Zoe has been speaking for over fifty years, collecting wisdom stories and creating new experiences. Her presentations are dynamic, inspiring and, sometimes, controversial. Always using her life as a platform, she takes the audience on a pilgrimage through civil rights, feminism, the LGBTQ movement and lands them on intersection of Equality and Hope.
Hard to believe I have been speaking on Equality this long. My speaking is unusual, effective, insightful and valuable. The way I know is the fallout long after I have left. The emails, tweets, blogs, facebook comments and resulting innovations don't just happen for a week, they never stop. I am still in touch with people I met in 1972 and a recent tweet, "after hearing you speak, I found the courage to leave the family dinner table when my dad used the word, fag." Zoe
Zoe Nicholson, radical activist, feminist, bossy, funny, deep and, heard most often, intense. She is what Eleanor Roosevelt warned about Well Behaved Women. Aside from Zoe making history, she studies her lineage with heart. She is an unparalleled Alice Paul scholar and ERA expert. She founded ERA Once and For All. She is a lifelong champion of the ERA, an activist and primary resource of current information. In 2010 she hosted an ERA World CAFÉ for the Veteran Feminists of America which included a summary and Q&A with Gloria Steinem. 2011, Zoe presented an ERA panel for the NWPC National Conference in Washington DC. Her book, The Hungry Heart, is her 1982 diary about fasting for 37 days leading up to the ERA deadline.
______________________________________
A Few Responses
Zoe Nicholson has had a profound impact on my students. Each year, she provides real life testimony to the readings and feminist theories that my students study. Zoe has an incredibly rich activist history. She is a champion of the Equal Rights Amendment, GLBTQ rights and human rights in general. Zoe is a humanist who cares about injustices to all persons. She isn't just a one issue activist.
Linda M. Perkins, Associate University Professor and Director of Applied Women's Studies and Africana Studies Certificate Program, Claremont Graduate University
I was first introduced to Zoe Nicholson through the amazing and powerful film "March On" which documented the 2009 National Equality March in Washington, D.C. Her insight, passion for social justice, and profound wisdom stood out to me and my students, and following the screening of the film, the decision was made that she would be our keynote speaker for GLBT Awareness Week at Texas A&M University. As a campus programmer, I frequently work with speakers, and I can honestly say that Zoe Nicholson was both easy and a pleasure to contract! Furthermore, her message is highly impactful and empowering for people regardless of their exposure to social justice issues. Zoe is a smart, fun, engaging, and inspiring speaker whom I recommend enthusiastically.
Lowell Kane, Program Coordinator, GLBT Resource Center, Texas A&M University
I am writing this endorsement for Zoe Nicholson because I attended her presentation at the NOW Prairie States Conference in MN in May 2012. Since hearing her, buying and reading her book, I think her message and herstory should be shared especially with the younger generation, but also old folks like me who just learned about her activism late in life. She gets my vote!!!
Jocelyn "Joyce" Morris NOW National Board Member, Chair, NOW Combating Racism Committee
__________________________________________
Retired Speaking Programs
The Heart of an Activist
What does an activist have in their heart & soul that sets them on their path? From Alice Paul to getEqual, what do fasters, hecklers, marchers have in common? Why are they so relentless? What is the source of their resolve? Demonstrating the lineage of activists and inviting the audience to join the ranks, The Heart of an Activist changes lives.
The Heart of an Activist is the companion presentation to her new book, The Engaged Heart. 90 minutes and unlimited Q & A.
The Provenance of Change
Now I am thinking that (the r)evolution is in full swing and we only need to learn the language, focus on unity, get out of the way. It is bursting from within and waiting for us to listen. It is all in the conversation, in the question, in the mindful regard. There is something on the horizon, surfacing and telling its secrets all over the world. It is the provenance of change.
PowerPoint as a backdrop, Zoe discusses how change occurs. Focusing specifically on the LGBTQ movement but applicable for all seeking equality.
Activism, A Passionate Life
Using her life as an example, Zoe Nicholson, Equality Activist, takes her audience on a pilgrimage through the evolution of her reaching for liberation. Starting with Liberation Theology, discovery of American Feminism, outspoken on LGBT Civil Rights, Zoe will land the audience at the complex intersection of EQUALITY.
Zoe shares her story, insights and hard won lessons about the life of an activist; addresses the principles of Gandhi, Satyagraha, Civil Disobedience as well as burnout, inspiration, balance and ethics. From civil rights, the ERA and LGBT, Zoe has fasted, marched, organized and rallied for social justice. At 63 Zoe will tell you she has not peaked yet as her life seems to be a steady climb.
Rich, multimedia PowerPoint includes the Lineage of American Feminist Waves calling for one unified intertected movement for full equality under the law, great story telling from The Hungry Heart about Zoe's 37 day water fast and love for the Equal Rights Amendment, comprehensive presentation of current day efforts for Civil Rights. "People are informed and involved but, more importantly, some are inspiried for the rest of their lives. I know, they stay in touch with me." Zoe Nicholson
Women, Not Angels
The most fundamental right any American has is Constitutional equality but as Abigail Adams, Alice Paul, Rep Carolyn Maloney and Rep Tammy Baldwin have pointed out, it has yet to include women. The Equal Rights Amendment; first written in 1923, extension signed by President Carter in 1978, failed by 3 states in 1982 awaits ratification. It is a complex history about a simple idea: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Every women’s studies & women’s history class should be including historical and current information on the ERA. Women’s and Gender Centers on campus should be celebrating Alice Paul, Women’s Equality Day, International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.