As part of our “Women on Wednesdays” series, please join American University's Women & Politics Institute for a virtual conversation moderated by WPI Executive Director Betsy Fischer Martin. Joining us will be Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and award-winning filmmaker, Abby Ginzberg, director of the documentary, “Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power” which tells the “complex story of Representative Barbara Lee, a steadfast voice for human rights, peace and equality in the U.S. Congress for over two decades.”

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists calls the documentary “so inspiring” that they “fully expect a future President of the United States to one day say she was motivated to run for office after watching it.” Filmmaker Abby Ginzberg chronicles the career and accomplishments of the California Congresswoman through conversations with her friends and colleagues, including the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), author Alice Walker, and actor Danny Glover, among others. Watch the trailer here

Registered attendees will be emailed an 48-hour access code to screen the film on October 12th

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) is a 12-term U.S. representative for Southern California, who previously served in the California State Senate and State Assembly. Lee got her start in politics by working with the NAACP while still in high school and went on to volunteer with her college’s Black Student Union and to work on Rep. Shirley Chisholm’s (D-NY) historic 1972 presidential campaign to become the first Black candidate to run for a major party’s nomination for president.

Lee received her Bachelor’s degree from Mills College and her Master’s in Social Work degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975. She was born in El Paso, Texas and became a resident of California in her early teens.

Abby Ginzberg is a Peabody award-winning director who has been producing films with a focus on race and social justice over the course of the past 30 years. Her past work has looked at Japanese internment during World War II, anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa, Black student organizing during the Civil Rights Movement, the movement to create ethnic studies curriculum in universities, and labor rights for tipped workers.

Ginzberg began pursuing film after recognizing various forms of discrimination through her previous legal career. She received her law degree from the University of California-Hastings School of Law.

Betsy Fischer Martin is an Emmy-winning journalist and former TV news executive. Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University and a faculty member in the School of Public Affairs, where she teaches courses on campaigns and elections. During her earlier career in television news, she spent 23 years at NBC News serving as the longtime Executive Producer of Meet the Press with Tim Russert and as the Managing Editor of NBC News Political Programming.

A native of New Orleans, Fischer Martin did her undergraduate and graduate work at American University in Washington, DC. She is a cum laude graduate of their School of Public Affairs and earned a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the AU School of Communication.

“Women On Wednesdays”: Rep. Barbara Lee and Abby Ginzberg - “Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power”