Ai-Jen Poo, the executive director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance and author of The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America, shares her story on Cosmopolitan magazine.
 

I Was Meryl Streep’s "Plus One" at the Golden Globes
By Ai-Jen Poo
Jan 9, 2018

Sunday night I went to the Golden Globes. As Meryl Streep’s date.

I had not personally met Meryl Streep before I checked my voicemail and heard her soft voice, familiar from so many of my favorite films, introducing herself. There she was, asking to discuss the possibility of attending the Golden Globes together. Yes, Ms. Streep, we can definitely discuss that.

And so I found myself on Sunday night, wearing a black floor-length gown, having been immaculately made up by Meryl’s hair and makeup artist, stepping onto a red carpet lined by more cameras and flashing lights than I had ever seen.

I am not an actress. I am not a director, producer, or screenwriter.

I am an activist, and the executive director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance. For the past twenty years, I have been organizing and advocating for our nation’s domestic workers. They are the nannies that take care of our children, the housekeepers that bring sanity and order to our homes, and the home-care workers that care for our parents and support the independence of our disabled family members . . .

Read more.
 

Poo, Ai-Jen. "I Was Meryl Streep’s 'Plus One' at the Golden Globes." Cosmopolitan. Web. 9 January 2018.

Photo: Getty Images