California Feminist Blogs

"Poinciana" (2010-2011), Julie Zarate

The event takes place at Casa Familiar’s THE FRONT: A Collaborative of Art, Culture, Design & Urbanism- located at 147 W. San Ysidro Blvd, San Ysidro CA 92173 on March 3 (this Thursday) from 6-11 pm. The following quote is taken directly from Dia de la Mujer's Facebook page and gives a better idea of what the night is all about:

The theme to this year’s exhibit is Celebrating Womanhood, and with that, we hope to not only celebrate the women in our lives but also to honor the women in our communities, their work, and the collaborations that have made this event possible. Starting with the organizers of this amazing event, the participating artists who come from all over the country, the crafters, the musicians and the poets. Because this day was originally celebrated as International Working Women's Day, we also celebrate the amazing women who are creating change through their careers and community involvement. Women like artist Kim Brandi, CEO and Founder of Elements Spirits and the creator and designer of Kah “Day of the Dead” Tequila who has managed to infuse the male dominated world of spirits with an artistic passion and pave the way for women in her field. Consuelo Manriquez, co-founder of Calaca Press, founder of Caliposas Press, educator, leader, and community activist, and ofcourse, our very own Andrea Skorepa, President and CEO of Casa Familiar for over 30 years, a passionate and exemplary leader in her community and beyond. Admission is FREE! Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. Join us as we celebrate and honor the shining beauty and talent of the women in our communities. Free Parking will be available on lot located in the corner of Blanche & Cypress, behind THE FRONT...For more info please contact Leticia Gomez, Director of Arts & Culture for Casa Familiar at (619)428-1115 or leticiag@casafamiliar.org.

Among the featured artists, musicians, and poets are Julie Zarate, Dr. Emily Hicks (featured in an earlier post), DJ Ana Brown of The Roots Factory, and Olga Garcia Echeverria.

Information for the event is also published in Spanish here. Hope to see you there!

In keeping with my promise to update ya'll on the GOP's War on Women, I wanted to share a comprehensive list of the attacks on women's health to date, published by MoveOn.org.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.

Ouch! Click the link above for the full list - it's almost hard to believe.

So join me this Saturday, February 26th at one of the nation-wide Walk for Choice rallies! The protests in Wisconsin were able to bring a lot of attention to worker's union rights, inspiring protests in other states and leading to some Republican officials distancing themselves from bills introduced by the extremist House. I hope the Walk for Choice rallies can draw the same kind of public attention to propositions that would strip rights away from over 50% of the population.

And whether or not you can attend on Saturday, don't forget to contact your Senators and encourage them to vote against the Title X cuts!

Dear Right Wing Pundits:

I am pro-choice. Shocker! However, I also believe abortion is morally questionable. I believe that many things that human beings (conservative or otherwise) do is morally questionable (i.e. capital punishment). And, I am willing to listen to the argument that an abortion should not be federally funded and I am not so inclined to believe that tax payers should pay for abortions, especially if they have religious and spiritual concerns about paying for such a practice.

However, the political protesting of federal funds used to pay for abortions is not based on economics or fiscal conservatism, it is a calculated step towards the abolition of the right for a woman to terminate a pregnancy and even furthermore, a step down a slippery slope in which women would have their reproductive rights lessened on many levels all in the name of "religion."

While reducing federally funded abortions could be deemed as "small government;" legislation telling me what to do with my own body altogether is definitely big government in my bedroom and on my body.

The reality that your right wing peers are willing to use Live Action shady tactics, such as highly edited videos, to perpetuate falsehoods in an attempt to systematically shut down organizations (let us not forget the ACORN scandal) whose clients are by majority, low-income, non-white and disenfranchised populations, is beyond trying to influence the citizenry's moral compass or expose left wing corruption. It is a larger demonic scheme to keep certain groups of people in specific social locations so that human progress can be stifled and segregated.

In both the ACORN and the Planned Parenthood incidents, the targeted organizations whom Live Action was trying to claim were complicit with human trafficking had in actuality contacted the police to report the alleged perpetrators. You, right wing pundits, failed to mention these FACTS when pushing your fundamentalist agendas and like a dirty dope dealer pushed the false vilification of Planned Parenthood onto a weak-minded community without any second thought as to your own behavior.

Pro-choice, the personal belief that a woman should have the right to terminate her pregnancy is up front and clear. Pro-life, as it stands within social politics, is a falsehood. Pro-life, is simply anti-abortion, and should be labeled as such. If you are anti-abortion yet support capital punishment you are not pro-life. You are simply anti-abortion. Once your right wing punditry embraces this truth and is open about this nuance then perhaps a real discussion about reproductive rights could ensue.

Coming from a loving place. Peace.

Carrie Mae Weems, with the Social Studies 101 collective, has recently begun a 6-month long anti-violence public art campaign that utilizes billboards, radio and TV public service announcements in the Syracuse, NY area. Operation: Activate is directed at blacks and latinos, who she says make up 98% of local shooting victims (while 91% of shooting suspects are black). She has also applied the same images and ideas to comic books and coloring pencils, tee shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers.

Click here for a sample of her photographic and mixed media series from the 80s til the mid 2000s.

Ain't Jokin' (1987-1988) is one of her earliest and most effective series. She juxtaposes what appear to be emotionally disturbed black women, men, and children with "light-hearted" racial stereotypes (thus the title of the series) either in the photograph or the caption. About her earlier works, she writes

In these series, I endeavored to intertwine themes as I have found them in life—racial, sexual, and cultural identity and history—and presented them with overtones of humor and sadness, loss and redemption.

In the 90s, Carrie explored the African diaspora and came out with several photographic series: Sea Islands (1991-1992), Africa (1993), and "a feverishly toned polemic that integrated photograph and text" entitled From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried (1995-1996).

And in 1997, Carrie began work on what would become three large-scale fabric installations, Ritual & Revolution (1998), The Jefferson Suite (2001), and The Hampton Project (2000).

The artist writes that The Hampton Project,

commissioned by the Williams College Museum of Art, treats issues of race, education, and assimilation through a critical, multi-leveled investigation of the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) and its methods of instruction for African American and Native American pupils at the turn of the twentieth century.

"On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS Correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a 60 Minutes story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into a frenzy.

"In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.

"There will be no further comment from CBS News and Correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time."

It was the winter of 2007, when I got the call. Cari Sietstra, a friend and colleague, asked me to join the Board of Directors of Law Students for Reproductive Justice. I admit I was surprised. I had never gone to law school and knew close to nothing about the law school experience. My work in the reproductive health, rights and justice movements focused on lifting up the voices of young women, particularly young women of color, and advocating for them. I was trained in communications, leadership development and movement building, not the law. What could I offer an organization whose mission was to support and train law students and therefore, guarantee that the ongoing fight to protect and expand reproductive rights would continue? Luckily, my lack of legal training and my own doubts didn’t stop me from saying yes. In fact, it took almost no persuasion at all. Why? Because I had been impressed by every person I had ever met with a connection to LSRJ. Any organization that could command the leadership, service and passion of people like Cari Sietstra, Louise Melling, Priscilla Huang, Kara Loewentheil, Jill Adams and Heather Busby was an organization I wanted to part of.

Fast forward 4 years, and I am now into my second term as a member of the Board of Directors. In that time, I have seen the organization grow in phenomenal ways. From the number of campuses where we have chapters to the programming we offer (like the Leadership Institute and the RJ Fellowship Program), I see the impact we are making every day in the reproductive justice movement. On a more personal note, I have built relationships with remarkable people and feel lucky to call them my friends and colleagues. These are relationships that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. When I asked fellow Boardies to share their experiences serving on LSRJ Board of Directors, this is what they had to say:

“Serving on the LSRJ Board has been the most enriching and valuable learning experience of my time as a law student. My position on the Board has deepened my commitment to the RJ movement and given me direct non-profit governance and leadership experience. More importantly, it’s given me the opportunity to get to know and work with an amazing group of professional role models and future colleagues. I’m challenged and inspired by my fellow boardies and feel incredibly honored to know and work with each of them.”
~Erin Armstrong, President, 3L, University of California, Berkeley School of Law

“RJ is not just about what nine Supreme Court justices or state legislatures can do with the law. It’s also about doctors, nurses, pharmacists, public health workers, the media, teachers, religious leaders, parents, children, and you and me. Each nation, each region of this country, and each individual faces unique RJ issues. And it is the privilege of serving on the LSRJ Board of Directors that has helped me to see the rich challenges and the immense urgency of continuing to fight for reproductive justice.”
~Jennifer Seo, 3L, Columbia Law School

“As an LSRJ board member, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside leaders in the reproductive justice movement and be inspired by their unwavering commitment to LSRJ’s important mission. My fellow board members have continually provided me with support and guidance as I develop key leadership skills and gain experience in nonprofit governance.”
~Rebecca Reingold, Vice President, 2L, University of Washington School of Law

“Being on the board has helped me to develop as a leader and given me valuable experience working collaboratively with other lawyers and organizers. The staff and other board members are amazing, accomplished, passionate advocates for reproductive justice, and it is an honor to serve this wonderful and thriving organization with them.”
~ Jena Jolissaint, Ph.D., 2L, Georgia State University School of Law

“Serving on the board of LSRJ allows public service-minded students to learn the inner workings of an absolutely amazing organization. The non-profit governance skills you gain by learning about budgeting, strategic planning and working on facilitating current programming, are skills that any future non-profit lawyer will find invaluable and are not taught in law school…It has been an amazing experience to have this opportunity during law school.”
~Lillian Hewko, 3L, University of Washington School of Law

“You have the opportunity to work as an equal and a team member amongst a group of truly outstanding advocates, many of whom have been leading the reproductive justice movement for years and are inspirational mentors to the organization as well as to student Boardies. The professional development aspect of the role translates beautifully into hands-on leadership and management skills for future challenges and opportunities in legal advocacy. Most importantly, the sense of dedication and community I have gained from working with this board is a wonderful source of motivation!”
~ Dante Costa, 3L, Cardozo School of Law

“I don’t know how I would have gotten through law school without LSRJ. The organization enabled me to carve out a niche on my campus and identify other students who share my passions…LSRJ is dedicated to providing social-justice oriented law students with opportunities to pursue their educational and career ambitions. I can’t think of a better “thank you” than helping LSRJ expand its impact and achieve its organizational goals. The fact that my co-directors are amazing and talented students and professionals is just icing on the cake.”
~ Lauren R.S. Mendonsa, Secretary, 3L, University of San Diego School of Law

The LSRJ Board of Directors is now accepting applications for student directors, and I invite you to consider applying for as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead and serve an influential organization that is transforming the landscape for reproductive and human rights.

Aimee Thorne-Thomsen, Interim Executive Director, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

Each airport on our trip home in early January had a television every 25 yards or so blaring non-stop news coverage. Facing massive weather delays, my husband and I sat for hours next to one of these in Atlanta anxiously waiting to hear if the airport had opened so we could get home. Mostly, though, all we got were constant updates regarding the tragic shootings in Tucson. Well, not so much updates as the same bits of news over and over, with the occasional “new” tidbit of interest (e.g., the shooter’s high school yearbook photo). One tidbit, however, saw me raise two fuming eyes from my Kindle in a characteristic huff.

We had made it out of Atlanta; it was around 5:30am in Boston Logan International and I was enjoying a bagel while waiting out yet another delay unable to escape the news from Tucson. Breaking news! Apparently, some staffer had just discovered that Sarah Palin had put the injured Congresswoman’s district in crosshairs as part of a political campaign last year. The inevitable flurry of pundits to follow were quite unanimous in their shock – at first, noting only the irony but then slowly devolving into vituperative excoriation (particularly after someone tracked down an eerily prescient quote by Rep. Giffords responding to the crosshairs campaign: “[W]hen people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action.”).

As commentators rained a flood of for-shame down on Sarah and her choice of metaphors, I couldn’t help but wonder: where was this judgmental vitriol when George Tiller was murdered? Or how about David Gunn? George Patterson? John Britton? These physicians were all shot dead following the circulation by anti-abortionist protestors of “Wanted” posters with their names and contact info. Sure, there was some coverage. I remember a pretty great article from the U.K. noting the (arguably more obvious) poster-to-shooting connections. In the U.S., however, I distinctly remember more “balanced” discussion than critical lambasting. Even though the same “creating a climate of violence” argument is being used here. Even though, years before Dr. Tiller was shot, a federal court had found “Wanted” posters like those circulated before his murder to be a true threat (and not the free speech Sarah’s camp more successfully touted). Even though Sarah immediately pulled her website, but protestors are still circulating “Wanted” posters.

I am not trying to jump on the critical bandwagon here, or take sides in the crosshairs controversy. I’m just thinking about how much I would have loved to sit in an airport, eat a bagel, and watch even one conservative think tank shake a disapproving talking head at the tragic events instigated by those “Wanted” posters.

Sara Taylor

Note: I started writing this post a few days ago in an indignant storm that has since been tempered by a bit of perspective. Driving to dinner the other night, I heard the Egyptian government had blocked communication networks as a response to political protests. Social media, photo postings, cell phones, blogs – all silenced. So though I vehemently wag my finger at those who wish to use the media to advance an agenda bordering on amoral solicitation, and which has long passed any meaningful political discourse, I wish to point out that I would not have them silenced. Unless, of course, that is, they decide to shut the hell up. That’s fine.

Dear Right Wing Pundits:

Ronald Reagan is not God or a god or even a saint. He won't be canonized. He won't be rewritten into the Bible and we aren't going to capitalize the letter 'h' when we refer to him.

Here are some reasons why:

In 1981 he fired 11,000 Air Traffic Controllers for staging an "illegal" strike (even though we have the right to protest as ordered by the constitution) and banned them FOR LIFE from working for the government. Reagan used his own citizens, fighting for their workers rights, to show the Soviets that if he was willing to oppress his own people imagine what he would do to them!

He never addressed the AIDS crisis until 1987 after 20,000-30,000 of his citizens had already died from the disease.

His presidency oversaw the Iran-Contra Affair, which not only put weapons in the hands of foreign adversaries, but the money was used to fund the violent quelling of pro-democracy revolutionaries in South America but also is directly linked to the 1980s crack-cocaine epidemic that swept the nation.

This fact alone, taints Ronald Reagan's presidency and legacy so badly that the notion that right wing pundits cry over Bill Clinton lying about getting head in the oval office, disgusts me. And if he truly didn't know about this operation, then he was a puppet. And that's not what I want in a president, just some dude who could make motivational speeches.

Just because the man could tell a joke, was kind to people in person and loved his country does not excuse the oppressive, fundamentalist, deadly actions taken during his presidency. I can accept the truth about the ongoings of governing a nation, right wing pundits should step their game up and do the same, the young conservative is not you.

Coming from a loving place. Peace.