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WOMEN ON THE MOVE by m.b. [Thoughts on Women and UNWLA by a Gentleman from Chicago] from Nova Zorya (Chicago), Nov. 6 , 1977 As we were leaving after an event sponsored by the UNWLA Regional Council in Chicago on October 23, one of the few men present at that event said to me: "Why don’t we start a men’s branch of Soyuz Ukrainok?” As a matter of fact, this man’s question captured the essence of some of my own thinking as I observed the activi ties of our women. Women in the world are fighting for equal rights with men. American women carry placards and lobby in State legis latures for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. However, our Ukrainian women do not fight for those ’’equal rights” in our community and political life. Because what could they fight for? An equal representation in UCCA, WCFU, Ukrainian National Council (Mary Beck is the only female there!), or the organizations of the Liberation Front (Slava Stetsko is doing all the work there!)? They don’t raise such demands because common sense tells them that if they did, meetings and congresses of our various organizations would become real circuses, where men would constantly try to assert their superiority over women. And even women would not be able to talk down some of those long-winded speakers! Our women are people of action. Although we men accuse women of being talkers, if we examine their activities carefully, we will have to come to the opposite conclusion. The activities of organizations which are under the control of men usually boil down to empty talk, fine-sounding speeches, phrases and appeals. Words become the essence of all our community work. Women, however, choose a more practical path. Women don’t get involved in ’’big politics.” They’ve taken on ’’small politics" — such as supporting church organizations, Ukrainian schools, various charitable activities, and generally being involved in efforts geared to the preser vation of our national essence. In these efforts, women combine idealism with pragmatism and they act, while men flounder in ideology and phraseology. But you needn’t be a specialist to be a good oral historian. All you have to do is follow some basic guidelines. Here they are: Be objective. See the big picture. Do your homework. 1. Whomever you wish to interview, for whatever purpose, a spirit of objectivity is essential to the task. If you go into an oral history project with biases or prejudices, these will inevitably color the results of your work. You owe it to your conscience and to Ukrainian history to be as objective as possible. 2. Even if your topic seems narrow and specific, and of personal interest only, try to put the interview into a broader historical context. Tie in your author with im portant figures or movements of her/his time. Who knows, someday your interview may be of more general interest that you can now imagine! 3. Don’t go into your interview cold. Do as much research on your oral author and her/his era as possible. These admirable qualities of women's activism are even reflected in such things as public events. The event that I attended exhibited certain positive, business-like features which, in my opinion, raise the level of activities of UNWLA far above that of other organizations. Brief, concentrated, precise — such were the welcoming remarks of the pre sident of the Regional Council, Ms. Maria Jusefovych. Ms. Z. Cymbalista chaired the program in a similar spirit, without any unnecessary pretentiousness. The talks by Ms. I. Pezlansky (on Olena Teliha) and Ms. M. Navarynsky (on organizational topics) were also distinguished by their concentration and clarity. This leaves a highly favorable impression, especially when we recall speakers at other Ukrainian events who bore their listeners to death with their "preaching” — as if they had no idea they were speaking to an intelligent audience which seeks only some food for thought, and not "lessons” from the speaker. The musical and vocal entertainment numbers were most appropriate and did not "over-satiate” the listeners (as is usually the case), but rather created a most favorable audience response through fine, unpretentious performances on the part of the artists. It is not my purpose to write a report on this pleasant event. Rather impressed by that October 23 celebration, I wish to give credit to these women and to encourage them to continue their activities. I would also like to urge all our Ukrainian women who have not yet joined this organization to do just that,thereby increasing both the activities of UNWLA and its influence on our community. Things are not well in our community life. We are being consumed by our fragmentation, non-coordination of activities and worship of ideologies. From way back, women knew how and are perhaps destined to "put things in order” . If they grew in strength,perhaps they would be able to do so and bring the right atmosphere and direction to all our community activities. Women of various religions, views and ideologies are able to come together and work together. That is perhaps the element which is most essential for all our community efforts: to be able to unite around that which binds us, rather than breaking apart into groups and sub-groups which then nurture within themselves that which divides us. At the table where I sat, there were people of different viewpoints and faiths, but Decide whether you want an autobiography or only a certain aspect of your oral author’s life. The better your preparation, the higher quality results you’ll achieve with your project. Perhaps this article has stimulated your interest in conducting an oral history project in the Ukrainian community. If so, watch for future articles such as: preparing for the interview (interpersonal, legal and technical considerations), the interview, and transcrip tion. Any specific questions or suggestions? Write to me c/o this magazine. Adapted in part from the author’s ”ln Search of the Past: Ukrainians in America,” The Ukrainian Weekly (Jersey City, N.J.), June 8 -15-22, 1974. Ms. Sawyckyj studied oral history at Columbia University. Presently she is conducting oral history interviews with Hutsul musicians in the U.S. under a Federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ, ГРУДЕНЬ 1977 31
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