Ever stop and wonder, how did I get here? Did I really think that?

In July 2008, Dr. Lynette Long (DC) and Dr. Nancy Hopkins (MA) came to my home for a visit.  We met to discuss the way women are treated in the media and what could we do about it.  Nancy said “Amy, you should lead a women’s group.”  At the time, I smiled but thought, nah – what do I know about women’s groups?

And so one month later, exactly one year ago today, a group of 30 of women from around the country came to my home.  We sat for 7 hours together and brainstormed.  You all know the rest of the story. Here’s the first story written about us by a blogger called The Stiletto.

Chris Matthews humiliates Erin Burnett

I’ve been thinking about the one story that to me exemplifies how far this organization has come in one year, and decided to share a personal story about something that happened to me shortly after we started The New Agenda.

Now most of you know me only as Amy Siskind, the President of The New Agenda and a public figure; but a year ago today, that was hardly the case. Before my entree into women’s advocacy, I spent nearly 2 decades working on Wall Street. The rule of law for most on Wall Street is to avoid the media at all costs.

So as we concluded our meeting one year ago today, we decided that we needed a spokesperson. I wasn’t exactly raising my hand so to speak – my hand was raised for me.

A couple of days later, word started to get out about us and I had a call from a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. I gave him the full story about the ambitious plans for our organization as described in The Stiletto’s piece. He decided to pick one tidbit of the spicy variety and run with it: Women’s group wants Chris Matthews fired. And sure enough, on August 14th, we had our first major press exposure.

Now, you might think that I would be overjoyed by the notion that our three day old organization had already made our way into a major newspaper. You would be wrong. Actually, I was terrified.

Here’s my quote:

Amy Siskind of Westchester, N.Y., a founder and Clinton supporter, said the group was urging that Matthews’ contract not be renewed because “the kind of language he uses and the kind of behavior he exhibits in the public domain toward women objectifies them and leads to bad things for our society and to domestic violence.”

My name, my county, my words. Oh my.

So that evening, after the article had hit the LA Times’ Blog, I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. I ran into Karen G. who is one of our board of directors and a neighbor of mine. Karen was walking her 8 lb dog. I was being walked by my two 70 lb dogs.

When I ran into Karen, I was completely and utterly terrified. I told her about the article and how my name was out there saying that, as spokesperson, we wanted him fired and:

Siskind would not reveal what tactics the group would use to get Matthews off the air. She likened the organization to the Navy Seals, saying their methods would be covert.

Karen being the grounded and level-headed woman that she is, straightened me out right away. I don’t remember her precise words, but to the effect: what, is MSNBC going to come to your house and stand in your driveway? Get over it girl.

And so, thanks to Karen, I did.

And I tell this story scores of articles and television appearances later. I look back on an event that happened a year ago, and can hardly believe that I am the same person. But it’s not me that grew, it’s me as the face of a burgeoning organization. Who would have thought that in one year we could accomplish so much and become a brand name organization around the country. I suppose there was a vacuum, and well, we filled it!

And I also tell this story because if you read the LA Times, you will see cited some pretty extreme examples of sexism by Chris Matthews. In fact, a year ago today, many called he and Keith Olbermann “The Boys of Sexism.” And The New Agenda stayed on Chris Matthews like white to rice again in the LA Times, Politico, MediaBistro

And here we are one year later. Chris Matthews decided not to run for the Senate seat in PA. We were informed by a political insider that Matthew’s political advisors told him not to run because the pro-Hillary blogs and “that women’s group” (The New Agenda) would mobilize against him.

And a year later, is Chris Matthews all that bad? Did we teach him a lesson in humanity perhaps?

This is our journey together. To speak out and be the voice for all women. We hope that you will join us and become a charter member. There is so much work to be done.