Mary Anne Mohanraj
Author's posts
Jun 05
I Lost a Vote
So at the last board meeting, I lost a vote. This is the first time that’s happened to me while serving on a board — at the library, our votes were nearly always unanimous; I can only remember one time when one person voted against the rest (and he later said that he’d thought about …
May 26
Sworn In
I’m catching up on posting a few things from last month, which got very harried with end-of-semester. This is a quick pic of me in the sari I wore when being sworn into school board office. What’s funny is that I waffled mightily about which sari to wear — the problem being that I mostly …
May 05
Bending Towards Justice
I’m no Paul Goyette when it comes to photographing and documenting the political work of our community, but I did want to capture this moment at the D200 high school board meeting yesterday. Current board president Sara Dixon Spivy hands a bouquet of flowers to retiring board member (and former board president) Dr. Jackie Moore, …
May 04
Sworn In
Waiting to be sworn in for school board. I was in a rush, but think I managed a decent sari drape in five minutes, which I would’ve said was impossible a decade ago. I wear sari a lot more often than I used to — I guess practice does help. Wearing traditional Sri Lankan handloom …
Apr 28
Poised for Change
Nice piece in the Wednesday Journal about the school board transition and the appointment of Greg Johnson as our new D200 superintendent. https://www.oakpark.com/…/27/oprf-still-poised-for-change/
Apr 28
Two Hour School Board Orientation Yesterday
Well run, and they got through a lot of material in that time. I dressed up a bit; adorable honeycomb earrings and pendant by local artist Dima Ali. They made me feel better about the fact that I had to try on five (!) of my sheath dresses before I found one that mostly fit. …
Apr 28
The Political Will
Someone commented to me yesterday that they didn’t know how I did so many things. I get that a lot, and sometimes it worries me, because I don’t want to be setting up unreasonable expectations for others. I can do so much because I have a flexible job with a lot of autonomy, because my …
Apr 27
Last Library Board Meeting Tonight
I might write something more substantial up about the last four years of board service at some point, but for tonight, I’ll just say: • if you’re thinking of running for office, or serving on local commissions, please think about it seriously; we’re always in need of good people committed to making the community better …
Apr 27
A Little Surreal
I had a school board orientation with a dozen or so people in person. We were all wearing masks, and all sitting around a big table a few feet from each other (and we also had several people attending via Zoom), and I think it was fine, we’re probably mostly all vaccinated at this point …
Apr 07
Thinking of Them
Teaching feminist theory in my lit. class today, and asked the students if they could define what first wave and second wave feminism were. I also asked if they’d call themselves feminists — why or why not? (In previous years, at least a third of my class typically was hesitant to call themselves feminists, including …