#StatueforMaudGonne

Statue for Maud Gonne Campaign

What is an Uncommittee? Open Post

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Image of a Creative Uncommittee

An uncommittee is a loose collective of people with a shared goal, interest or cause, who meet up to collaborate, as needed. This more creative approach avoids the hierarchical and bureaucratic aspects of traditional committees, such as rigid roles, red tape, and top-down decision-making. Coined by Orna Ross, novelist poet and founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors, who based it on the idea of the “unconference” that’s widespread in the self-publishing sector, an uncommittee eschew hierarchical structures in the same way, and foster a more egalitarian experience that thrives on spontaneity and serendipity. 

Maud Gonne’s Political and Social Achievements

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Maud Gonne in old age

I believe Maud Gonne deserves public honor from Dublin for her social and political achievements yes, but her statue is particularly timely now. She embodies the sort of objections those in power use to keep out those who are different–female, queer, colored, disabled or outsidered in some other way. As a young woman she was dismissed as a rich English spy or a self-serving drama queen by unsympathetic nationalists. After she died she was dubbed a liar by unsympathetic scholars. In between she was always seen as “too” something. Too bloodthirsty, too divorced, too radical, too English, too feminist, too self-promoting, too extreme, too pathetic. Today, she is too anti-Semitic. The “More Than A Muse” campaign will highlight not just her many achievements but also the many ways she was unduly vilified.