I grew up admiring female activists such as Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, Diane DiPrima and Barbra Streisand. To be a girl in the early 1970s was an exciting time, but seriously focused women were still hard to find!
Certainly as an artist, her emotional truth has always been evident in her songs and performances and was quite welcome in those confusing times of my childhood and teenaged years. I can certainly say that I continue to enjoy the artistry of every project she undertakes (loved Up the Sandbox and The Way We Were quite completely), but I have always felt that her citizenship was what inspired me most. I am also a self-taught, life learner who is a community organizer by trade now, and I still appreciate the humanity that Miss Streisand always brought and brings to the issues she cares about. I am thrilled to be able to go hear and see her in Brooklyn this fall (rear of the stage or not!) because it's a promise I made to myself long ago-I would find a way to see a live performance and cheer her on for all that she has done.