Jan. 20, 2025: Have you seen “Lee?” If not, today is the perfect day to learn from the past about what we might see in the future
Monday Morning Magic from Inkandescent® PR + Publishing Co. — As the 47th US president is sworn today, I find myself studying last week’s farewell address by President Joe Biden.
He talked about the “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people” that he said risks undermining the very fabric of American life. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy. Our basic rights and freedoms. And a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
In warning of the rising democracy-threatening ‘oligarchy,’ he believes: “Powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interest for power and profit. We must not be bullied into sacrificing in the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren.” Watch his speech here.
Having just seen the powerful biopic Lee, starring Kate Winslet, Biden’s words are all the more worrying. In this real-life story of Lee Miller, a former model who battled her way to the frontlines of World War II as a photojournalist for Vogue magazine, the film portrays a pivotal decade in her life.
“Her singular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century’s most indelible images of war, including an iconic photo of Miller herself, posing defiantly in Hitler’s private bathtub,” is explained the film’s award-winning Cinematographer Ellen Kuras. “Miller had a profound understanding and empathy for women and the voiceless victims of war. Her images display both the fragility and ferocity of the human experience. Above all, the film shows how Miller lived her life at full-throttle in pursuit of truth, for which she paid a huge personal price, forcing her to confront a traumatic and deeply buried secret from her childhood.” Watch Lee on Prime.
As a Jewish woman and lifelong student of the Holocaust, I fear the past is about to repeat itself. I hope I am wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Time will tell. In the meanwhile, I continue to study, read, and explore so I can understand what will happen from the inauguration forward. For starters, take a look at Kate Winslet’s current work in her HBO geopolitical satire The Regime — a warning about the people who will take over the government today. Read more about that series.
While educating ourselves is the first step, I believe in my Inkandescent mind, body, spirit, soul, and heart that now is also the time to lead. That is why some of my besties and I have launched the Empowered Together Network: Empowered-Together.us.
A growing group of women around the country, we host monthly roundtable discussions, mastermind groups, in-person networking and educational events, and coming this year, Destination Peace Retreats. The heart of our work, though, is the “take a class, teach a class” opportunity where we share our wisdom with each other.
Get Empowered-Together.us! Logo by Cynthia de Lorenzi, Cynthia.art
“Our goal is for everyone to know they are not alone,” says my co-founder, Cynthia de Lorenzi, creator of the international women’s networking group Success in the City, that she founded in 2006. Her beautiful artwork (below) serves as our logo and will grace future promotional products that will inspire us: Cynthia.art.
We hope you’ll join us! Send me an email for details.
Until next Monday: May you hold your head high and know you are not alone. — Hope Katz Gibbs, founder and president, Inkandescent® Inc. Inkandescent.us
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