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meredith / Comments Off on Tonight! Bella Abzug Leadership Institute’s 4th Annual Bella And Bella Fella Awards Fundraiser Reception
The BALI Board of Directors invite you to attend
The 4th Annual Bella and Bella Fella Awards Reception
Honoring Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney for the Bella Award
Singer, Actor and Civil Right Activist Harry Belafonte for the Bella “Fella” Award
Emerging Writer Activist Maya Catherine Popa for the “Andrea”Young Woman Leadership ” Chutzpah”Award
Hosted at the Residence of Henry Buhl
102 Prince Street, Soho, NYC
(Between Mercer and Greene Street )
Tuesday, April 17th 2012
6:30pm-9:00pm
If you are interested in attending the event, please email BALI Program Coordinator ,Yu Wai Maung, at yuwai@abzuginstitute.org or call our office at 212-650-3071. The response card below contains ticket prices for the fundraiser. You can print out the response card and mail it to our mailing office at :
Liz Abzug Consultant Services
105 Duane Street, #21C
New York,NY 10007
Or you can pay for the ticket by pressing DONATE http://www.abzuginstitute.org/content/donate/ and by using PAYPAL. Please be sure to include the number of party and full names of the party you are bringing with you. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, April 17th.
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meredith / Comments Off on Action Alert: Change.org Petition- Women retail workers deserve equal pay for equal work!
Retailers are paying female employees significantly less than male employees, according to new data released by the Retail Action Project and Stephanie Luce of the City University of New York Murphy Institute. Because retail is a growing industry that predominantly employs women, hundreds of thousands of women workers will be working long hours this holiday shopping season for less pay.
When hundreds of stock, sales, cashier, and workers at national retail companies in New York City were recently surveyed about their wages and other benefits, it was discovered the median wage gap between women and men was the difference between $9.00/hr and $10.13/hr. For low-wage hourly workers, that difference of 12% adds up fast. Further, women were found to be less likely than male co-workers to be promoted, or to have health benefits. This has huge implications for women’s health, as uninsured and underinsured women are less likely to receive routine care that can be lifesaving. Furthermore, taxpayers are subsidizing retail giants whose low-wage employees qualify for public benefits.
The Retail Industry Leader’s Association, a powerful retail lobby group of retail corporations – such as WalMart, Target, Best Buy, JC Penney, Lowe’s – reports that retailers greatly benefited from early Black Friday sales, as evidenced by the surge in hiring and record profits. But the experience for women workers was far from positive. Women were paid less while many were forced to work on Thanksgiving Day, spending the holiday apart from their children and families because several giants opened on the holiday for the first time. So if retailers are thriving despite the current downturn, why are retail giants paying women less?
Retail businesses such as Old Navy, Target, Toys R Us, and Sears plan to capitalize on the holidays even further by instituting around-the-clock sale hours as Christmas approaches. Since women are the majority of the retail workforce across the country, it is women who will be working extra, for less pay than their male counterparts.
Closing the gap in wages, promotions and health benefits between men and women retail workers would be a first step to addressing continuing patterns of inequality in the workplace. Tell the President of the Retail Industry Leader’s Association, Sandy Kennedy, to ensure that retailers pay equal pay for equal work! Together we can hold retail corporations accountable for perpetuating the gender wage gap.
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meredith / Comments Off on Action Alert Update: Close the Gender Wage Gap for Retail Workers in NYC
Last week the Retail Action Project and the City University of New York released preliminary data from an upcoming report showing that women retail workers in NYC make significantly less than men (the mean wage for women is $9 and $10.50 for men) Check out the coverage in Crain’s, Huffington Post, Jezebel and Colorlines.
The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, recently endorsed by the NY Times, would help more women earn a livingwage by guaranteeing that the jobs subsidized with our tax dollars pay a wage of $10 an hour plus benefits of $11.50 without.
Help the Living Wage NYC Campaign close the gender gap in the retail industry by passing the “Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act.”
Retail is an industry dominated by women, yet these poorly paid jobs are exploiting women. Not only that, men are more likely than women to receive raises and promotions as well as health benefits and paid time off. Women are bearing the brunt of the growth but not seeing any of the rewards. Please help the Living Wage NYC Campaign make a change for the hard working women of New York City by call your Council Member and ask them to support the “Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act” now!
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meredith / Comments Off on Emergency Rally To Save Birth Control!
Health care reform will let many women access birth control without copay.
But the White House might be caving to pressure from ultraconservative forces. Women whose bosses oppose birth control are at risk of having that coverage taken away.
Join NARAL Pro-Choice New York, Planned Parenthood of NYC, the New York Civil Liberties Union, NOW-NYC, Sistersong NYC, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and others on Thursday for an emergency rally at the federal building in Manhattan, which houses the Health and Human Services regional office, to send a message to the White House that all women should have access to affordable birth control regardless of where they work!
The Obama administration is being flooded with calls and letters from people who oppose birth control. We must send a message that caving to this extreme position is not an option.
Can’t make it to the rally? Follow the rally on Twitter under #NY4BC and tweet your message to HHS – we’ll write your message on a sign for all to see.
HAMELL ON TRIAL http://www.hamelltv.com http://youtu.be/0tWHxzEBe7w
Righteous Babe Record’s Ed Hamell a.k.a. Hamell On Trial is a one-man punk show bringing you (mostly) loud, fast music informed by politics, passion, energy, and intelligence, played by a guy with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humor. 2011 launches Hamell into new territory, captivating audiences not only by his award-winning performances, but also a Kerouac-esque story of social commentary shaped through years on the road.
Equipped with a battered 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar he strums like a machine gun, a politically astute mind that can’t stop moving and a mouth that can be profane one minute and profound the next, Hamell sets his sights on some classic subjects (sex, drugs, and rock and roll) and some personal ones, too. His performances invoke thoughts of the great rebellious comedians and social commentators of the past: Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, and even a bit of Sam Kinison. Hamell is a great mind; acoustic punk rock mixed with a traveler’s soul. There’s no way around his obscenity, but in that is a willingness to fight for the free-thinkers of the world. Hamell On Trial is a refreshing punk-rock bomb on the unsuspecting folk singer-songwriter world and above all else a preacher of common sense and truth.
LAURA JOY http://laurajoymusic.com
Chicago-based singer-songwriter Laura Joy has been known to quell dark, angry bars full of ornery old Irishmen. Drawing comparisons that range from Joni Mitchell to Ani DiFranco, Laura’s percussive finger picking and buoyant voice have graced audiences from as far as the Sun Belt to the streets of Manhattan Island. Growing up in Phoenix, Laura was raised on a steady diet of folk revival LPs and Gershwin classics. Since then, she has played in venues from Tempe, AZ to Boston, MA and busked everywhere from the 72nd St subway stop in New York City to Hyde Park in London. Last October, Laura was asked to perform at the Morristown Folk Festival in Morristown, AZ.
Laura has been featured in the Jezebel Music Songwriter Showcase at Laila Lounge in Brooklyn and was a member of NY/NJ Port Authority’s exclusive “Tunes in the Terminal” program. She has opened for Nedra Johnson and Staceyann Chin in Brooklyn (Paradigm Shift NYC’s Michfest Halfway Soirée) and shared a night at Fiddler’s Dream in Phoenix, AZ with Raina Rose and Namoli Brennet. Laura continues to organize and host the successful Paradigm Shift Artist Showcase series highlighting feminist inspired art and performance at various venues across The Lower East Side in NYC.
Laura’s most recent CD, “What I Know” was released on June 30th. The album was recorded and mixed by Dae Bennett at Bennett Studios in Englewood NJ, and was produced by Suzi Reynolds. Laura continues to play music wherever and whenever she can.
PARADIGM SHIFT: NYC’S FEMINIST COMMUNITY
Use the “F” word.
Change NYC. Change the World.
“Paradigm Shift is situated to be at the center of feminist organizing for this new era of activism.”
– Michael Kimmel, PhD: Sociologist, Author
“Paradigm Shift is on the cutting edge of our feminist community.”
– Clare Coss, Activist & Psychologist
“I can’t believe I lived 16 years in NYC without Paradigm Shift. I love the events, the community, and the mission!”
– Jennifer Baumgardner, Activist, Author & Filmmaker
Paradigm Shift NYC is the New York City metro-area’s critically acclaimed and largest feminist community group and event series. We’ve produced 40 sold out lectures, discussions, screenings, and performances featuring leaders in feminist thought, that range from artists and academics to filmmakers and policy activists. Paradigm Shift NYC events challenge and inspire attendees to contribute to the feminist movement by providing a unique and welcoming platform for expression and coalition building. In early 2011, Berkeley College commissioned Paradigm Shift to produce a four-part webinar series on domestic violence, LGBTQ community building, and creating sexual empowerment. We have partnerships with over 130 progressive organizations. TimeOut New York named Paradigm Shift “Critics’ Pick” on 12 occasions, an unprecedented honor among progressive organizations.
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meredith / Comments Off on A Guy’s Guide to Feminism Reading with Michael Kimmel & Michael Kaufman, Authors
Join Michael Kimmel, world-renown expert on american masculinity (and Paradigm Shift featured speaker) & Michael Kaufman, co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest effort the world of men working to end violence against women, for their NYC book launch! GuysGuideToFeminism.com
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meredith / Comments Off on SWAP! Film Benefit Fundraiser Clothing Swap & Dance Party
Sat Nov 5th at 4 -11 pm
A benefit to raise production funds for a documentary about style and substance.
$10 at the door will give you access to all the clothing your little arms can carry and all proceeds will go to support the production of a new documentary, SWAP!, a film about style, exchange, community and global sustainability.
There will be a special section for male identified persons and a baby clothes section. We will even make space for dog clothes if you bring them !
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meredith / Comments Off on Call to Action Today: Facebook Rape Pages
Friends, bloggers, organizers,
I wanted to drop you a note to ask for your help with a day of action, 11/2, to pressure Facebook to take down pages that promote rape, sexual violence, and violence against women and declare these pages a violation of their Terms of Service.
A petition on Change.org, started a few months ago by Florida activist John Raines, has over 180,000 signatures; similar campaigns launched in the UK, Canada, and New Zealand bring the total number up to 200,000. In addition, Sprint, Blackberry, PBS, and other companies have insisted that their ads be taken off pages that activists have flagged as promoting rape and violence.
Facebook’s Terms of Service already ban content that is “hateful, threatening,” or contains “graphic or gratuitous violence,” and the site has also removed inoffensive content such as photos of breastfeeding mothers. However, Facebook is standing firm in their refusal to remove the pages under fire for supporting sexual violence, going so far as to say, “It is very important to point out that what one person finds offensive another can find entertaining – just as telling a rude joke won’t get you thrown out of your local pub, it won’t get you thrown off Facebook.”
Since Facebook finds pages like “Riding You Girlfriend Softly So She Doesn’t Wake Up” entertaining, we’re upping the ante. Tomorrow we’re asking people to tweet at Facebook the names of real pages that promote rape, sexual violence, and violence against women with the hashtag #notfunnyfacebook. The idea is that if more people — and yes, the media — see the bile Facebook is protecting, the site will have to cave to the pressure.
.@facebook “Riding your Girlfriend softly, Cause you dont want to wake her up” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV
.@facebook “Let’s have sex.. LOL jk i’m a rapist, were doing it wether you like or not” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV
.@facebook “Kicking sluts in the vagina because its funny watching your foot disappear” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV
.@facebook “1.5 Million ‘likes’ and I will rape my mom!” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV
.@facebook “We’re gonna have sex tonight” “Why?” “Because im stronger than you are” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV
.@facebook “It’s Not Rape If You Yell Surprise” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV
.@facebook “Whats 10 inches and gets girls to have sex with me? my knife” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV
We’d appreciate tweets, Facebook posts, and blog posts. Please let me know if you need a quote from us or any of the partner orgs. Thanks for all your help and all the work you do!
Shelby Knox
Director of Organizing, Women’s Rights, Change.org
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meredith / Comments Off on NOW NYC Fund’s Annual Holiday Gift Drive for Teen Girls
NOW-NYC Fund’s Annual Holiday Gift Drive for Teen Girls
Collecting: Tuesday, November 1st through Tuesday, December 13th
The National Organization for Women-NYC Fund’s Annual Holiday Gift Drive provides a brighter holiday season for teenage girls facing violence or hardship in their lives – many are living in local shelters or transitional housing in the NYC area.
Drop off YOUR donations Monday through Friday, 10am to 5pm, at our office (150 West 28th Street, Suite 304 @ 7th Ave) November 1st through December 13th.
Great gift ideas:
Hair accessories | Fun bath & body products | Baby clothes or supplies (newborn – 6 mo) | Hair care products | Costume jewelry | Journals/notecards/books | Craft kits or small games | Scarves, hats, gloves, fuzzy socks | Gift cards in $10 increments to places such as Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, H&M, Forever21, iTunes, Movie Tickets, etc. **Items should be NEW or unused* *We cannot accept used clothing or linens.**
Contact:
Brielle Nalence
Program Associate
National Organization for Women, NYC
Service Fund of NOW-NYC
150 West 28th Street, Suite 304
New York, NY 10001
t. (212) 627-9895
f. (212) 627-9861 www.nownyc.org
