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One of the most influential women of the 1900s, Bella Abzug was raised by an extended family of Russian immigrants, who gave her a strong sense of justice and humanity, a belief that women should be self-sufficient, and deep ties to Judaism. She first experienced gender segregation in the synagogue, where women were separated from men during worship. The resulting sense of inequality propelled her into a life of activism. Abzug's experiences as a student leader at Hunter College increased her activism and forged lifelong friendships with classmates destined to become coactivists. After a career as a lawyer and a politician, Abzug jumpstarted the international women's movement by forming the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). Bouts with breast cancer, spinal degeneration, and a heart condition are compassionately related by her family and close friends, and the footage of an exhausted, wheelchair-bound Abzug testifying before the United Nations in the late 1990s is simply ennobling.
Interviews with Abzug's husband, sister, and daughters, and influential friends such as Gloria Steinem, Shirley MacLaine, and Marlo Thomas are powerful testimonials to this principled, outspoken, fiercely loyal woman, while earlier interviews with Abzug herself give viewers a sense of the strength of her convictions. A wealth of photographs from her private life and some riveting footage of her public work make this an amazing video about a truly great leader. Viewers can only hope that her dream to "make sure the millennium will be not only the year, but the century of the woman" will prove prophetic. --Tami Horiuchi
From the back cover
Bella Abzug was one of the most fearless, spirited politicians of our time. A fierce advocate of peace and woman's rights, Abzug was never afraid to take controversial positions to back her own beliefs. Born in the Bronx to a Russian Jewish family, Bella was an outstanding student, a dynamic public speaker, and an early believer in political activism. From Hunter College she went on to the Columbia Law School were she met her lifelong supporter and companion, husband Martin Abzug. Abzug went on to serve in the House of Representatives, run for Senate, serve a post in the Carter Administration, and work around the globe for women's issues and environmental causes. Mother of two; friend of Shirley Maclaine, Gloria Steinem, and Dr. Spock; and outspoken advocate for many, Bella Abzug's life was marked by sheer will, intelligent ambition, and impassioned commitment.
