel, and will always expect fo find you still leading the charge - adamantly and elegantly. And we will always remember you - in your own words:

"From its beginning to the present, the women's movement has been about women's desire to be free. Women have wanted to be free to enter contracts, own property, atttend school, enter the workforce, make decisions about their bodies, vote, hold office, and more. The history of women winning these freedoms is, on the one hand, a collective narrative of outrageous acts and great achievements, and on the other hand, no more than a series of vital steps toward full human dignity." (1999)

"Words give form to our experiences. Words help us explore our healing options. Sometimes we need guidance, but in the end, we are each our own best healers." (2000)

"Within these pages we have always tried to reveal the very important ways that we women, who oftentimes seem very much alike, are really different. We differ not only in our roles, but also in the decisions we make, for example, about our families, our careers, and how we develop our world views. I believe these stories help us make sense of our own journeys." (2001)

"The Women's History Month Committee at Emory met just a week after September 11. Traditionally an uplifiting meeting, this first gathering of the school year was solemn and filled with sadness. Reflecting on our place in the human chairn, we wondered about the conditions that breed terrorism. We spoke of our sense of grief, horror, and powerlessness and the impact of our actions on other people of the world. And then we decided to turn the volume up on women's voices this spring. The outcome is a series of programs in March focused on 'Women Talking and Acting: Fierce, Fearless, and Wise.' " (2002)

"We must continue to monitor the progress of women. We need to make sure that women are not only making policy but that they also are not living and dying in poverty, that children aren't going hungry. We must demand equal rights for gay couples. We should be compelled not only to protest against the carnage of war but also to raise our voices about the destruction of the environment. We need to organize, march, make phone calls, write letters, run for office, and vote. Indeed, even as we honor the legacy of our foremothers, it is our imperative to develop a new generation of revolutionary women." (2005)

"For me personally, feminism has been the proactive opposition to patriarchy and oppression. It is my belief in and fight for women's full participation in society, our equal access to the same rights, privileges, pay, and status that men historically have enjoyed. There is much more. But anything less is just not acceptable to me." (2007)

"One cannot live in the moment without a sense of the past and hope for the future." (2008)

Women of Note Archives.