FANNIE, opening on the Owen Stage at the Goodman Theater on October 15, is the perfect play for the League! Fannie Hamer, who was a voting rights activist in Mississippi in the Civil Rights Era, risked her life for her beliefs and fought for the right of Black voters to exercise their franchise. The event will be a fundraiser for our League. We chose a Sunday matinee on November 14 at 2:00pm. The tickets are selling at a reduced rate of $30 and then we are asking members to contribute an additional $20 to the League, for a total cost of $50. Deadline for registering is November 1. Go here to buy tickets. Non-members are welcome, so invite friends and family. Audience members will be required to show vaccination cards and wear a mask during the performance. You can read more about Fannie Lou Hamer here.

Our Fundraiser donut day is coming up this Saturday, October 23, at the Oak Park Farmers Market at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 460 Lake Street.  Please come by and support our League and the Kiwanis Club by purchasing some delicious donuts and coffee for your Saturday and weekend. This is an easy way to support our League. Thanks to everyone who has already signed up and volunteered their time. In case you missed it, there is one mid- morning shift left-- use this link and put your name in. Read more about the Pilgrim Donut Committee rules here. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Joan Petertil.

If you missed the LWV IL Environment Issues Specialist presentation to our League on Thursday, October 7, you can see the recording of the evening's presentation on our YouTube page here. It is also posted on our website.

Much has been said about electronic pretrial monitoring, the abolishment of cash bail, and the rise in violence. The changes in cash bail do not go into effect till 2022. Here are ten facts about pre-trial electronic monitoring that give data-based facts about the program. Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers put together the report.

Whatever their religion, women have been both faith leaders and feminists for centuries. Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825-1921) became the first American woman to be ordained as a Protestant minister. Hear more about her religious and suffragette journey here. Ray Frank-Litman (1861-1948) was the first woman to officially preach from a synagogue pulpit in the US. Read more about her life here. Born Joyce Adele Pettingil to a Baptist family, Karuna Dharma (1940-2014) was the first American woman to become a bhikkhuni (a Buddhist nun) in the Vietnamese tradition when she was ordained by master Thích Thiên-Ân in 1976. Read more about her story here. Margaret Kibben (1960- ) is a Presbyterian minister who has served as the first female chief of chaplains of the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, and the US House of Representatives. Read about her work here.