I sincerely wish that I or someone else from our organization were able to attend and accept this award in person and meet you all. Circumstances did not permit this.

To the members of the FEAS2T Nomination and Selection Committees, I say thank you on behalf of The Amazon Xociety and most especially from the production crew of "The First Sex" for honoring us with the Equality and Justice in Media Award.

We have worked very hard for the past year to produce a feminist radio program that was truly of service to the Houston feminist and women's community. The show's primary focus was on human rights, social justice, and personal effectiveness issues for women. Though our show has been cancelled, the knowledge that we have the support and appreciation of the community has given us the energy and enthusiasm to find another home for the show and perhaps translate the format to work for televion by hosting the show on Houston Media Source, the public access channel here. You should all know that this award recognizing our efforts has also strongly contributed to our desire to continue the work.

Awards such as yours are especially nice as they come from outside of the local feminist arena and its insider political structure that is often non-cohesive.

It is my sincere hope that other women are inspired to join the media revolution for women on behalf of women. The women who made this show such a success and excellent tool for the will and need of the feminist community here began with NO prior experience at all. We got no training support from station management despite repeated requests, but through our own resourcefulness and some help from other programmers, we were able to put together some excellent programming that could not be found anywhere else on the dial! We did it just for women, but men appreciated it as well. It's hard, it's a little scarey, it's Always difficult to stretch beyond your comfort zone; but I'm asking you all to be a little braver and courageous than you think you can be and to surprise yourself by expanding your expectations for yourself. I'm asking you to reach beyond your current circle of associates and friends to build new relationships and networks. Nurture the relationships you already have while cultivating new ones. Doing your own media projects will be an excellent way of accomplishing all of this. You'll have an opportunity to experience personal growth and to grow your feminist community; build a community recognizing dynamic women of knowledge and talent. Groom dynamic women by giving them much needed media exposure, cultivate your own women celebrities. Feminists are desperately needed to address and rectify the issue of internalized sexism in media and journalism. Women don't want to do "women's stories", "women's issues", "women's news" because they don't think they'll be taken seriously, consequently most of the media coverage that I see is done by men who occaisionally do it well, but more often than not will cover our issues in an extremely superficial manner. The media needs a feminine/feminist take-over, so I encourage you all to join our ranks.

Let's be feminists who act like feminists by recognizing the importance of our own communities, grooming future feminists, and celebrating ourselves. Actually, by conveying these awards FEAS2T is doing just that.

In closing, I'd like to say that in these trying times, feminist solidarity is more important than ever. It is critically important that our fractured feminist communities embrace a new spirit of unity and alliance-building. To overcome our differences, at least in public, and be able to put on a unified front. Groups need to have productive meetings with members who are not constantly working their own personal agendas to the detriment of the organization's agenda. We must be every bit as vigilant and steadfast as our opponents and commit ourselves to growing of feminist organizations. An increased media effort will assist us on all these fronts.

The Amazon Xociety and the producers of THE FIRST SEX feminist radio show are deeply honored to receive the FEAS2T 2003 Award for Equality and Justice in Media.

THANK YOU

Peace ~ Power ~ Passion ~ And a Strong Sisterhood,
Bernadine Williams