On September 8, LWVSP Evening Book Club discussed Muzoon: A Syrian Refugee Speaks Out. As a group, we really enjoyed it. It was an eye-opening read and we learned a lot about Syria, the civil war, and Syrian refugees. As the book was published in 2023, We wondered what the author is up to now, but also why it was written for a young adult audience; the book is categorized as young adult nonfiction. Perhaps the goal was to increase awareness of events in Syria among young people.

We look forward to reading and discussing our next book, Rise to the Challenge by Marlene Johnson. We will discuss it on Zoom on November 10. We are excited to read this book the month before Ms. Johnson will be our keynote at our annual December Luncheon.

In The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory, Tim Alberta writes about the divisions tearing apart American Evangelicalism. As the son of a pastor himself, Alberta uses his perspective to explore how a faith rooted in eternal principles has become entangled with political power. He traveled across the country, interviewing a variety of American Evangelicals, from prominent televangelists to local pastors, revealing a movement increasingly defined by partisan animosity and political idolatry rather than biblical teachings. Alberta argues that the rise of Christian nationalism has not only tarnished the church's reputation, but also accelerated its decline, leaving many believers disillusioned and forcing a reckoning with its core purpose.

Our group discussed how politics in our country and the Evangelical Church have been increasingly meshed together. There no longer seems to be a separation of Church and State. It’s believed that government leaders are chosen by God. In Russia, Putin uses the Russian Orthodox Church in much the same way to stay in power. Project 2025 policies were defined by Christian Nationalist and religiously conservative ideals.

In every chapter, Alberta travels to a different city and then uses the last quarter of the book to pull it all together. The Evangelical Church leadership doesn’t support people who don’t share the Church’s definition of Christian values. They demonize groups of people who are different from themselves. Jimmy Carter left the church because women were treated as lesser than the men. Rick Warren was kicked out because he let a woman preach. Members are no longer allowed to have empathy for LGBTQ people. Tim Alberta himself is very religious and is concerned that Evangelicals are self-destructive. The group felt that if we label people we’re all losing. The only thing that overcomes hate is love.

Our next meeting is October 8 at 10:00 a.m. at the Highland Park Library . We’ll discuss the book Dodge County Inc.: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America. We’re even expecting the author, Sonja Trom Eayrs, to join us.

By Trudy Dunham

Did you ever have a major local, state, and national political leader join you for coffee and conversation? Joanne Englund did. In the late 1960’s, Hubert Humphrey came to Joanne’s home to meet with Shoreview Leaguers and neighbors to discuss the issues of the day.  As you know, Humphrey was a passionate supporter of civil rights, arms control, humanitarian aid, the Peace Corps, and programs to ensure Americans had food, health care, and education. Joanne held these same values.  She lived these values in her work with League, reaching out to political leaders, encouraging members to educate themselves, discuss the issues of the day, and get involved. Her dedication to public service also shined through in her work with the City of St. Paul (Public Works, Model Cities, etc.), as well as her later freelance work as a consultant and grantwriter for social justice programs. One of her last acts was to submit her absentee ballot for the Ward 4 Special Election for City Council.

Joanne was a member of the Shoreview League before moving to St. Paul and joining the St. Paul League.  She served as President of both local leagues. She won the Faye Lyksett Award in 1991, an accolade given to members of LWVSP who have demonstrated devoted service, performance excellence, and enthusiasm for many years in their League work. 

There are many things I enjoyed about Joanne in our long friendship. She loved to talk in depth about ideas and issues. These conversations often ran long, so I usually blocked out 3 hours for breakfast with Joanne.  She was a good listener, both patient and kind.  She asked good questions, but also wasn’t one to tell you what to do or give you “the answer.” 

Joanne was also an artist.  For many years, my inbox was graced by her “Haiku of the day.” I think she stopped the daily practice after she sent out 1,000 of them (!). Her photography, especially of insects, is magnificent.

One of her greatest passions was history.  She loved her Nordic heritage, travelling to Norway multiple times in search of family ties and to visit the homes and lands of her ancestors. Locally, she showed this appreciation of history and culture in her work with the Ramsey County Historical Society and Gibbs Farm.  One of her great contributions to our community is her interviews and write-ups of the history of many Black families of Rondo.  I can remember us researching the location of the “wild rice” trail route of the Dakota through Minneapolis and St. Paul to Gibbs Farm.

The many contributions Joanne made to League and to her community and friends will be missed. And if presented with this statement, I recognize that she would probably ask us what we are contributing, what will our legacy be, and wait to hear our answers.

You can find Joanne's obituary here .

Members of the Evening Book Club met on Monday, August 11, to plan the 2025-26 Book Club Season.  Agreeing that some months are particularly busy, this year's list is shorter than last year's but no less exciting. 

All Evening Book Club meetings will be on Zoom unless the reminder email says otherwise. If you are interested in joining the Evening Book Club, please contact Heidi Kloempkin for the Zoom link.

LWVSP EVENING BOOK CLUB 2025-26 SEASON

• Monday, September 8, 6:30 PM: Muzoon: A Syrian Refugee Speaks Out by Muzoon Almellehan with Wendy Pearlman
  
  
• Monday, November 10, 6:30 PM: Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love by Marlene M. Johnson
  
  
• Monday, February 9, 6:30 PM: Radiance of Tomorrow: A Novel and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (One is a memoir and one is a novel. We plan to discuss both and compare. Feel free to join even if you have read one). 
  
  
• Monday, April 13, 6:30 PM: Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts From a Dakota Garden by Teresa Peterson and In Winter's Kitchen: Growing Roots and Breaking Bread in the Northern Heartland by Beth Dooley (We plan to discuss both but please join us even if you have read one). 
  
  
• Monday, June 8, 6:30 PM: The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker

(From left to right: Chauntyll Allen, Molly Coleman, Cole Hanson, and Carolyn Will)

Ward 4 Special Election Candidate Forum Roundup (July 22)
SPNN and Livestreamed

 On Tuesday, July 22, the League of Women Voters of St. Paul – in partnership the Union Park District Council and the Midway Chamber of Commerce – hosted all four candidates running for St. Paul’s Ward 4 City Council seat in the Special Election following Council Member Mitra Jalali’s resignation earlier this year. Hosted by SPNN in their Midway studios, nearly 200 people attended in person and another 400+ viewed the forum online.

Candidates Chauntyll Allen, Molly Coleman, Cole Hanson, and Carolyn Will took turns speaking on a number of salient local issues, including housing construction near St. Thomas campus; the Summit Avenue bike trail project; property taxes; economic revitalization, both in Ward 4 and downtown St. Paul; and the complex social issues associated with public health, crime, and safety in the Snelling-University area. Moderator Max Sanders asked questions submitted by the public in advance and at the forum (via notecard). Click here to watch the Forum.

The Ward 4 Special Election will be held on Tuesday, August 12, alongside local primary elections. If you live in Ward 4 but don’t know your polling place, click here to access the Minnesota Secretary of State’s poll finder website. The election will also use ranked choice balloting; you can find more information on Ramsey County’s Ranked Choice voting website.

 Each election cycle, LWVSP holds nonpartisan Candidate Forums for local elected offices. These forums give constituents the opportunity to hear directly from their candidates and to have their questions answered.

The League of Women Voters U.S. and the League of Women Voters of Minnesota are hard at work defending democracy, both in court and out in public. Here are some of the latest action items:

July 2 - LWV Federal Judiciary Position

LWVUS U.S. has adopted its federal judiciary position after taking account of state and local judiciary consensus studies from across the nation. This is a critical time for the federal judiciary, and this position will enable the League to act on legislative and executive efforts toward its reformation.

The Federal Judiciary position was adopted using the long-standing League practice of grassroots study to arrive at member understanding and agreement. 321 Leagues representing 45 states and the District of Columbia participated in the study.

This and other League positions adopted during the 2024-26 period can be found here.

July 3 - Independence Day Call to Action

On July 3, LWVUS CEO Celine Stewart issued a call to action: "As CEO of the League of Women Voters of the US, it’s my professional and patriotic duty today to issue an urgent call. And while this is a rare move for our century-old organization, it is necessary."

Ms. Stewart also calls on League members to look toward the July 17 Day of "Good Trouble" -- so-named in honor of voting rights icon, the late John Lewis -- to stand up and publicly defend the right to vote and other small-d democratic norms. Numerous actions are schedule around the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota. "We can fight for the free, representative nation we deserve in countless other ways. From supporting our local libraries to volunteering for environmental cleanup efforts, from registering voters with local Leagues to checking in on our neighbors, the power is in our hands."

July 4 - LWVUS Statement on the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act

Calling it "unnecessary and disastrous," LWV issued a statement condemning the passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," chiefly owing to the massive cuts to Medicaid that will harm millions of Americans by eliminating their health insurance. "Congress faced a choice: health care for millions of Americans, or tax cuts for the rich. It chose the latter. Now, all Americans — particularly seniors, Americans with disabilities, low-wage workers, pregnant people, veterans, and children — will suffer." Read the full statement here.

July 10 - Fired Up Fridays!

If you're looking for ways to take action as a League of Women Voters member, we highly encourage you to sign up for LWVMN's weekly Fired Up Friday! meetings (online at noon), where members meet to discuss current events and action items. Click here to sign up for the next meeting. Please note that Fired Up Friday! is members-only event.

July 18 - The SAVE Act Lunch & Learn

Join Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, Blue Earth County Elections Director Mike Stalberger, and LWVMN Executive Director Michelle Witte on July 25 at 12:00 p.m. for a lunch-and-learn session on the impact of the proposed SAVE Act on American voters and election administrators. Click here to register.

By Sharon Slettehaugh

The Rooster house: A Ukrainian Family Memoir by Victoria Belim.

Everyone finished the book and most liked it. The descriptions did a good job of setting the scene and conveyed how real the experience was for the author. The author grew up in the Soviet Union, emigrated at age 15, then returned to Ukraine to try to understand her culture of origin and family history. It also struck the group as an effort by the author to understand her father’s recent suicide. Belim learned that some of her relatives were displaced by the Chernobyl disaster and how the authorities downplayed what had happened. Throughout the book, she describes her relationship with a difficult uncle who remained a committed Soviet, her mother who was distant, and a grandmother with whom she was close.

A thread running through the book is Belim’s effort to understand what happened to her Uncle Nikodim, her father’s brother. No one in the family would talk about him and he simply seemed to have disappeared in the 1930s while fighting for a free Ukraine. After many dead ends, Belim finally learns, after digging through archives, that he was executed by the KGB. People living in Ukraine still seemed to be under the fear of Soviet reprisals and so even now, would not mention him or what had happened.

It was suggested that this would be a good book for young people, mainly high schoolers, especially since Ukraine is so much in the news now.

By Mary Palmer

Anita Hill's Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence is a powerful manifesto that examines the systemic nature of gender-based violence in America. Drawing on her own testimony against Clarence Thomas and decades of advocacy, Hill argues that this violence, encompassing everything from harassment to physical assault, is not merely comprised of individual acts, but rather is a deeply embedded cultural problem. Hill exposes the devices that perpetuate denial and institutional failures, highlighting how issues like racism and other biases intersect to complicate victims' paths to justice. But Hill also offers a hopeful vision. She calls for a shift in how society views and addresses gender violence, advocating for systemic change and emphasizing the importance of believing survivors as a crucial step toward creating a truly equitable and safe world.

Our group discussed how legislative hearings haven’t changed much since Anita Hill’s experience with an all-white, male committee. Then-Senator Joe Biden led the committee when Anita Hill testified against Clarence Thomas and only recently offered Hill a half-hearted apology for how she was treated. Black and Native women are treated unfairly when they are attacked. Intimate violence is handled as a private issue instead of a public one. The second most common complaint against police officers is sexual violence. Sixty percent of women complain of sexual harassment in the workplace. Female medical students and residents have been accosted or assaulted at work. Violations of individual rights are a precursor to democratic erosion.

For more information:

• The movie Anita, on Peacock
• The movie Confirmation, on Max

Our next meeting:

We are on our summer break, so our next meeting is on September 10th at 10:00 a.m. at the Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Parkway, St. Paul. At this meeting, we will discuss our summer book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, by Tim Alberta. We will also be choosing books for our next season, so if you can, send your book suggestions to Mary Palmer before September and she will put them in a chart. You can also bring your book ideas to our September meeting.

The Minneapolis League of Women Voters is meeting twice a month on Zoom to discuss how to implement the Unite & Rise initiative locally. If you are interested in joining these meetings, contact lwvstpaul@lwvmn.org for more information.

St Kate’s has put out a call for volunteers to help staff a Juneteenth play, Kumbayah, at St Kate’s on June 27, 2025. Help seat the audience, work with the students, and/or help staff a resource table.

There are two shows:11:00 AM for schools only and 2:00 PM for general public. Click here for more information. Email lwvstpaul@lwvmn.org if you are interested.