Robin Morgan - an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecture, and more
Parents and birth
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| Robin Morgan head portrait. (1) |
Robin Morgan's mother, Faith Berkeley Morgan wanted to avoid public scrutiny for having a child without the father involved, so she traveled from her residence in New York to Florida in 1941 to give birth to Robin. Growing up she was never told the complete truth about her fathers whereabouts, up until age 13 she believed her father was killed during World War II. Faith also told people that Robin was a year younger than she actually was, and it was not until 1961 when Robin was a young woman that she learned the truth about her age and her father. Dr. Mates Morgenstern, Robin’s father, was aware of Robin's birth and her fame as a child actor, but stood strong with his decision to avoid all contact with Faith and Robin. (2) Robin only had contact with her father two times and wrote about these experiences in her autobiography, Saturday's Child: A Memoir. When she was a toddler her mother started her off as a model and at just five years old, she had her own program. At eight she had begun acting and played as a younger sister in the TV series Mama. Against her mothers wishes, Robin left the acting industry to pursue her wishes of becoming a writer at age 14. (3)
Activism
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| W.I.T.C.H. activating in D.C. (2) |
As a young woman Robin Morgan became very passionately involved in social-justice movements. More specifically during the 1960’s civil-rights and anti-Vietnam war movements. During 1962 she had become active in the anti-war Left and was a huge contributor to Left-wing and counter-culture journals by publishing articles and poetry. (1) According to her Wikipedia page in early 1967 she was an extremely active member in the Youth International Party, but as she grew to become more involved in Women’s Liberation and contemporary feminism, tensions over sexism arose. (2)
Shortly after this Robin became a founding member of the New York Radical Women group as well as a key organizer in the 1968 protest of the Miss America Pageant. In order to call attention to sexism she co-founded Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell which was a radical feminist group. (1) Robin is credited with designing the universal symbol of women's movement which is known as the female symbol, a circle with a cross beneath, centered with a raised fist. On top of this, the Oxford English dictionary credits her with first using the term “herstory” in her 1970 anthology, Sisterhood is Powerful. The term herstory is used to describe history viewed from a female or more specifically feminist perspective. (2)  |
| Universal symbol of women's movement. (3) |
Robin Morgan has been a major presence in the international Women’s Movement for over 35 years and is a founder and leader of contemporary United States Feminism. She founded the first feminist grant-giving foundation in the United States, known as The Sisterhood Is Powerful Fund. This provided seed money to many early Women's groups throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In more recent news, during the 2008 presidential race, Robin wrote a fiery sequel to an original essay, titled “Goodbye To All That #2” defending Hillary Clinton. This article quickly got attention and went viral through the internet. Robin has spent an abundance of time traveling across the United States and around the world in order to bring attention to cross cultural sexism. She has spoken at universities all over the world, including Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and much more. (3)
Awards
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| Robin Morgan giving one of many speeches. (4) |
In 1990, Robin Morgan was named “Woman of the Year” by the Feminist Majority Foundation. In 1992 she received the Warrior Woman Aware for Promoting Racial Understanding from the Asian American Women’s National Organization. She received a Lifetime Achievement in Human Rights from Equality Now in 2002. The Feminist Press awarded her a “Femmy” award in 2003 for her “service to literature”. On top of many awards, in 2007 she also received the Humanist Heroine Award from The American Humanist Association. (2)
Robin Morgan has been an extreme asset to the advancement of gender rights throughout American history and is still a current asset. Her novel Sisterhood is Powerful is known to be one of the most influential books of the 20th century. (1) Not only is she a powerful and talented writer, but she is also an unforgettable speaker. She has been an invited speaker at every major university in North America. Not to mention The Robin Morgan Papers are achieved at the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at Duke University. Robin made a dent in feminist history and is the name behind many events. (2)
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| Robin Morgan during the 1970's. (5) |
Works Cited:
(1) “Activism - Robin Morgan: Author, Activist, Feminist: NYC.” Robin Morgan | Author, Activist, Feminist | NYC, 29 May 2022, https://www.robinmorgan.net/activism/.
(2) “Robin Morgan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Dec. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Morgan.
(3) Pam, Eleanor. “ROBIN MORGAN -- Pioneer Feminist.” Robin Morgan, https://www.veteranfeministsofamerica.org/legacy/Robin_Morgan.htm.
Pictures:
(1) Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, https://poets.org/poet/robin-morgan.
(2) JTB A2 Poster - Civildisobedienceproductions.files.wordpress.com.
https://civildisobedienceproductions.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/jtb-a2-poster-assembly-roxy.pdf.
(3) voinSveta. “Female Woman Feminism Protest Concept. Girl Power Vector Icon...” IStock,https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/female-woman-feminism-protest-hand-icon-vector-gm1131677553-299733936.
(4) “Robin Morgan: Author, Activist, Feminist: NYC.” Robin Morgan | Author, Activist, Feminist | NYC, 29 May 2022, https://www.robinmorgan.net/.
(5) “Robin Morgan: Author, Activist, Feminist: NYC.” Robin Morgan | Author, Activist, Feminist | NYC, 29 May 2022, https://www.robinmorgan.net/.
Robins background was very interesting. Not being the age she was told she was and her mother keeping secrets. It reminds me of something that would happen in the movies. I also find it interesting how she used her powers to defend Hillary Clinton. Many people would not put themselves on the line for another person like that
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Robin Morgan. I am puzzled about her childhood, though. I found it unclear why Robin was being raised without her father or her age. It seems that Robin's mother forced her into being a child actress; if this is true, I can't imagine how traumatic it all must have been. Her involvement in the anti-Vietnam War movement is also interesting because I knew it was an issue, but I didn't realize how many voices were involved. Her creating the first feminist grant foundation is huge and lays the framework to get more voices involved in the cause.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read for me as I didn't know who Robin Morgan was before. It's sad knowing she had to find out things about her life that were lies her mother told her, which makes me understand why she made such a profound impact on society. I enjoyed learning about her story and what she did for woman's rights, Woman of The Year award was much deserved.
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