“Writing women back into history: For too long women have been left out of the history books. Their stories muddled or left untold. It’s time to change that. HerStry invites all women, from every walk of life, to tell their stories. We all have something worth saying.” Julia Nusbaum
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A number of years ago, Julia Nusbaum founded a brave and safe space for women to share their stories. It’s called HerStry. I’ve been watching it evolve. Julia’s values and intentions are born of experience in social services and of a keen awareness of the healing power of words and stories. Thanks to her, the stories shared by women from all walks of life correct the historic record, let others know they’re not alone in their experiences and perceptions, and provide inspiration for joy and healing, for overcoming trauma and depression.
About a week or so ago, I dusted off Remembering Mom, a 2012 piece I wrote at the request of an editor at Connotation Press. It was well received, but at the time I had mixed feelings about delivering it for publication. If my mother was alive, she wouldn’t be happy with me. At this point, I had no reservations about asking Julia to consider it for publication on her site. The emerging tone of public discussion on privacy issues, race and gender issues, and women’s rights over their own bodies demands that we are open about our experiences and observations, both as a reminder and as a warning. We’re being thrown back into the second wave of feminism. I am old enough to remember when we first began sharing our stories, blue-penciling history, and fighting anti-woman, anti-race animus with Gloria Steinem and Alice Walker at the helm.
Remembering Mom is on HerStry. You can read it there. The subtext of my mother’s story is a culture that saw women as third class citizens and perennial children, consigned them to poverty with pay rates 40% lower than men working the same jobs, provided no privacy protection for medical records, and sanctioned an employment norm that allowed people to be fired or not hired due to illnesses like cancer.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
JAMIE: What are the influences that brought you to founding a safe space for women to tell their stories and why is it important for women to share them?
Bravo, Julia!
Julia Nusbaum is the creator of HerStry. She currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she works in nonprofit. When she’s not working she loves reading, sitting in sunny spots, and eating all the food and drinking all the tea.
ABOUT
Recent in digital publications:
* Four poems in “I Am Not a Silent Poet”
* Remembering Mom in HerStry
* Three poems in Levure littéraire
Upcoming in digital publications:
“Over His Morning Coffee,” Front Porch Review
A homebound writer, poet, and former columnist and associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, an info hub for poets and writers and am the founding/managing editor of The BeZine.
“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.” Lucille Clifton
I’m also sure The Local Train was one of your recommendations. Thank you Jamie 😊
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Great interview Jamie and thanks for reminding us about Herstry. 🙂
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Yes! I remember that you and a few others were going to send Julia some work for consideration. I hope you do so and the others as well. No guarantees, but you never know.
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Sorry for taking so long to reply. I made the mistake of clicking the upgrade button, when I was asked to at 1 a.m. this morning. It took until about 4 a.m. LOL Longest story short is, I got up around 8/9 a.m. ish and came on line, checked email and went back to bed at ? Anyways I just got up 🙄 Yes I’m thinking about Herstry in the meantime I got an email from The Local Train saying they wanted to publish one of my little stories (Which isn’t this one 😂) in their 3rd issue on June 11th I hope it’s true. If any of this makes sense let me know. 😊
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Glad to know about this. Thank you!
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Thank you for letting us know what you like.
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