Archive for the 'gender & sex' Category

31
Oct

carnival of 16 days of activism against gender violence

By vegankid 0 Comments
Categories: carnivals, gender & sex and take action

from Black Looks:

stop violence against womenThe 16 days will run from November 25th to December 10th and will incorporate the following:

November 25th: The International Day Against Violence Against Women
November 29th: International Women Human Rights Defenders Day
December 1st: World Aids Day
December 10th: International Human Rights Day

To participate please fill in the Carnival form or email me at info at blacklooks dot org with the link to your post before December 6th. The post can be anything from a personal story, images, thoughts, a link anything that highlights and informs violence against women.

This year’s theme is “Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence Against Women”

Challenges and obstacles have been identified by activists in all regions of the world, and we have chosen to highlight a few of those here. These can be addressed both as demands to be made on the state or other institutions and as actions that we must take in our own work in order to achieve better results. A few suggestions for focusing advocacy in this year’s campaign include:

* Demanding and securing adequate funding for work against VAW;
* Calling for greater accountability and political commitment from states to prevent and punish all forms of violence against
women in practice not just words
* Increasing awareness of the impact of violence against women, including engaging in measures to end it by men and boys;
* Evaluating the impact and effectiveness of work to prevent violence against women;

31
Oct

be bold. be brave. be red.

By vegankid 0 Comments
Categories: gender & sex, race and take action

Be bold

Today, like any other day should be, is a day of solidarity with women of color. But today is a specifically organized day of action to support women of color in the fight against violence. Today, you can show your solidarity by wearing red, attending an event, or otherwise taking action. You can find out more at Document the Silence. Here’s a snippet from that site:

Recent events in the United States have moved us to action. Violence against women is sadly, not a new phenomenon in our country or in the world, however, in the last year women of color have experienced brutal forms of violence, torture, rape and injustice which have gone unnoticed, received little to no media coverage, or a limited community response. We are responding to:

  • The brutal and inhumane rape, torture, and kidnapping of Megan Williams in Logan, West Virginia who was held by six assailants for a month.
  • Rape survivors in the Dunbar Housing Projects in West Palm Beach, Florida one of whom was forced to perform sexual acts on her own child.
  • A 13 year old native American girl was beaten by two white women and has since been harassed by several men yelling “white power” outside of her home
  • Seven black lesbian girls attempted to stop an attacker and were latter charged with aggravated assault and are facing up to 11 year prison sentences

In a Litany of Survival, Audre Lorde writes, “When we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive.” These words shape our collective organizing to break the silence surrounding women of color’s stories of violence. We are asking for community groups, grass-root organizations, college campus students and groups, communities of faith, online communities, and individuals to join us in speaking out against violence against women of color. If we speak, we cannot be invisible.

I was also excited to find this poem from Ursula Rucker on the site (she been a favorite of mine for a number of years now).

29
Oct

Kicked Out! seeking submissions

By vegankid 0 Comments
Categories: books, gender & sex and youth

From On Zen and the Art of Anti Assclownery:

Please post as appropriate.
Deadline: March 1, 2008

Kicked Out is a new anthology to be published by Homofactus Press, which uniquely seeks to tell the tales of former queer youth and current queer youth who were forced to leave home because of their sexuality and/or gender identity. This anthology will tell our collective stories of survival, weaving together descriptions of abuse, and homelessness with poignant accounts of the ways in which queer community centers offered sanctuary, and the power and importance of creating our own chosen families in the face of losing everything we have ever known. Kicked Out offers advice and wisdom to the queer youth of today from those who have been in their shoes. Additionally, it provides the opportunity for readers to get a glimpse into the world of those queer youth who as a result of circumstance have to leave home, while simultaneously shattering the stereotypes of who queer youth are, and what they have the potential to become.

Kicked Out is a collection of stories of those of us who have survived the experiences of having to leave home as minors as a result of our gender and/or sexual identities; and it tells the tales of our queer survival. These are the stories of overcoming obstacles, not simply surviving but thriving in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity. Kicked Out will explore the diversity of our experiences across lines race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and geographic region celebrating our differences, and showcases the ways in which they have contributed to our unique experiences.

Possible topics include, but are not limited, to:

  • How being forced to leave home as a minor continues to impact your adult life.
  • What happened to you when you left home and how you survived.
  • Words of wisdom for today’s homeless queer youth—what you wished someone had told you.
  • Survival through the creation of “chosen family.”
  • Challenges of dealing with CPS or other agencies.
  • Success through adversity- overcoming a troubled past.

Submissions should be between 1,500 and 2,500 words in length and previously unpublished. Submit your piece via e-mail in .doc format to KickedOutAnthology [at] gmail.com. Multiple submissions per contributor are welcome. Please include a short biography and contact information with your submission. Submissions must be received no later than March 1, 2008; contributors are encouraged to submit early. Rights revert to the authors upon publication. Contributors whose work appears in the anthology will receive TBA free copy(ies) as well as ongoing royalties. Visit us online at www.myspace.com/kickedoutanthology

Sassafras Lowrey is a high femme writer, artist, and activist. Ze was forced to leave home as a teenager after suffering physical violence after coming out as queer. Sassafras found hir way to queer youth organizations and movements, which quite literally saved hir life. As an adult ze has never forgotten the impact those groups had on hir life and has volunteered regularly with the queer youth of today. Sassafras lives with hir partner, two cats and a dog in New York City. Hir first book GSA to Marriage: Stories of a Life Lived Queerly is scheduled for release Summer 2008.

« Previous Entries
Close
E-mail It