CSUN Honors Phenomenal Women

Submitted by Sofia Kahn

Beverly White, Kristy Sandoval, Mehrangiz Kar, Neelam Sharma, CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison, and Amy Brenneman. Photo by Luis Garcia

Four trailblazing women were honored at the 12th biennial Phenomenal Woman Awards on October 22, held at California State University, Northridge's Valley Performing Arts Center. Presented by CSUN's Department of Gender & Women's Studies in collaboration with the Women's Research and Resource Center (WRRC), the event is dedicated to enhancing campus and community understanding of women's issues and concerns. Founded in 1995 to "celebrate women who have made outstand­ing contributions to our community," the awards reception also raises funds for the Department of Gender & Women's Stud­ies and the WRRC in support of student scholarships, student and faculty research, and campus special events. Each of the honorees-actress and activist Amy Brenneman; attorney, writer, and activist Mehrangiz Kar; muralist Kristy Sandoval; and food justice organizer Neelam Sharma were celebrated for their hard work and contributions to community and society.

Amy Brenneman, best known for her acting career and activism in women's rights, says she is first and foremost a mother. When asked what prompted her to speak out in favor of women's reproductive rights, she shared her own experiences. "At 21, I got an abortion. I saw the laws going backwards and wanted to change things so that other young women, young women like my daughter, would not have less reproductive rights over their bodies."

Brenneman also supports and has taught at the CHIME Institute, a K-8 school where children of all abilities learn in inclusive environments. She says her involvement with CHIME, a partner with CSUN in educator training, is "a stimulating experience and an opportunity to interact with diverse communities of children." Brenneman also founded the Cornerstone Theater Company, based in downtown Los Angeles and dedicated to bringing diverse communities together. She enjoys facilitating opportunities for people from all backgrounds and neighborhoods to experience solidarity through acting.

Kristy Sandoval is recognized for her beautiful murals and their ability to give voice to communities. Sandoval offers words of encouragement to all women. "Don't let the fact that you're a woman discourage you," she said on accepting her Phenomenal Woman Award. "Do what you want in any career. If that's your true calling , you will be able to make a living." Sandoval also talked about her motivations and struggles as an artist. She woke up one morning, she said, and decided that she wanted to paint a mural, to "change the white walls of [her] home." She started calling around and found people who could help her make that desire a reality, and that was the beginning of her career as an artist. Sandoval 's work now resonates throughout communities both in and outside of the United States, though in the beginning she struggled to earn enough to live on. She acknowledges the difficulty artists face in making their vocation a career, but she was determined to "show, teach, and be an example [to all] that this is possible." Art is a universal language, she says , and next she intends to experiment with sculpting and sustainable and functional art.

Neelam Sharma, known for her groundbreaking efforts to ensure that residents of "food desert " communities have access to healthy foods at affordable prices, started out just trying to feed her own children wholesome food. As she struggled to do so she realized that many other families in South Central Los Angeles faced the same problem, so Sharma decided to do some­ thing about it. In her Phenomenal Woman Award acceptance speech, Sharma stressed the need to do away with "first-world, third-world terms, or nonsense." She says that so-called third-world conditions exist in pockets throughout South Central Los Angeles where people don't have access to healthy food and other basic needs. Sharma continues to work on alleviating these problems while also embarking on other projects-most recently the building of a community wellness center. In ac­cepting her award, Sharma noted that there were no men on stage and said that didn't indicate a lack of great men who are dedicated to social justice, but said that what makes a woman truly phenomenal is her ability to take on enormous tasks beyond ordinary household challenges while also being a great mother, a great wife , and a great daughter.

Mehrangiz Kar, a visiting professor at CSUN, spoke of her unceasing fight to protect women's and men 's rights in Iran. An ac­tive member of the press and a practicing attorney in Iran both before and after the Islamic Revolution, Kar was relentlessly criticized, harassed, and even jailed for what the Iranian government saw as her insubordination and violation of Sharia­ also known as Islamic law. When asked to comment on the misunderstanding and controversy surrounding the concept of Sharia, Kar says, "Sharia is one way of understanding or interpreting Islam, but it is not a text, nor is it necessarily rooted within a text." She wants to emphasize this point because she feels that among the greatest misconceptions about Sharia are that it cannot be changed and that it is essential to practicing Islam. It is Kar's belief that people can and should define jus­tice and Sharia according to the changing climes of their societies.

Despite the persecution that she and her family endured, Kar continues to speak out for those who cannot speak for them­ selves. She says she "received correspondence from men who were in prison, had been flogged, the [wounds in] their backs infested, pleading with me to help them." Kar was motivated to find a way to practice law and argue their cases within the confines of the Islamist regime. "Being able to be useful and effective under Islamic rule in Iran, this was important," she said. Kar believes that before any form of human rights activism can take place, one must first have social freedom: the abil­ity of men and women to interact without fear of punishment, as well as a woman's right to choose whether to take the veil. These were among the first rights to be revoked after Iran's Islamic Revolution, making it nearly impossible for the people to engage in activism. Kar says there is no substitute for one's home, and the loss of hers continues to affect her , but she re­mains positive .

All four of the honorees come from different backgrounds and have lived distinct lives, but they are unified by the fact that they were ordinary people with extraordinary aspirations and they had the courage to make their dreams a reality.