Previous words find new impetus
It is true that our own words can come back to haunt us — not necessarily in a bad way, but as motivation for giving impetus to considering the state of our world and striving to make it better for all.
Last Thursday, this writer felt compelled to go through select boxes of columns and stories from The Sentinel- Record and various other newspapers on which I worked from the mid
1960s into the mid-1970s. These stowedaway articles brought back a myriad of memories from early in my journalism career.
Surprisingly, I came across a personal commentary composed in 1979 after attending the 60th convention of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs in Boston.
The thoughts I cobbled together some 41 years ago after one hot and humid week in July are not irrelevant in these difficult days of social and racial turmoil and injustice and yes, when the Equal Rights Amendment still has not been ratified by 38 states to make it the 27th amendment to the United States Constitution.
That Boston Tea Party — circa 1979 — blended “old memories and young hopes.” Those business and professional women “came to terms with their newfound assertion and ascension and out of Sheraton symposia came some of the syntax of the seventies — networking, upward mobility, risk- taking, role model, mentor.” As I penned then, “In the northeastern metroplex, where the past lives in the present and history are revered, these modern-day patriots answer the call to continue their own revolution against economic oppression and second-class citizenship.”
Thus, we listened intently while The Honorable Margaret M. Heckler of Massachusetts’ 10th Congressional District enthusiastically told her Monday morning session audience, “… The quality of life is related to the quality of government. Women must insist that we will not be taxed without representation.”
And while progress and a modicum of fairness have certainly moved our nation ever so slowly forward, the struggles continue to ensure that women, minorities and all of the underserved “are reflected in legislation concerning economics, the environment” and other quality of life issues.
In rereading the anecdotal comments shared by that impressive and inspirational group of BPW leaders, I am reminded of all the ways women since the have stepped forward to make a positive difference in our society.
Among the new champions of change are my namesake, Melynda Michelle Gidcomb, and her 12-year-old daughter, Mollie Margaret Gidcomb. They and sister members of their generations represent the “young hopes” for the future.
I would ask them both to consider William Shakespeare’s “What’s past is prologue” quote from “The Tempest.” It tells us that “history sets the context for the present.” And I would also ask them to think upon the following remarks from the Arkansas Young Careerist who was at that convention four decades ago: “Let us be done with labeling each other. There are no young or old here. Vitality and energy know no age. We are all women. We are a continuum.”