DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
Historic Moves in Hometown
© NaimaLett.com/blog

Condoleezza Rice & Darla Moore make history. © Associated Press

Born and raised in Augusta, GA, I personally know the significance of the Masters Golf Tournament in the U.S. and abroad.

“Where are you from?” people ask.
“I live in LA now, but I’m from Augusta, GA,” I explain.
“Home of the Masters,” is their usual response, no matter where I travel in the world.

Augusta has had its ups and downs, but this week, I am glad that the Augusta National Golf Club, host of the Masters, made history by inviting former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become its first female members in the 80-year history.

Kudos to the club for finally realizing what they were missing, but more kudos to Rice and Moore for accepting. Neither of these two self-made, impressive business leaders needed an invitation from Augusta National to validate who they are. Their resumes and credentials go toe to toe with any of the other members i.e. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc.

Rice, 57, was former U.S. Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, and foreign policy leader. Moore, 58, was the highest-paid woman in the banking industry in the past who became vice president of the private investment company founded by her husband billionaire Richard Rainwater, and she’s credited with tripling the company’s profits. She has been a huge philanthropist donating over $70 million to alma mater University of South Carolina, was the first woman on the cover of Fortune Magazine and was called “The Toughest Babe in Business”. Augusta National is lucky to get them.

I understand the need for private clubs to maintain the right to invite whomever they wish into membership. I have always encouraged folks, especially artists, not to wait on anybody to give them permission to do what they desire to do. If somebody doesn’t want you in their club, go start your own. But I do understand and celebrate the significance of this historic move. As one commentator pointed out, multimillion dollar business deals go down in these golf clubs. It’s great
that women can now have the possibility of being a part of those conversations.

From a Hollywood perspective…
I’m reminded of the LA Times article “Unmasked the Academy“ about the 5,765 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who decide each year who will receive our industry’s top awards, the Oscars. Just like the 300+ members of Augusta National, the names of Academy members are private. But the LA Times did an in depth survey and found that these Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male, with a median age of 62. This private, older, non-diverse male club called The Academy is basically making decisions that affect all of us in the industry. Do you think more females at the table could make a difference – especially in how women are portrayed in our media, film and television?

From a Biblical perspective…
Jesus was quite radical in how He treated women during a period when they had fewer rights. He chose not to treat women as second-class citizens, but as a Rabbi, He allowed women to serve with him and support the ministry (Luke 8), to learn under His teaching (Luke 10), and to receive one-on-one counseling to the shock of His disciples who were “surprised to find Him talking with a woman” (John 4). He cared for, healed and set free so many women and chose to reveal Himself in His resurrected form, first, to a woman (Mark 16). I imagine that He didn’t have all the hang ups that we do today regarding women in His church. I think that much of what we do actually breaks His heart. We really do need His perspective.

And we need to pray for and support as many young women as we can, especially our leaders. We’ve provided scholarships through our production company, and I hope to one day provide scholarships for women to study in the college and seminary programs that I’ve matriculated through. I avail myself to women in the industry and ministry. Our film sets are at least 50% female, unheard of in Hollywood. In addition to myself as writer and producer, we’ve hired females as producers, directors, designers, supervisors, editors and assistants. I recently met an awesome female cinematographer and I’m looking for female gaffers and sound mixers. Holler if you know anyone – who is excellent in her craft. You know me. :=)

I’m happy for Condoleezza and Darla.
I hope their decisions to accept the invite into Augusta National will open up opportunities for many other women all over the world. In the meanwhile, there will always be those of us in the cut and behind the scenes creating opportunities for our sisters wherever we can, myself included.
Naima

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