Back in 2000 when we were living in Dallas, during the days of the bug-eyed hanging chads, I was listening to Diane Rehm one morning when she was interviewing Alice Walker about her new collection of stories, The Way Forward Is With A Broken Heart. Because it was 2000 and because we were in the middle of that horrid time in our history when the Supreme Court handed the Presidency to what was then the most ignorant, unqualified person ever, the talk naturally came around to the election. Alice Walker put forth one of the most brilliant and sensible ideas I’ve ever heard.

Alice Walker told Diane Rehm that what we needed to govern our country was a council of 13 wise grandmothers to point the way forward and provide for future generations. She said that if there were 13 women we’d never go to war, there would be compromise and consensus, they would listen to each other and there would never be a tie. I couldn’t agree more.

There’s an organization now, The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, an international alliance of indigenous female elders that focuses on issues such as the environment, internationalism, and human rights. The group met for the first time in October 2004 at the Dalai Lama’s Menla Retreat Center during which time they declared themselves a council.

Here’s their website: http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/

Here’s my Council of 13 Wise Grandmothers:

Diane Rehm, Liv Ullmann, Almaluz Villanueva, Ruth B. Mandel, Helen Mirren, Tina Turner, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, Michelle Obama, Barbara Mikulski, Maria Shriver, Libby Costin (even though she’s nowhere near grandmotherly age:>) and, yes, Hillary Clinton. These women are all sheroes of mine and I would be thrilled to have them lead our country.

Who would be on your list?