FEMINISTING READS: AI-JEN POO’S THE AGE OF DIGNITY“Ai-jen Poo is the director of the National

FEMINISTING READS: AI-JEN POO’S THE AGE OF DIGNITY“Ai-jen Poo is the director of the National Domestic Workers’ Alliance (NDWA), co-director of Caring Across Generations, and a lifelong activist for women of color and workers’ rights. During her tenure, NDWA has achieved resounding, unlikely policy successes in state legislatures and at the federal level that finally end the exclusion of domestic workers from basic labor protections like overtime. New York, California, Hawaii and several other states have enacted domestic workers’ protections, and the U.S. Department of Labor worked with NDWA to reform federal laws that exclude domestic workers. Leading feminist activists like Gloria Steinem have long remarked upon Poo’s gifts as an organizer, and her career — and the movement — gained further spotlight in 2014 when she was named a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow. Her MacArthur bio includes this nugget: “Combining a deep understanding of the complex tangle of human relations around domestic work with keen strategic skills, Poo has created a vibrant, worker-led labor movement and spearheaded successful legislative campaigns at the national and international levels.”Now, Poo’s book becomes yet another way to amplify the efforts of the domestic workers’ movement. The Age of Dignity (set to be released by The New Press on February 5) is primarily focused on the plight of aging Americans. Many families in the US are grappling with how they will care for a parent, grandparent, or other aging loved one, and by 2035 11.5 million Americans will be over the age of 85 — intensifying the need for affordable, professional, in-home care. This is an issue that resonates broadly with many Americans. The idea of strengthening in-home care services for grandmothers, grandfathers and other elders is one that is easy to get behind.Tucked within this overarching focus are the less innocuous topics: feminism, how we value (or don’t value) women’s labor, and expanding labor protections for care workers. Often, these issues are not seen as integral to the wellness and economic stability of elders. But by weaving these concerns into the broader theme of care for the aging, Poo’s book accomplishes the larger objectives of the Caring Across Generations campaign: to expose and address the inter-tangled problems facing elders and women care workers.”Read the full piece here -- source link
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