Check out Vida Afro-Latina

I had the pleasure of meeting the creator of Vida Afro-Latina today and realized I never introduced the site to all of you.

Black Latinos are woefully underrepresented in the general market, Latino and African-American media. VidaAfroLatina.com has been created to fill that gap.

When you have a moment (or a few hours), go check it out. As Mrs. Robinson says, I learn more about myself when I’m exploring other cultures. Sounds like a site I’ll be frequenting!

Contact them to submit revelant articles, news tips, links or events.

It’s All About the D - Join us!

For more information visit the website.

Bitch Magazine Hiring!

 

 Please note new deadline: Friday, August 15th.

———-
Here at Bitch, we’re in search of a perfect someone to join our tiny but dedicated staff as a program director (full-time) at our office in Portland, Oregon. Someone bright, with a deep talent and love for analyzing media/pop culture from a perspective rooted in social/economic justice, who’s passionate about both print publishing and newer (to us, at least) forms like online, audio, and video, someone excited about helping shape the future of the work we do at Bitch (and who recognizes Bitch’s potential), someone committed to DIY/grassroots operating, who understands Bitch’s role as both critiquing what’s crappy and praising what’s good, who’s as excited about Bitch as a multimedia organization as Bitch as a magazine…

All that and more. We’re asking for a lot, yes, but as the saying goes, You’ll never get what you don’t ask for.

As we mentioned, we are a tiny staff (hi, there are five of us!). We’re also at a critical moment. For the first time in our 12-year history, we’re not in financial crisis (if you’re familiar with the realities of independent publishing, you’ll know this is a huge accomplishment). We’re beginning the process of infusing our work with a set of core values and visions. And though we were originally created as just a magazine, our work is evolving into a movement. In many ways we have unlimited growth potential.

In other words, we have some exciting things happening, part of which is bringing a new organization into being. This is what “nonprofit gurus” call an organizational refounding – evolving, moving forward, asking questions, creating space for new visions and voices.

So what would your role at Bitch be?

Right now we’re calling it a program director position, but this could change depending on the outcomes of this search and our visioning process. In many ways our program director will be like the editorial/content director for the magazine (and may also be involved in our website, but we’re hoping to create an additional position soon for someone to oversee the site), but since we’re so much more than our editorial content, the program director will also be responsible for helping direct and maintain the vision of the organization, as well as things like fundraising, outreach, attending events, doing some public speaking, and just generally being a huge advocate for Bitch. In other words, we’re looking for someone who’s a highly skilled editor and is excited about helping us grow as an organization and reach our
potential.

Also, though we’ve grown tremendously since the magazine was originally founded (we currently print about 50,000 copies of each issue), we’re still very much a DIY operation and want to remain that way. Our grassroots publishing model is integral to our work, so we’re looking for someone who’s as committed to that as we are. We’re looking for someone who will actively seek out ways of publishing quality (critical, thoughtful, etc.) content while being mindful of our tight budget, and is excited about helping us evolve into a multimedia organization

Experience/skills that are essential to this position (*please note that this is not an entry level position*):
- At least three years features/developmental editing experience
- Strong familiarity with past and present trends in media and pop culture
- Excellent communication and organizational skills
- Excellent grasp of grammar and spelling
- Stellar proofreading and copyediting abilities; familiarity with Chicago style
- Proficiency with Excel, Word, and InDesign
- A strong capacity to multi-task, prioritize, and delegate
- Experience with web writing/editing
- Experience with video and podcasting technology a major plus

Some of the job duties associated with this position:
- Oversee the editorial and production process for the magazine
- Edit articles and help shape editorial tone and scope of magazine
- Manage writer’s agreements and payment for each issue
- Outreach, fundraising, and event planning
- Oversee editorial internship program

Personality traits/skill sets that are helpful in a small organization like ours:
- Clear and frequent communication
- Ability to collaborate and share decision-making in small groups
- Ability to think creatively even when resources are tight
- Strong initiative, drive, and self-direction, ability to work independently
- A sense of humor

As an effort to live out our commitment to systemic social change and grassroots organizing, we encourage politically radical folks from marginalized identities/backgrounds (people of color, people from poor and working class backgrounds, queer-identified folks, etc.) and others committed to anti-oppression, collective, grassroots organizing work to apply.

In the interest of transparency, you should know:
- Regrettably, the only way to our office is up a set of about 15 stairs. We are not wheelchair-accessible.
- The job is based in Portland, Oregon, and unfortunately we’re unable
to cover moving expenses (unless you would like to start a fundraising
campaign for the cause).

Please include a cover letter that addresses these questions
(apologies if these seem like hoops, but we hope you’ll understand that we have a lot riding on these decisions):
* What would you like us to know about you, and what you’d bring to Bitch?
* How long have you been reading Bitch, and what has your perception
of it been through that time? (Please be honest; we’re not sensitive
and constructive criticism is always welcome.)
* In what ways do you identify (or not) with the word feminist?
* What do you think of both the title Bitch and the subtitle Feminist
Response to Pop Culture? (If you could change one/both of them, what
would you change them to?)

Salary and Benefits:
* $33,680/year, salary, exempt, paid medical/dental/vision

Closing date for applications: August 15th
Anticipated start date: late-August

Please email detailed cover letter (*answering all the questions,
please!*), resume and three references to publishing@b-word.org.
Please write “program director position” in the subject line.
Or mail to: B-Word, Debbie Rasmussen, 4930 NE 29th Ave, Portland, OR 97211
No phone calls, faxes, or drop-ins. No, no!

BlogHer 08

I’m at the BlogHer conference this weekend. I moderated a panel on Race and Gender, check-out the live blog here.  The recorded version should be available on their site soon (that’s where it gets interesting).

I’m experiencing conference burn-out, so I’m taking an early flight home and will try to digest and write about the conference in the next few days.  I have mixed feelings about the overall message, the general intent of the conference and especially the sponsors. Although, I want to make sure I give myself a little time to process my own message before I put it out in the world.

Off to the processing lab, where WOC learn to reframe, readjust and regurgitate bland words for mass production!

Gender Hearts: Call for submissions

GENDERED HEARTS

Sex, dating, and relationships in the transgender/gender variant community. Edited by *Morty Diamond

Looking for first person stories, interviews and poetry from trans and gender variant writers about the experience of dating, sex, relationships, and finding love.

Topic examples: hilarious or heartbreaking dating stories, how we negotiate sex, transitioning within a relationship, being trans and starting families, passing/not passing and how this affects our choices for dating, marriage - legal or otherwise, online dating, sex and dating before and after surgery and/or hormones.

I strive to make this anthology as diverse as possible within age, race, sexuality, and gender identity. I encourage all writers who identify as transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, third gender, non-gender, or gender variant in some way to submit work.

If submitting a short story your work should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Sexually explicit work is ok. Please include a short biography with your work.

If your story is accepted you will receive a cash stipend and two free copies of the book. Please submit your writing via email to: genderedhearts@gmail.com. LAST DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: July 15, 2008.

*Morty Diamond is the editor of the book “From the Inside Out, FTM and Beyond” and the producer and director of the films “Trans Entities” and “Trannyfags.”

Those Damn Women of Color Again!

 

TWO ARTICLES: ONE MESSAGE

AND 

Latin American Press (Elsa Chanduvi, June 5, 2008): “Living Well,” a development alternative

Proposal is considered legacy of indigenous peoples to humanity

More than 1,000 representatives from indigenous communities across the Americas gathered in Lima, Peru, have agreed on a new social system, known as “Living Well,” focused on reciprocity between people and the Earth.

A break from market dogmas

“We believe there is a big difference between [living well and] those who believe that living well is to live better than someone else. [The latter] reflects a competition instead of respect and equality. So, ‘living well’ is the exercise of rights, respect, equality and means of life for everyone, said Blanca Chancoso, a renowned leader of Ecuador’s Kichwa women, who formerly served as one of the directors of the country’s largest indigenous organization, CONAIE. She is currently part of the Dolores Ulcuango Indigenous School in Ecuador.

Reading Blanca Chancoso’s description summed up perfectly what women of color and other marginalized groups have been battling against in the feminist movement for centuries: those who believe there is a difference between “living well” and those who believe “living well is to live better than someone else.”

So when Linda Hirshman (feminist author), sitting comfortably in the journalist poshland of the Washington Post, writes an article chastising women of color for dividing the feminist movement, I, like Chancoso, also ask for “a break from market dogma.” In this case, the dogma that feminism is best led and guided by white professional women, and that the ultimate goal of feminism should be to elect a woman president.

Hirshman has the audacity to blame the division and misplaced focus (in that feminism didn’t succeed in getting Hillary the Democratic nomination) of the feminist movement  on “intersectionality.” For those not familiar with the term, “intersectionality” refers to the recognition that various forms of oppression rely on and reinforce one another - not exactly a surprise, but apparently something feminists like Hirshman would prefer everyone ignore.

You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect example of white, upper-class, elite feminism than this article. As the villians responsible for feminism’s current crises, Hirshman points her finger at Brownfemipower and Sudy. Not only does she take their quotes out of context, misrepresent Brownfemipower’s criticism of Amanda Marcotte, and doesn’t even bother to contact them directly, but who does she contact and quote? Jessica Valenti (Feministing) and Jill Filipovic (Feministe) as authorities on how feminism has progressed and translates for all 20-somethings, including women of color.  You demons stay over there and shut up while I talk to white women about you. 

It’s ironic that Hirshman defines herself as a “Chris Matthews-inspired Clintonite,” since she understands as much about women of color as Matthews does about anyone who isn’t white, male, and securely within the Washington power elite. By the way, since when is the election of a woman to the presidency the solution to destroying partriarchy? Or anything else to do with justice? I guess it was inspiring when Madeline Albright was Secretary of State. It was also disgusting when she suggested that 500,000 Iraqi children dead as a direct result of U.S./U.K.-enforced sanctions was “worth the price.”

The article is an insult. And while we’ve opened up the floor for pointing fingers, I ask you [Hirshman] to reread your own article and consider how well it bodes for feminism, how your observations have helped unify the movement, and how big a role YOU play in dividing the movement.

But than again, why look at yourself when you can blame those angry dark people? You speak of a more innocent time, when you first received Friedan’s book and knew she was speaking about you and to you. While you fought and protested and worked to strengthen a movement based on equality and reproductive rights, you never imagined that those “crazies” below you would actually want the same, even though they were fighting alongside you. Did you miss that in all your years of being a feminist? Or could you only see women of color as potential hired help in your kitchen (like a good liberal, you’d pay them a higher wage and pat them on the heads for a job well done)?  

Beyond your one-sided world view, there are individuals and groups fighting the original fight, with the understanding that women’s rights means something different for a white professional woman earning over 150k per year, a white single mother hovering at the poverty level, a black woman living in the inner city, and a Latina living in a prison for immigrants. You don’t risk anything focusing on the “last glass ceiling” and putting an elite, corporate white woman in office; try battling steel bars, immigration raids, and concrete jungles.

Finally, the article is poor journalism. I can guarantee that if BrownfemiPower or Sudy wrote an article critical of an entire movement and never bothered to contact anyone in that movement, it would be regarded as shoddy journalism lacking the sophisticated research skills necessary to be taken seriously. I wonder how often we’d see them in print again? What about an article bemoaning the divisions in the feminist movement and putting the blame squarely on white women? Think anyone would take it seriously?

In a way, I feel sorry for Hirshman and her lack of vision. She speaks of her work in the feminist movement yet degrades others for taking up the same fight - our crime is that we are vocal about people who don’t happen to look like Hirshman. How quickly we forget what the feminist movement (supposedly) stands for.

Hirshman notes that the “reform” movements within feminism - focused on issues like race and class - “would have been enough to weaken the movement. But it still could have been like many other reform movements, which manage to remain effective by using such traditional political tools as alliances and compromises. There’s an old-fashioned term for it — ‘log-rolling.’ Put crudely: First I vote for your issue, then you vote for mine.”

The problem with the notion of “first I vote for your issue, then you vote for mine,” Linda Hirshman, is that you never came around to vote for our issues.  We have always been expected to vote on your terms; your interests always come first, and we’re always left waiting.

I’m over waiting in line for the greater good of those who clearly already have. Tired of waiting, patient and subservient, for our turn, for our crumbs to trickle down. I’m out of that line, and getting in the one clearly marked “revolution.”  My hefty Latina bones can’t survive on white bread, so forget the ceiling - I’m kicking down the meat-locker and sharing the wealth with my community. Old, white, or male - you’re welcome to join, but know this: living well means rights, respect, equality, and access to the means of life for everyone, now. Freedom is not given, so I’m taking.

Here’s Brownfemipower’s response to this article.

Here’s Jill Filipovic’s (Feministe) response.

Estrogen Fest II (Commerce, MI)

 

Estrogen Fest II is a three day event, scheduled July 25-27 at the Proud Lake Recreation Area, in Commerce, Michigan.

The event is centered on women empowering women through music, the arts, workshops, networking, and a common cause. We are hoping to raise funds thought ticket sales, raffles, food service, sponsorship, donations, and keep the costs of the event low, with hopes of raising enough money to build a playground for kids that really need one.

The Godmothers are seeking support in a variety of ways. Sponsor the event; we are seeking sponsors that range from $500 - $5,000. Sponsorship is a great way to advertise. Donations for the event are also needed, such as dessert trays, baked goods to sell or raffle, or gift certificates, and donations. A donation, in any amount $$$ would be greatly appreciated, and in turn we will recognize you at this year’s event, in our literature, and on our web-site.

• Expected Number of Attendees for Estrogen II: Over 2000
• Demographics: Women 21 and up out to have fun and network, vendors, numerous volunteers and of course, the Godmothers!
• Event: This is a three-day festival event set in the beautiful, natural recreational area of northern Oakland County, Michigan, only a 35 minute drive from Detroit and surrounding suburbs.
• KICK-OFF PARTY: Friday Gates open at 5p.m.
  V.I.P MINGLER PARTY STARTING AT 7 P.M.
  in the Conference Center. WINE. FOOD. MUSIC.
  Everyone is welcome! The roster will be posted in the coming weeks! This event promises to have something for everyone! Music. Art. Workshops. Special Guest Appearances from top musicians and DJs. Comedians, poets, crafts, vendors, gourmet foods sure to please anyone’s pallet. This event you won’t want to miss, they will be talking about it for years to come!
• SATURDAY & SUNDAY: Musical performances will begin at noon and carry on into the evening with local and national headliners, recording artists and bands. Sunday will include leisure activities, “Old School” reunions, live D.J.’s from past and present, more contests wrapping up the weekend with an Afternoon Tea Dance.

Bio of Entertainers: By request as acts are signed.

Primary Contact: Vicky Lewis
Email: vicky@thegodmothers.org
Phone 248-346-8960

WEBSITE

 

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

________________________________________________________________________________

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

______________________________________________________________________

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.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

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

________________________________________________________________________________

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

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

______________________________________________________________________________

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

_______________________________________________________________________________

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

________________________________________________________________________________

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

_______________________________________________________________________________

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

BlackAmazon & Brownfemipower

From BlackAmazon

Congratulations.

I quit.

I’m done. My blog will go live again when I’m compiling stuff for  my time to apply to gradschool but  I am done for now.

I want to say that this is permaent or that this is just a small break but no , this is teh beginning of a death knell.

 Continue reading at Problem Chylde

 

I have to admit I’m not very active in the blogsphere, for a number of reasons. It takes me forever to write something, I get lost in what’s going on at home and work, and my debating skills are a work in progress. Plus I still feel like I don’t know enough, like I’m always trying to catch up. But there are women (people) who, unlike me, have spent long hours engaging with the community, speaking to issues most of us ignore and opening themselves up to critique and personal attacks for what they believe in. BlackAmazon and Brownfemipower have always been two of those people. While we’re on the subject of defending people’s character and careers, it deserves mentioning that besides being amazing bloggers, they are genuinely good people. This is important and it often gets lost in the debate raging around issues.

Whether you’ve disagreed with them in that past, taken issue with some of their ideas and opinions, or just outright refused to dialogue with them, doesn’t erase the fact that they always remained willing to give.

We’ve arrived at a point where two important, prominent leaders - not only of the women of color community, but the feminist community in general - feel they are better off shutting down. I’m not sure who wins from this, but certainly not us - not any of us (although I don’t begrudge them their right to do what they think is best).

So please don’t come to this blog looking for my resume, or to ask me what I’ve written and where you can find my contributions. I am merely one of many addessing these issues. Instead, ask me to help you find the women who taught and never asked for anything in return; the women who wrote/worked for me even when I couldn’t see it, and gave when it was easier to take.

BlackAmazon and BrownfemiPower, thank you - and thanks are not anywhere near enough!

Read:

Mamita Mala

Angry Black Woman

Thanks Elaine, for helping me retrieve this post.

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 

Please support La Casa Azul Bookstore

 

Attention book lovers:
Join us on Thursday April 24th in El Barrio for the launch of La Casa Azul Bookstore’s website.

Event information:
Website Launch Party

Thursday April 24th
6pm - 8pm

Net Plaza
206 E. 116th St.
(near 3rd Ave)
El Barrio, NY 10029

The online store will be set up to allow for national orders and shipping within the continental Unites States.

La Casa Azul Bookstore - Mission:
Inspired by Frida Kahlo’s house, La Casa Azul Bookstore is a place of knowledge, art, creativity and culture. Our mission is to provide the community with contemporary bilingual literature, featuring works by Latino authors.

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La Casa Azul Bookstore
El Barrio, NY

MYSPACE
lacasaazulbookstore@gmail.com 

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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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.

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