Women of Color Publishing

 

From Maegan la Mala at VivirLatino.com

I never buy the American Book Review, but I’m going to make an exception for their lastest issue and you should too! The current issue features Women of Color Publishing and contains the words of some blogger/writer hermanas!

Continue reading

Conferences and Events: Outside of Michigan (with one exception)

 

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008 - BOSTON

PARA NOSOTRAS: The first LATINA PRIDE PARTY from Queer Women of Color and Friends

You are invited to join Queer Women of Color and Friends (QWOC) to show love and support for our Latina sisters during Latino Pride week!

@Club Choices, 379 Somerville Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143

FREE Social 7:30 - 9 p.m., FIESTA 9 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Dance lessons available from MIT’s Casino Rueda Dance Troupe!

La Rueda de Casion originally began in Cuba in the 1950’s, and consisted of couples dancing salsa in a circle, following the moves called by the caller, who set the pace of the dance. The calls ranged from thos known by everyone from Cuba to San Francisco to more unique moves that people invented on their own.

Featuring Informal Latin Dance Lessons From Volunteers, Appetizers, Mingling, Flirting and so on…

Featuring DJ Shorty spinning Hiphop, Reggaeton, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Top 40

Click here to get your tickets! $5 Online ($10 at the door)

Official Site

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JUNE 6-8, 2008 - MINNEAPOLIS

National Conference for Media Reform

Join fellow activists, media makers, educators, jounalists, policymakers and concerned citizens in calling real and lasting changes to our nation’s media system.

2008 provides us with a great opportunity to put the issue of media reform in the national spotlight. Join us in Minneapolis and help us build this critical movement.

Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 South Second Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Event website

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JUNE 20 -22, 2008 - DETROIT

ALLIED MEDIA CONFERENCE

The Allied Media Conference cultivates media strategies for a more just and creative world. It is the primary point of intersection in the U.S. for alternative media makers and committed social justice activists. In June, we will come together on the campus of Wayne State University to share tools and tactics for transforming our communities through media-based organizing. Learn more about AMC

Get these women of color to the AMC! Visit their websites and donate to their travel funds!

SPEAK Women of Color Media Collective and members of the Radical Women of Color blog ring have kicked off a fundraising campaign to cover their travel expenses to Detroit. You can donate by clicking the links, following the instructions and clicking the PayPal donate button.

Every donation makes a difference, and your support is greatly appreciated.

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JULY 18- 20, 2008 - SAN FRANCISCO

BLOGHER CONFERENCE

Adele will be participating in a panel discussion on “Race and Gender: What are the lessons of 2008. No this actually isn’t a re-hash of the Obama vs. Hillary debate. But certainly Election 2008 has made us look at our own (and society’s, and the medias, etc.) attitudes about race and gender. BlogHers proved that you can indeed discuss these incredibly sensitive topics without it descending into anarchy or hate speech, bit it’s tough. Pleas join Maria Nile, Jill Miller Zimon, Adele Nieves and others as we discuss what we’ve learned about ourselves…and about others so far in 2008.

BlogHer’s annual conference is like no other — it is the thrilling diversity of the blogosphere come to life!

Featuring techincal labs, educational workshops, intense discussion sessions, relevant sponsors, speakers from every corner of the blogosphere, established and new, and plent of opportunities to network and socialize.

Appropriate for anyone and everyone who is interested in any kind of blogging, from the personal to the professional to the political.

Full overview, Agenda

 

Michigan Events and Announcements

 

The Art of Healing - Explorations of Women’s Health

Artists speak out about women’s health care in The Art of Healing: Explorations of Women’s Health, presented by the Feminist Art Project in partnership with the Women’s Caucus for Art-Michigan, and The Therapy Center of Ann Arbor. The artwork includes both patient and care-taker perspectives as well as responses to social, political and historical health issues.

The exhibit will run May 2-16, 2008

Hours: M-F, noon - 6 p.m., Sunday 1-5 p.m.

Venue: Duderstadt Center (University of Michigan)

Price Range: Free

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SPREAD THE WORD!

Friends of Michigan Midwives

Purpose: To help Michigan Midwives Association with any jobs, manning booths at events, and spreading the word/celebrating the Midwifery Model of Care in all evironments.

Yahoo Group (website coming soon)

Any help you can offer in spreading the word to clients and other interested folks, or if you are able to participate on any level that would be amazing!

We have brochures to display, lots of little jobs and we would appreciate any information about upcoming events in your area in which we could participate. We can also arrange to have a speaker present on the Midwifery Model of Care, or hlep host presentations.

Another very important part of our work is to be fully prepared in the event of any litigation brought about that effects a woman’s right to choose her provider and location for birth. We need to develop a supportive large group that can respond quickly with letter writing, knowledge of who our friendly representatives are, and working proactively to let them know just how many families cherish their midwives.

Heather Hall, Events Coordinator

Friends of Michigan Midwives Board of Directors

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THINK GIRL

Detroit Race for the Cure

Think Girl is doing the Detroit Race For The Cure again this year, join them or help donate to the cause. Link

And

Girls Rock! Movie at the DIA (Detroit Institue of Arts), June 27, 2008

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Summer Arts and Leadership Institute

30 Detroit area underprivileged youth are coming to the University of Michigan to participate in the Summer Arts and Leadership Institute, put on by the Residential College Community Theater Collaborative (RCCTC).

These talented youth face a variety of challenges in their lives, as most come from homeless families, are runaways, or battle with poverty. From June 13 to 15, they will get a chance to experience the arts at the University of Michigan. Youth will stay in a residence hall, participate in arts workshops led by U of M Professors, and have a chance to become more comfortable with the people and places associated with college.

Based in the University of Michigan’s Residential College, the RCCTC serves the university and the community by training college students to use the arts for socail justice, by using arts to expand university knowlege from the community and encouraging arts-based learning for college students of today and tomorrow.

For more information, please contact Craig VanKempen at 734.615.2491 or craigvk@gmail.com

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DETROIT HEALING WALK

Youth of all ages and every race, religion and description will be walking, singing, talking and praying on the Detroit Healing Walk, Saturday, June 7, 2008.

Everyone will gather at the American Indian, 9:30am at the American Indian Health and Family Services (AIHFS), located at 4880 Lawndale south of Michigan Avenue and make a round trip to Fort Wayne for ceremonies by the Detroit River. Transportation will be provided for those unable to walk the distance.

For more information, or to register for the Detroit Healing Walk, contact Nickole Fox or Martha Hinojosa at AIHFS, 313.846.3718 ext. 1113

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Detroit Water Forum: Focus on Water Rate Increases, Sewage Overflows & Aging Water Infrastructure

The high cost of upgrading and expanding Detroit’s aging water and sewage system, among other things, has forces the Detroit Water and Sewage Department to raise its water rates earlier this week. Water—a basic human right—has become unaffordable to many residents and many, as a result, have had their water shut off because of a failure to pay their bills.

All Great Lake Cities need an up-to-date water and sewage infrastructure system. This forum will begin the conversation on how to fix Detroit’s aging infrastructure while making sure all residents have the right to clean and affordable water.

WHAT: Water Community Forum

WHO: Chuck Hersey, Southeast Michigan Council of Goverments, Mary Blackmon, Detroit Water and Sewage Board, Joanne Watson, Detroit City Councilwoman, Maureen Taylor, Michigan Welfare Rights, Detroit Resident that has experienced a water shutoff

WHEN: Monday, May 12, 2008, 5:30pm reception begins, 6pm panel beginis

WHERE: Wayne County Community College - Community Roomn 236 (1001 West Fort Street, Detroit)

Hosted by the Sierra Club

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Activist Mike Farrell’s book signing

Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist, with a new introduction by Martin Sheen

A rare celebrity who makes headlines for the right reasons. Mike will drive himself across the country and back, and will be networking with the human right organizations that will be sponsoring each event along the way…

He’ll be speaking off the cuff, from memories of M*A*S*H and Providence - to heated debates on the death penalty, environmental causes, international human rights abuses, gay rights and election politics.

Thursday, May 29, 2008, 7:00pm

Barnes & Noble, 3235 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor

Bitch Magazine & Detroit Feminists

Feminism In/Action: What is your feminism for and why does it matter?

This past Sunday Bitch Magazine and Detroit Feminists hosted a participatory discussion about—and whether—feminism can become a transformative movement for social change..more details.

We had a great turn-out and are thrilled Debbie Rasmussen contacted us to help organize this powerful and important conversation. Thank you to Bitch Magazine, Trumbull Plex, those who supported the event and especially the people who came out to get involved!

Bitch publisher Debbie Rasmussen posted an update, please feel free to give us (and Bitch Magazine) any feedback, comments or critique on the format or future discussions.

Stay tuned for our full recap and details for a Listening Party.

Notes on teaching racism (teleconference)

Tonight Las Comardes held a teleconference to discuss “when and how children should be taught about racism.”

The conference featured the authors of the book That’s Not Fair!: Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice /¡No es Justo!:La Lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la Justicia
(Wings Press, 2008. Illustrated by Terry Ybañez) and focused on the issues it raised:

This is the first book ever published about the significant Latina civil rights leader (Emma Tenayuca) from the 1930s, who at the tender age of 22, organized twelve thousand pecan shellers in a strike that was to become the first successful action in the Mexican American struggle for political and economic justice. Aimed at readers 6 and up, That’s Not Fair is the April 2008 national Las Comadres Book Selection.

Notes

I came in on the call a little late, therefore my notes are 10 minutes into the conversation. Also, these are not direct quotes, but my best attempt at paraphrasing:

Author Carmen Tafolla/ Sharyll Tenayuca (not sure): When you ask children about the election, do they feel Latinos or women can be president, they are very attuned to what’s going on around them. You get answers like: no, because women are weaker, or it’s illegal for Latinos to be president.

Dr. Rebecca Bigler, UT Professor of Psychology, mentions how white parents are usually very reluctant to talk to their children about racism and racial injustice.

Interviewer Adriana Dominguez asks how we can best introduce the topic of racism and social inequalities to children?

Bigler: We don’t have quite enough research to know. What we do know is you start by introducing topics slowly, without violence, so they aren’t as troubling. Start with cases like Emma’s (good evidence of important change and good outcomes), in a fair and compassionate way, that teaches children about history and also gives them hope.

Bigler: Research shows children do have an awareness for justice at an early age, and you need to be encouraging them to develop attitudes towards social justice. Encourage love of reading, writing and courageousness.

Dominguez: How is the book received among Latino/a families as well as non -Latino/a families?

Tafolla: Very well, with Latino/a children there is a little extra excitement. They ask, “she (Emma Tenayuca) really existed, this is really her picture on the back of the book?”

Bigler: White children who heard the story about racial discrimination often demonstrated a level of guilt; they felt bad about their privileged status. Because of this, I have received hate mail asking, “how dare you make children feel bad about their privilege”

But feeling racial guilt wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. What we found was the initial guilt lead to them feeling connected (to some degree), and toward caring about social justice. Some of the stories might be sad and troubling for children, but what we need to learn is how can we tell these stories in a way where we have good outcomes, and make them feel like there is hope.

Dominquez: What would you like Emma’s legacy to be?

Tafolla: Everyone can make a difference in this world. That’s very reflective of Emma’s voice. Make use of everyone who wants to help. “You can make a difference in your world”

Bigler: Emma’s story shows that heroes are people who see, acknowledge and fight social justice, and those heroes come in all shapes and sizes and genders. It shows that children can be on the look-out for social injustice, and when they see it, they can name it and fight it.

Announcement: The full teleconference will be available on the website in a couple of weeks.

Las Comadres is also starting a book club, which should begin sometime in May. Learning through reading, and practicing what we learn. Hasta luego!

Side Note from Las Comadres:

We ask that you purchase a book and give it to an elementary school of your choice.

In Austin you may purchase the book at the Resistancia Book Store. If you purchase at Resistancia you can give the book in memory of Raul Salinas, our activist compadre who recently passed, and whose life was devoted to issues of justice and fairness.

Resistancia Book Store
1801-A South First St.
Austin, TX 78704
Phone: (512) 416-8885
Email: revolu@swbell.net 

Teleconference on teaching racism

Queridas comadres…it’s TELECONFERENCE TIME!

We ask that you consider purchasing the children’s book we selected for April and donating it to an elementary school in your area. In celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)on April 30, we are combining an interview with authors of a children’s bilingual book on activism with a university professor studying when and how children should be taught about racism. This is a different format just for the month of April. In May we’ll be starting our partnership with the American Association of Publishers and Borders, Inc. Reading With Las Comadres where we interview Latina authors about their newly published book and their work.

*

TELECONFERENCE DATE AND TIMES:
DATE: April 24, 2008 / duration approximately 1 hour
TIME: 5:00 PM PST
6:00 PM MST
7:00 PM CST
8:00 PM EST

*

Call in number (long distance charges will apply)
1-712-432-2323 / Access Code: 162718#

That’s Not Fair! / ¡No Es Justo!
by Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca

Illustrated by Terry Ybáñez, Spanish translation by
Carmen Tafolla, Translation editors: Celina Marroquín and Amalia Mondríguez, Ph.D.

http://www.wingspress.com/book.cfm?book_ID=26

*

THE STORY
In the 1920s and 1930s, the pecan shellers of San Antonio, Texas, were some of the lowest-paid workers in the nation. They were all Mexican-Americans, who had fled the revolution in their home country. Pecan shellers worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week, for as little as six cents a pound. In addition, they had to work in dusty, closed rooms. This made many of them ill. And then, in 1938, their wages were cut in half. They needed someone to be a voice for them, someone both brave and caring. They needed a hero. A young woman, barely twenty-one, answered their call. Her name was Emma.

But Emma Tenayuca was not born a hero of the poor. That’s Not Fair! / ¡No Es Justo! tells how the seeds of Emma’s awareness and activism were sown when she was very young. This story of courage and compassion shows how each of us, no matter how young, can help to make the world more fair for everyone.

*

SOME PERTINENT RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC

White Children More Positive Toward Blacks After Learning About Racism, Study Shows

Challenging the idea that racism education could be harmful to students, a new study from The University of Texas at Austin found the results of learning about historical racism are primarily positive. The study appears in the November/December issue of the journal Child Development.

“There is considerable debate about when and how children should be taught about racism,” says Bigler, director of the university’s Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab. “But little research has examined
elementary-school-aged children’s cognitive and emotional reactions to such lessons.”

TELECONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS

Carmen Tafolla is one of the most anthologized of all Latina writers with work for both adults and children appearing in more than two hundred anthologies. With work translated into Spanish, German, and Bengali, Tafolla has been published in a great variety of genres. Carmen Tafolla has also published five adult poetry books, seven children’s television screenplays, and numerous short stories and articles.

Sharyll Tenayuca is an attorney in San Antonio and the niece of Emma Tenayuca.

UT Professor of Psychology Dr. Rebecca Bigler, director of the University of Texas at Austin , Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab

Interviewed by: Adriana Dominguez is the Executive Editor who manages the children’s division of HarperCollins’ Latino imprint, Rayo. Before joining Harper, she was Críticas magazine’s Children’s Review Editor. She has many years of publishing experience in the children’s market, and has worked for most major publishers: WEBSITE

Alice Walker on Obama

Lest We Forget: An open letter to my sisters who are brave.

I am a supporter of Obama because I believe he is the right person to lead the country at this time. He offers a rare opportunity for the country and the world to start over, and to do better.   It is a deep sadness to me that many of my feminist white women friends cannot see him.  Cannot see what he carries in his being.  Cannot hear the fresh choices toward Movement he offers. That they can believe that millions of Americans –black,  white, yellow, red and brown - choose Obama over Clinton only because he is a man, and black, feels tragic to me.

When I have supported white people, men and women, it was because I thought them the best possible people to do whatever the job required.  Nothing else would have occurred to me. If Obama were in any sense mediocre, he would be forgotten by now. He is, in fact, a remarkable human being, not perfect but humanly stunning, like King was and like Mandela is. We look at him, as we looked at them, and are glad to be of our species. He is the change America has been trying desperately and for centuries to hide, ignore, kill. The change America must have if we are to convince the rest of the world that we care about people other than our (white) selves…

 

Time to blog? Not yet

 I left one conference (WAM!), sped home for a quick hubby sighting, and got on a plane the next day headed for Texas to attend and present at the Sex Trafficking Conference.

I’m disappointed I haven’t been able to write about the amazing (and not so amazing) experience I had in Boston, and how two sessions (We B(e)lo(n)g: Womyn of Color and Online Feminism and Immigration in the U.S.: The Women’s Rights Crisis Feminists Aren’t Talking About) were life-changing.

When I return this weekend, I’ll write a full recap on both conferences. Right now I’m just so happy to be in Texas (Texas? Yes, Texas - The Valley!), and wish I’d visited much sooner. Everyone from the conference organizer to the gas station clerk has welcomed me as if this was home. I’m able to speak Spanish everywhere I go, which is a tremedous luxury, and most of all I wish I brought my passport - the Mexican border is 10 minutes from my hotel. Scream!

In the meantime, visit No Snow Here, La Chola, A Womyn’s Ecdysis, Black Amazon and Viva La Feminista for the WAM! scoop.

And watch Sudy’s flick:

If you’re interested, I was asked to take part in a live panel discussion on Blog Talk Radio. I have to admit I was a little nervous, I’m still not used to being asked to participate in discussions or having people ask for my opinion. So excuse the stuttering, but enjoy the amazing women who engaged in the conversation.

Sidenote: I mentioned on the program that I thought Catherine MacKinnon was the white feminist who stood in solidarity with Andrea Smith; that was incorrect, it was Sherrie Tucker.

The live discussion concludes the Women’s History Month blog carnival, hosted by What Tami Said and Women’s Space. Heart and Tami were joined by Karla Mantilla, Adele Nieves and Shecodes for a great discussion of feminism and its intersection with race and other issues.

Lastly, check out why Brownfemipower made me cry.

Adele Nieves on Blog Talk Radio this weekend

Join us for Come Together: The official live discussion of the Women’s History Month blog carnival

 

Join Heart of Women’s Space and What Tami Said as we conclude our Women’s History Month blog carnival with an hour-long live discussion on Blog Talk Radio, 6 p.m. EDT, Saturday, March 29. We will review our favorite submissions to the blog carnival; discuss issues raised by the carnival, including race and feminism and their roles in the 2008 presidential election; discuss the state of feminism today; and talk about the most effective ways for women to work together towards equality.

We will be joined by panelists including:

Adele Nieves, a writer, journalist, and speaker, focusing on politics, women’s issues and race.

Shecodes, an entrepreneur and activist dedicated to the uplift of black women. Shecodes runs the blog Black Women Vote, described in its inaugural post as “a war cry to all Black women who are fed up, pissed off, and mad as heck about the present conditions of Black womanhood in America, and are ready to do something about it. Make no mistake… we’re about to change some stuff up in this piece! We have the social, economic, political tools to compel America to become more hospitable for ourselves, and for our daughters.”

We also want to hear from YOU. Tune in and call in! Listen live by clicking this link and let your voice be heard by calling (347) 205-9125 during the show.

Watch Women’s Space and What Tami Said for programming updates, including panelist additions.

 Read more at Blog Talk Radio.

Women, girls and feminism - support!

MICHIGAN

 Iron Ladies of Liberia - A Documentary by Henry Ansbacher, Jonathan Stack, and Daniel Junge.

When: Friday, March 14, 2008

Time: 7 - 9 p.m.

Where: Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI

Follow Ellen Johnson Sirleaf through her first year in office as she faces angry mobs, ambitious political rivals, and high-ranking members of the international community. Her story is inspiring a new generation of leaders in Africa and around the world.

ACTIVE ART

Hosted By: Sicily McRaven

When: Friday, March 21, 2008 (one-day show)

Where: Wayne State Undergraduate Gallery, Detroit, MI

Active Art is a show dedicated to all forms of political art. It’s a one night art show, the day after the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war.

Open call for all political art in any media. Submissions due March 18th. Send descriptions of work to sis_artistry@yahoo.com or call Sicily at 313. 544-8317.

“Art is activism because it is a powerful tool to cause reflection upon the world we live in.”

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NEW YORK CITY

Writers Rising: Women Authors Talk Feminism & Activism

When: Thursday, March 20, 2008

Time: 6:30pm

Where: Revolution Books, 9 West 19th St. (bet. 5th & 6th), 212-627-9895

The National Organization for Women - NYC Service Fund hosts an exciting group of women writers to discuss their unique contributions of fiction, poetry and non-fiction work and the ways in which it inspires, mobilizes and sparks debate on feminist issues.

Featuring: Felice Belle, poet, playwright, and the former curator and host of the Friday Night Slam series at Nuyorican Poets Cafe. She recently created original poetry for the play History of the Word; Courtney Martin, Reporter, Professor of Gender Issues, and Author of Perfect Girls and Starving Daughters; and Sofia Quintero, Screenwriter, Activist and Author of Divas Don’t Yield.

$10 suggested donation for non-members.

Your Voice Can Stop Sexual Harassment

Dear Teens in NYC Schools-

Sexual harrassment is a very serious issue and many people do not take the time or effort to acknowledge this matter. Maybe it is because they’re afraid, there’s no one to talk to about it, or perhaps no one knows what sexual harassment is. The Sisters in Strengthy Youth Organizers are working on the issue of sexual harassment in schools, and we need the help of students (of all genders!) who attend schook in NYC. We are asking you to fill out your opinions and ideas in our Survey and Slam Book by March 7th, so we can make a difference together.

Email it to other students, post it on your website, put the link on your Myspace and Facebook pages, just get it out there! We are interested in hearing from as many students as possible.

The NYC Sexual Harassment Survey is available online here.

The NYC Sexual Harassment SlamBook is available here.

Please email us at sisters@ggenyc.org with questions or to request a paper copy of the Survey. Thank you for being a part of the School Safety Collaboration!

Youth Organziang Interns

Girls for Gender Equity

E: sisters@ggenyc.org

P: 718-857-1393

Website

Free Playwriting Workshops for Teens

Attention: Young Writers, Parents, Teachers!

Open ot All Area High School Students

When: Saturday, March 15, 2008

Time: 1 - 5 p.m.

Location: Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (Broadway at 66th Street, across from Lincoln Center)

Free Admission - Limited Space!  To get on the list call: 212. 594. 5440 or email latinochallenge@youngplaywrights.org

WRITE A PLAY TODAY and submit it to the YOUNG PLAYWRIGTS LATION CHALLENGE — a city wide competition! YOU COULD WIND $500!

Help us spread the word by forwarding this email to other folks who care about young people!

TeatroStageFest, a production of the Lation International Theater Festival of New York, Inc.

TeatroStageFest, New York, NY 10016, 212-695-4010

To register for the March 15, 2008 Workshop email latinochallenge@youngplaywrights.org

Website: TeatroStageFest

Website: Young Playwrights

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GENERAL

Girls Rock!: The Movie

If y’all are in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Franciso, East Bay, Portland or Seattle, this week may be your last chance to see Girls Rock! If you’ve been thinking how cool this movie is, or if you’ve seen it and you love it and want all your friends to see it, now is the time!

By March 13 it may be a very long time before you have a chance to see it again. Go here for screening locations, links and showtimes.

You CAN use Hip Hop to Promote Social Change

Concious Women Rock the Page: Activists Team Up to Publish Curriculum that uses Hip Hop Fiction to Explore Social Issues and Promote Political Action.

Visit them here.

Detroit Feminist Women’s Circle - Part II

 DETROIT FEMINSTS EVENT

When

Sunday, March 16, 2008 at 3:00 PM

 Location

Grosse Pointe Park, MI (We picked a central location for this meet-up, one of the organizers will contact those who rsvp’d with the address)

 Details

At our last meet-up we discussed, “How we envision a world were women are truly free?”At the next meet-up we’ll review our ideas, discuss new idea’s, and develop strategies for insighting change. 

These circles will continue growing and extending into greater parts, it’s a process worth sustaining. Please join us in our actions for better world.

 Items to bring

Please bring a dish to share

RSVP

If you are interested in advertising this women’s circle by passing out flyers, please go to our files section, left column of the Detroit Feminist meetup web page.

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. —-Margaret Mead

Andrea & Adele

Love Your Body at Any Size (Women’s Workshop)

    

Love Your Body at Any Size

A WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN

-

Sunday, March 16

El Cerrito, CA, near BART

Noon to 3:00p

$50 Pre-registration required

Postmarked / paid by March 6 - pay by check or PayPal

Directions to the office will be emailed to registered participants by March 11.

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This is a scent-free event.

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Is it really possible, as women in this society, to love our bodies at any size? I believe women can live with joy and dignity in the bodies we have, in spite of all the misinformation we hear from the weight loss industry, and the prevalence of size discrimination in our environment.

-

Whether you’ve lived in a bid body that’s attracted negative attention, struggled to keep your body small while living in fear of that negativity, or experience a roller coaster ride of drastic weight changes - you can stop putting your life on hold and start nurturing and enjoying the body you’re living in today!

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I think of size acceptance as a kind of grief process, which requires patience and compassion for each stage of letting go. With that in mind, I’ve designed a workshop for women who want to feel better about their bodes, from seasoned fat acceptance activists, to those who are ready to stop setting weight loss goals and start focusing on better health and self-esteem.

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You will have an opportunity to use writing, relaxation, art therapy, and visualization exercises to communicate compassionately with your body and you can share as much or as little as you like with the group.

In addition, I will provide some simple, practical ideas about where to get information and support, and how to start moving, nourshing, and enjoying your body exactly the way it is!

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If you would like to know more about my approach to size acceptance, you can read my brochure here.

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(Note to therapists: If you think your clients might benefit from this workshop, please feel free to contact me with your questions and/or pass on my contact information. If you are an MFT or LCSW, plan to attend this consumer-oriented workshop for your own personal growth, and feel your professional skills will also be enchanced by it. You can receive three (3) CEUs by adding $15 to your registration fee and indicating your license number on the registration form. I also offer annual clinical training on Size Acceptance, coming up next on March 22, 2008).

-

Feel free to forward this announcement.

 

Jeanne Courtney, MFT

Love Your Body at Any Size (Workshops for women)

510-527-5662 ext.2

SF & East Bay Offices

POB 453, El Cerrito, CA 94530

bjcourtney@earthlink.net

www.FeministTherapyAssociates.com

 

REGISTRATION

To register, fill in the following information and mail it with your payment to:

 

Jeanne Courtney, MFT, POB

POB 453, El Cerrito, CA 94530

 

Or, you can email the information and send payment via PayPal to the email address bjcourtney@earthlink.net OR use the online registration from at www.FeministTherapyAssociates.com/LoveYourBodyWorkship.html

 

Name

Mailing Address

Phone(s)

Email Address

How you heard about this workshop

(CEU recipients only) MFT OR LCSW License

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.

Work by women: support, donate, purchase, write

 Hermana, Resist: The Poetry Collection, is a chapbook of poetry from 1999-2007, which was released in September 2007.

 

 Feminist shirts only $8.99

Girlistic is offering feminist tees for $8.99. Ringer Tees and Tank Tops available.

Her Circle Ezine recently unveiled their new blog site and are looking for bloggers on topics related to women, culture, and the arts. Special topics include book reviews, author interviews, artist profiles, and exhibition reviews.

All bloggers participate as part of our volunteer collective. For consideration, please send a note of interest and two short writing samples to: volunteer@hercirclezine.com.

 THE PINK PROJECT needs your help!

2007 was an amazing experience for us. With the release of the book, we were able to raise funds and awareness for both RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest Network) and LABCA (Los Angeles Breast Cancer Alliance), get the book into Barnes & Noble, and meet some amazing supporters along the way. And this is only the beginning! Please show your support and help us start 2008 with a big “PINK” BANG, by purchasing a copy of THE PINK PROJECT.

Let us know if you have any questions, comments, or some creative ideas. We are always looking for ways to spread the word about The Pink Project.

Beauty, Hope & Strength,

~The Pink Project

Self-Care Fair

 

SELF-CARE FAIR

Practice Self-Care in the New Year!

Saturday January 26, 2008, 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Church of the Messiah
231 E. Grand Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48207 (On the Northwest corner of E. Grand Blvd. and Lafayette)

The Self-Care Fair will offer a variety of services to help you escape from stress and invigorate your spirit.

Some goods and services have a nominal fee, but admission to this event is FREE!!

-FREE Weight and Measurement Screening
-FREE Blood Pressure Screening
-FREE Prescription Drug Counseling for Seniors
-Inspirational Author Book Signings
-Eye Lash Application and Eye Brow Arching
-Aerobic Class Registration
-Nikki’s Ginger Tea and other Self-Care Products-Custom Made Jewelry
-Massage and Much, Much, More!

Vendor Tables Available for $25
For more details email monicamjones@hotmail.com www.myspace.com/monicamariejones

Hosted by Monica Marie Jones
Author of…