Dia de la Mujer (Michigan)

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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY HOSTS ANNUAL DIA DE LA MUJER CONFERENCE

EAST LANSING, Mich. MSU will host the fifteenth annual Dia de la Mujer Conference from 8:30pm to 5:00pm on Saturday, February 23, at the Kellogg Center.

The conference is an annual meeting of Chicano/Latino women from Michigan and the Midwest who come together to share information concerning their community.

“It gives Latino women the chance to gather, talk about and learn about issues affecting the Latino community as a whole, whetehr it be education or health issues, ” said Marcelina Trevino-Savala, coordinator of MSU Chicano/Latino Student Affairs. “We can really learn a lot from each other.”

For more information click here or Facebook

Sex Trafficking Children - WHY?????

The Wrong Target by Bob Herbert (NY Times)

Across the country, young girls by the thousands - children - are being drawn into the hellishly dangerous world of prostitution. They are raped, beaten and exploited in every way imaginable. Full Story

Women Can’t Have Authority Over Males (Crooks and Liars)

Crooks and Liars Story: Kansas School Bars Woman From Officiating Boys Games, Says She Can’t Have Authority Over Males

By: Logan Murphy on Monday, February 18, 2008

Movies recommended by Detroit Feminists

 These are movies we have seen recently and highly recommend!

Iraq for Sale: The Story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war. Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Irag for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.

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 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days: Romania, during the final days of Communism. Otilia and Gabita are students; they share a room in a hall of residence in Bucharest. Gabita is pregant. The girls arrange to meet a certain Mr. Bebe in a cheap hotel. He will perform Gabita’s illegal abortion. But Mr. Bebe refuses their money and demands to be paid in kind.

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The Business of Being Born: A movie by Ricki Lake and Abbie Epstein.

Birth: it’s a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to examine and questions the way American women have babies. The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system.

When director Espstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal. Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?

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Persepolis: Based on the graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis (the name of the ancient Persian captial) is the coming-of-age story of feisty Marjane (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) as she struggles with her personal life and politicial issues. From a child growing to a budding rebellious youth living in Austria, Iran and then France, Persepolis is a meticulously made film of a misunderstood female affected by the equally misunderstood nation of Iran.

Take the Hispanic Looking Test

…What the hell is a “Hispanic looking suspect”? Please share with me the characteristics of a Hispanic looking suspect!

I remember when the reports of a DC sniper back in 2002 were making their way around the world, the first thing we heard was that they were looking for a Hispanic looking suspect. Then they changed it to Mexican…I want this crap to stop already, it really does hurt our image even more. Please come up with a different word and completely different name to describe your HISPANIC LOOKING suspects! Can’t they say brown hair, olive skin or brown hair, light brown skin? Why Hispanic?

So here, take the freaking HISPANIC LOOKING test. You tell me which of these people are really Hispanic! UGH! I’ll only give you  the answers once I receive 10 comments on my blog page, I want to know if anyone cares about this the way I do!

 

Hispanic or not? (Test your skill!) - Freestyle Style Life

Supporting Women of Color Writers

In celebration of Parenting Awareness Month, Detroit author, Cheryl Lynn Pope will relaunch her parenting book, 25 Ways To Make Your Child(ren) Feel Special.

This event will be held Saturday, March 29, 2008, noon - 3:00pm, at the Northwest Activites Center, 1800 Meyers (at Curtis), Detroit, MI.

Children are encourage to attend and light refreshments will be served. For more information call: 313.598.2710.

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  Linda Nieves-Powell launches FREESTYLE!

So the day is approaching. The book will be in bookstores on March 18th, 2008. I can’t wait for you to read this! You won’t be disappointed. If you are then, I don’t know what to tell you. LOL  It really is inspiring!  I wanted to write a book that gave you the same feeling that YO SOY LATINA! did.  So for those of you who saw YSL, you’ll discover that wonderful feeling again — while laughing and crying!  LNP  

Synopsis I realized that no matter how much I wanted the past to remain intact, what was would never be again. We all got older. We all moved on. And maybe things were supposed to change… Funny, intelligent, and, above all, relevant, Free Style is an inspiring novel about two thirtysomething married moms — one who is separated and the other whose marriage is hanging on by a thread. They decide to escape their to-do lists to revisit their past at Club 90, a nightclub they frequented in the early nineties. There they meet up with old friends and lost loves and dance their troubles away to Lisa Lisa and C&C Music Factory. But when they’re hit with a shocking dose of reality, they must decide whether to stay in the past or move on.  

More than just a fun read, Free Style explores serious issues that women grapple with all the time — keeping romantic relationships alive, dealing with unexpected illness, single motherhood, and the need to come to terms with the past.  

Publishers Weekly Review: As the charmingly low-key first novel from writer producer Nieves-Powell (Yo Soy Latina!) opens, it’s been 10 years since Staten Islander Idalis married the macho but unambitious Manny, and three months since they loosely separated due to their inability to agree on plans for raising their six-year-old son. Idalis wonders whether the marriage can be saved (Manny’s looking elsewhere), and whether she’ll be working as a secretary at a Madison Avenue ad agency for the rest of her life because of subtle racism and the lack of a college degree. A dreamboat she meets on the Staten Island ferry may provide one answer, but a visit to her old Bronx stomping grounds with Selenis, a former homegirl who’s now a disappointed housewife and mother, may allow Idalis to put the past to bed and pursue a brighter future. Nieves-Powell crafts an unhurried, nonjudgmental everywoman’s tale.  

Here are a few of the places I’ll be appearing and signing books:  

TEXAS: March 4th - The University of Texas @ Arlington  

BROOKLYN: March 20th - Barnes and Noble - Brooklyn, NY (Court St.) Dare Day with Linda Nieves Powell & Donna Hill.  Thanks to author ABIOLA ABRAMS!  

FLORIDA:March 21st - University of Florida - Gainesville, FL  

March 22nd - Barnes & Noble Booksellers Dale Mabry: 213 N Dale Mabry Tampa, FL 33609 813-871-2228  

STATEN ISLAND:March 25th - Barnes & Noble Booksellers Staten Island 2245 Richmond Avenue Staten Island, NY 10314 718-982-6983 

CONNECTICUT: April 21st - Central Connecticut State University 

NEW JERSEY:April 28th - Stockton College, Stockton, NJ  

NEW YORK CITY: June 4-29th - The Ultimate Latina Theater Festival 

MORE DATES ARE COMING!  PREORDER THE BOOK NOW @ Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com or any online bookseller. 

Women’s History Month Blog Carnival: Join in!

What Tami Said and Women’s Space are partnering to host a blog carnival to encourage a dialogue between all women committed to gender equality.Dates: March 1 through March 31

Theme: Come Together–Healing Tensions among Women Working for Equality

We are accepting essays, poetry, photographic essays, art, You Tube presentations, short fiction and other creative expressions designed to strengthen the bonds among women and heal rifts caused by historic and current conflicts, as well as by differences in race, age and sexual orientation.

Beginning March 1, submissions will be posted alternately at What Tami Said and Women’s Space, and eventually on an as-yet-to-be-developed blog dedicated to the Come Together blog carnival. We are planning to close the month with a live open discussion on Blog Talk Radio.

Submission Guidelines: Submit work no later than Feb. 28 to whattamisaid@gmail.com or cheryllindseyseelhoff@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee on which blog your work will be posted.

Along with your submission, please include a short bio (2-3 sentences) and a link to your blog if you have one.

Rules
- Women only
- Feel free to voice your hurts and disappointments, but focus on solutions not attacks
- No personal attacks
- No hate speech
- Use examples and facts to back up your statements
- Contributions should reflect personal experiences or direct personal investment as opposed to the academic or theoretical. This is important: We want to hear your truth, your lived reality. This includes you have been personally affected by conflicts over feminist politics, strategies, history and theories.

Possible topics
• Painful chapters of women’s history (conflicts around black male suffrage/women’s suffrage, lynchings, the role of black and white women in bringing lynchings to an end, sexism in the Civil Rights movement, racism in Second Wave feminism)
• Conflicts between women over strategies to end racism (i.e. radical miscegenation v. racial separatism/black nationalism, race traitors v. anti-racists, identity politics v. deconstructing race)
• Conflicts between women over strategies to end lesbophobia and heteronormativity (i.e., lesbian identity politics v. Adrienne Rich’s lesbian continuum v. political lesbianism v. celibacy)
• Being heterosexual, married, a mother, a feminist and experiencing the rejection of feminist women
• Being a lesbian and experiencing the rejection of feminist women
• Issues related to pornography and prostitution
• Immigrant and indigenous women’s experiences of alienation, isolation, rejection from other women
• How poverty or growing up poor affects relationships between women
• Issues around how women look and how that affects our relationships (race, gender nonconformity, being fat, disabilities)
• Generational issues; how disrespect because of youth or age affects relationships between women
• Personal experiences of racism/lesbophobia/classism/abelism/looksism in women’s communities of all kinds (school, church, political groups, professional organizations, unions)
• Conflicts over spirituality, i.e., women rejecting one another because of their religious beliefs
• Conflicts over issues of reproductive choice (i.e., focusing on abortion rights/focusing on the right to bear children/forced sterilization/genocide with respect to indigenous people and people of color)
• “I’m sorry” contributions: Posts, poems, art, etc., apologizing to individual women online or to groups of women you have intentionally or unintentionally offended
• “Post Secrets”: Anonymously submit secrets about your feelings about/relationships with women (a take off from the “Post Secrets” book)
• Or just do your own thing

All women are invited to participate, including women who have tangled with one another in the past, women who have fought with each other or attacked each other online or in real life, women who have offended other women or been offended by other women, online or in real life. This includes all of us! The hope is that by our honesty and truth-telling we can move in the direction of healing and building bridges, no matter what has happened between us in the past. Even if we aren’t ready to forgive and forget quite yet, or to say “I’m sorry,” we can declare a truce for the month of March in honor Women’s History Month.

We need a graphic!
Come on all you talented artists. We need a logo or three or four for our blog carnival. Whip one up and send it to me or Heart at Women’s Space.

Sex Trafficking Conference: Help us get there

 Please help Detroit Feminists Andrea Lavigne and Adele Nieves make the trip to McAllen, TX for the Sex Trafficking Conference in early April.

Click on our PayPal account to help sponsor our travel. Every little bit helps, and in the future, you can call on us to do the same.

Con amor (with love),

Detroit Feminists

No one has ever become poor by giving. ~Anne Frank