Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, February 1, 2012
News Letter to the Power Elite of Puget Sound About Komen: Your Silence Makes Me Sick
Posted by Jen Graves on Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 5:35 PM
Well, I'm disgusted. Today, I called a lot of people. Pretty much nobody called me back.
I called executives at Boeing, Costco, law firms, banks, even the general manager at the Westin downtown—all of them trustees organizing the Komen Foundation's upcoming gala in Seattle.
I called Komen gala trustee Holli Martinez (former M's player Edgar's wife), whose own charity organization, the Martinez Foundation, is devoted to the promotion of people of color in education—the same people of color who are adversely affected by lack of access to breast cancer screenings, according to Komen's own admission.
I called architecture offices, the Seahawks, the Sounders, the Swedish Cancer Institute—all companies that were "Promise Partners" (donors of $30,000 to $150,000) of the Puget Sound Susan G. Komen Foundation last year.
I called Joni Earl, Sound Transit's director, who also is president of the board of trustees of the local Komen Foundation, and who won an award from Komen just last month.
"We are choosing not to participate in this media opportunity at this time," the communications director at MulvannyG2 Architecture told me, as if I was trying to sell her a vacuum.
The only person to speak out against Komen's blatant right-wing bullshit—pitting my vagina against my breasts; the breasts are innocent, the vagina is guilty—was Lisa Dawson, one of the gala trustees. On her blog, she wrote that she is "stunned, saddened, and frankly a bit ticked off"—but that she will continue to support Komen, and she urges other people to as well.
The Denver affiliate of Komen has not taken the bigotry lying down, so why is Seattle's?
No explanation, apparently, will be given. Even the development director at Puget Sound Komen didn't return my call today.
Well, I'm so glad that all you nice executives with full insurance benefits can throw nice galas for a charity willing to fuck over the neediest women in order to follow the whims of a bunch of bigots at national headquarters.
Your tacit agreement is a shameful reflection of our region.
UPDATE: Joni Earl says she will be issuing a statement. Stand by.
3
This is a huge deal for a lot of these people, and they've already set up for it. Maybe some of them will come around after they've had a chance to think about it.
4
Go, Jen, go! I share your outrage and disgust... I am so pissed off I can hardly see straight. Frankly, I'm not sure what there is to "think about".
6
@3, I hope you're right, and that not returning Jen's call the day the story broke isn't an emblem of eternal intransigence after all.
9
The Susan G Komen Goundation has done nothing but infantalized a deadly disease while Planned Parenthood provides medical screening for women. So my question is what is more helpful: Screening for cancer or a pink teddy bear and a pink ribbon?
And don't you DARE think of using a pink ribbon or they will sue your ass off.
And don't you DARE think of using a pink ribbon or they will sue your ass off.
10
Good for you for calling them, but I wouldn't read too much into the fact they haven't called you back the same day.
It can take a while for an ocean liner to make a 180 degree turn.
It can take a while for an ocean liner to make a 180 degree turn.
12
When's the gala? Sounds like something fun I'd enjoy disrupting with blood-curdling shrieking and rude signage.
16
Jen dear, you know I adore you, and I share your outrage, but are you seriously suprised by this? The Seattle Good Taste Police don't just weigh in on matters of art and architecture - they also have a say in philanthropy.
Komen has traditionally been as beige and Chardonnay as PONCHO or Children's hospital. They sponsor pink KitchenAid appliances and enable mammograms at Macy's. What's not to like?
I'm sure they're all staring apprehensively at each other at Canlis, or over at the Rainier Club, waiting for someone to make the first move, and wondering what the Myers and shakers in San Francisco will do.
Komen has traditionally been as beige and Chardonnay as PONCHO or Children's hospital. They sponsor pink KitchenAid appliances and enable mammograms at Macy's. What's not to like?
I'm sure they're all staring apprehensively at each other at Canlis, or over at the Rainier Club, waiting for someone to make the first move, and wondering what the Myers and shakers in San Francisco will do.
20
I agree with #17 and #19- if we unleash the power of Slog for good, they might have to rethink their position. If you haven't heard from them within 24 hours, then by all means, loose the contact info!
22
Boardmembers of the local chapter, beginning with board president Joni Earle, can make a big statement by each making a 4-figure contribution to Planned Parenthood.
No need for mass resignations and a lot of hoo-ha; stay in there and work to right the ship.
No need for mass resignations and a lot of hoo-ha; stay in there and work to right the ship.
23
Well, it's not like it's called "Race for Prevention."
I love it when the right overreaches, but this takes the cake. I hope PP gets more donations from those outraged than they ever got from SGK. It made me give for the first time.
I love it when the right overreaches, but this takes the cake. I hope PP gets more donations from those outraged than they ever got from SGK. It made me give for the first time.
24
What is happening as a result, is that more and more people are recognizing the Komen foundation as the sham that it is. Very little of the money raised goes to the things it says it will.
25
The founder of the group, aka Susan G's sister, is a GW Bush crony from way back. Which may explain why they seem much more interested in slapping pink on everything than in supporting docs that treat low-income women.
26
@23 the first time I gave to PP was for the campaign (which I discovered on slog, I think) to donate in Sarah Palin's name.
It's more fun!
It's more fun!
28
The Denver Komen affiliate supposedly gave advanced warning to their PP chapter to get their fund request in promptly last year. Also, it looks like the Connecticut affiliate has been more outspoken in their support of PP.
The Komen board's apparently been debating this move since October and tried to slip it past quietly. So much for that idea. Here's to hoping that at the end of this, some Komen board members will be marching for the exit.
The Komen board's apparently been debating this move since October and tried to slip it past quietly. So much for that idea. Here's to hoping that at the end of this, some Komen board members will be marching for the exit.
31
@25: Yep!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/01…
"Upon calling my GOP senator and speaking with his aide, I was shocked to hear her tell me "Sen.__ can't sign on as a co-sponsor to the bill because all the breast cancer groups aren't in agreement on it." Shocked, I asked her who was opposing it. She told me that Komen opposed the bill. When I asked her why, she explained that Komen felt that treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients should be funded through private donations, like the pink ribbon race. I was speechless, in shock. A phone call to another activist confirmed it was true - Komen was lobbying behind the scenes to kill the bill. A moment later, Sen.__'s aide called me back and begged me not to repeat our conversation to anyone, that she had given me the information by mistake.
Thus my lesson about Komen began in 2000. They spend a lot of money lobbying for a very different agenda.
The bill passed anyway and Bill Clinton, who pushed hard in Congress for its passage, was happy to sign it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the end of Komen (and its founder, Nancy Brinker's) political maneuvering to stall or kill legislation in Congress and in state legislatures that was supported by other breast cancer advocacy groups.
They fought behind the scenes in my state to prevent the governor from adopting the Treatment Program. They worked for several years to stall or kill the Breast Cancer & Environmental Research Act. In the end, they eviscerated it by removing new funding for environmental research and substituting a panel to review all research on breast cancer & environment. Using private funds, they recently collaborated with the Institute of Medicine to develop said report. Released last December, it sadly detailed the same old arguments that there's no evidence of links between environmental toxins and that no further research should be done on the subject since everyone has those toxins in their bodies already. Instead they chose to blame breast cancer patients for getting the disease (more here).
In 2009, Komen lobbied behind the scenes to weaken the health care bill (ACA) as it was being debated in Congress. They hired Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Joe, in an effort to convince Joementum to vote against the Public Option. Komen spent over $1 million in 2008 & 2009, on behind the scenes lobbying related to the health care reform bill, so who knows what else was on their agenda.
Nancy Brinker, the founder of Komen and sister of the famed, now deceased Susan G. Komen, has always thought of herself as a heavy hitting player in politics. As you've seen in other diaries, she raised millions for Bush's election, as well as other GOP lawmakers. She was appointed by Bush to high positions in his administration. She has a very large ego and likes to play the role of political kingmaker, using her corporate backed non-profit organization to further her agenda.
So why did she make this recent choice to de-fund PP? Komen has been under fire for several years over the grants given to PP, so why stop now? Recently, they've become more overt and partisan in their activities. My theory (and mine alone) is:
1. They're positioning themselves to play kingmaker (again) in the upcoming election.
2. They're consolidating their alliances with the GOP and anti-choice Dems in Congress so they can:
a. play hell with breast cancer legislation they don't like in Congress
b. collaborate with the GOP and ConserevaDems in efforts to weaken the ACA in Congress
c. pressure any Dem who opposes their legislative agenda in Congress or in the WH as pro-abortion. Right now, they're opposing the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act - a bill that will create an oversight panel to focus research funding on a streamlined agenda to create a breast cancer vaccine and to find a way to stop breast cancer metastasis."
Fuck this right-wing pro-Corporatist, anti-Women group. It's not even about them being anti-choice anymore. They're pro-Cancer.
More...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/01…
"Upon calling my GOP senator and speaking with his aide, I was shocked to hear her tell me "Sen.__ can't sign on as a co-sponsor to the bill because all the breast cancer groups aren't in agreement on it." Shocked, I asked her who was opposing it. She told me that Komen opposed the bill. When I asked her why, she explained that Komen felt that treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients should be funded through private donations, like the pink ribbon race. I was speechless, in shock. A phone call to another activist confirmed it was true - Komen was lobbying behind the scenes to kill the bill. A moment later, Sen.__'s aide called me back and begged me not to repeat our conversation to anyone, that she had given me the information by mistake.
Thus my lesson about Komen began in 2000. They spend a lot of money lobbying for a very different agenda.
The bill passed anyway and Bill Clinton, who pushed hard in Congress for its passage, was happy to sign it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the end of Komen (and its founder, Nancy Brinker's) political maneuvering to stall or kill legislation in Congress and in state legislatures that was supported by other breast cancer advocacy groups.
They fought behind the scenes in my state to prevent the governor from adopting the Treatment Program. They worked for several years to stall or kill the Breast Cancer & Environmental Research Act. In the end, they eviscerated it by removing new funding for environmental research and substituting a panel to review all research on breast cancer & environment. Using private funds, they recently collaborated with the Institute of Medicine to develop said report. Released last December, it sadly detailed the same old arguments that there's no evidence of links between environmental toxins and that no further research should be done on the subject since everyone has those toxins in their bodies already. Instead they chose to blame breast cancer patients for getting the disease (more here).
In 2009, Komen lobbied behind the scenes to weaken the health care bill (ACA) as it was being debated in Congress. They hired Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Joe, in an effort to convince Joementum to vote against the Public Option. Komen spent over $1 million in 2008 & 2009, on behind the scenes lobbying related to the health care reform bill, so who knows what else was on their agenda.
Nancy Brinker, the founder of Komen and sister of the famed, now deceased Susan G. Komen, has always thought of herself as a heavy hitting player in politics. As you've seen in other diaries, she raised millions for Bush's election, as well as other GOP lawmakers. She was appointed by Bush to high positions in his administration. She has a very large ego and likes to play the role of political kingmaker, using her corporate backed non-profit organization to further her agenda.
So why did she make this recent choice to de-fund PP? Komen has been under fire for several years over the grants given to PP, so why stop now? Recently, they've become more overt and partisan in their activities. My theory (and mine alone) is:
1. They're positioning themselves to play kingmaker (again) in the upcoming election.
2. They're consolidating their alliances with the GOP and anti-choice Dems in Congress so they can:
a. play hell with breast cancer legislation they don't like in Congress
b. collaborate with the GOP and ConserevaDems in efforts to weaken the ACA in Congress
c. pressure any Dem who opposes their legislative agenda in Congress or in the WH as pro-abortion. Right now, they're opposing the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act - a bill that will create an oversight panel to focus research funding on a streamlined agenda to create a breast cancer vaccine and to find a way to stop breast cancer metastasis."
Fuck this right-wing pro-Corporatist, anti-Women group. It's not even about them being anti-choice anymore. They're pro-Cancer.
32
@28: " tried to slip it past quietly"
They also slipped their denying grants based on embryonic stem cell research pretty quietly, I only found information about that on a pro-life site, lauding them for their "change of heart".
They also slipped their denying grants based on embryonic stem cell research pretty quietly, I only found information about that on a pro-life site, lauding them for their "change of heart".
33
@29: Hrm, I could create a spreadsheet of their emails and contact information, where would be good (and anonymous) to host it?
36
Thanks so much for some sanity here, Jen. to 4peace above, that's right: name names, give email addresses. I've started writing directly to grocery stores and others in my own neighborhood letting them know I will make a big, picture filled deal out of it if even one checker asks from money this year. I think we have to take it the individual channels and work up from there. Plus, there has got to be some kinda bigoted streak in SBK to hire a director who has openly declared war on Planned Parenthood, a 100+ yo organization known for good works.
37
@36: "Plus, there has got to be some kinda bigoted streak in SBK "
The President/creator of SGK is a lifelong GOP contributor who sides with large corporations over scientists regarding carcinogens and uses our donations to lobby AGAINST womens' health on a Federal level.
She hasn't come out as antichoice, but her appointing antichoice officers in the company and appointing them to the board shows her intentions.
The President/creator of SGK is a lifelong GOP contributor who sides with large corporations over scientists regarding carcinogens and uses our donations to lobby AGAINST womens' health on a Federal level.
She hasn't come out as antichoice, but her appointing antichoice officers in the company and appointing them to the board shows her intentions.
38
Good for you. Stand up for what's RIGHT.
HOWEVER,... you don't state how long you gave them to return your calls. The bigger the corporation, the longer it's going to take to get to your call.
HOWEVER,... you don't state how long you gave them to return your calls. The bigger the corporation, the longer it's going to take to get to your call.
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