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Today! Saturday March 3 6-10pm: LOW LIVES: OCCUPY!

LOW LIVES: OCCUPY!
Event Date: Saturday, March 3, 2012
Event Time: 6:00 – 10:00 pm (EST)
The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor
Online: http://www.occupywithart.com/llo-live-channel/

Low Lives has partnered with Occupy with Art and The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics to present “Low Lives: Occupy! a unique one-night-only program of live performance art, happenings, and public actions, simulcast to presenting host venues around the world. Low Lives: Occupy! will take place on Saturday, March 3, 2012 from 6 -10 pm (EST). Low Lives: Occupy! partner Mark Read of the 99% Bat Signal / The Illuminator, will contribute a special projection and performance in conjunction with Low Lives: Occupy!

Jorge Rojas, Founding Director of Low Lives, comments: “Over the past four years Low Lives has developed a platform that invites and enables artists, audiences, and presenting venues to “plug in and participate” from anywhere an internet connection exists. This technological platform which brings a history of supporting artists’ full creative freedom to imagine new worlds, is ideally suited to be the support structure to enable artists, activists and Occupy groups from around the globe to present work in solidarity with #OWS.

Low Lives: Occupy! recognizes the powerful opportunity that is the presentation of performances from around the world, within which artists are invited to facilitate the process of opening eyes and minds – and present a radical re-imagining of possible ways of existing and relating. The Occupy Wall Street protests have given us The People’s Mic and The People’s Stage. Thanks to a partnership with Occupy with Art and The Hemispheric Institute, Low Lives: Occupy! has the potential to become the The People’s Virtual Stage.”

The Low Lives: Occupy! program will include thirty-five performance artists, Occupy groups, and artist collectives located worldwide in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy movement for the 99%. Participants will expand the reach and visibility of the Occupy protests by broadcasting to an international audience community. Thirteen co-presenting organizations in eight countries including U.S., México, Spain, Colombia, Brazil, Northern Ireland, France, and Argentina, will project Low Lives: Occupy! in their own venues and public spaces. The Occupy protests, and the myriad of perspectives and experiences related to this unique movement, will be amplified, explored, and experimented with, through Low Lives’ internet-based creative platform.

The Hemispheric Institute, presenting partner and official New York City venue for Low Lives: Occupy! will present one live performance during the March 3 event, and screen all other selections in real time using live-streaming technology.

Presenting partner and event organizer, Occupy with Art, will host the live simulcast at OccupywithArt.com, providing the means for viewers around the world to access the program online. Co-presenting partners of Low Lives: Occupy! will present the simulcast in their venues and public spaces.

Presenting Partners
Occupy with Art / Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics / Low Lives /

Co-Presenters
99% Bat Signal – The Illuminator (NYC, US) / Antena Mutante (Bogotá, CO) / Casa Brandon- Ciudad Autónoma (Buenos Aires, AR) / La Casa de la Cultura Comunitaria “Guuze´ Benda” (Oaxaca, MX) / Co-Lab (Austin, TX, US) / Dimanche Rouge (Paris, FR) / GT Gallery (Belfast, NIR) / Guerrero Project (Mexico City, MX) / Kaxinawá Occupy. Som, Música e Poesia (Greater Rio de Janeiro, BR) / Museo de Arte Efimero de Cartago, MAEC (Cartago, CO) / Nau Còclea (Girona, ES) / Performance Exchange at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago SAIC (IL, US) / Zona de Tolerancia (Hidalgo, MX) /

Participating Artists and Artist Collectives
99% Bat Signal – The Illuminator (NYC, US) / Alejandro Chellet (Cancun, MX) / Alejandro Guzman (NYC, US) / Alternative Art College (London, UK) / Angela Alegria + Lucía Andújar + Dani d’Emilia (Lisbon, PT) / Antena Mutante + ChicoBauti (Bogotá, CO) / Arun Storrs (Oregon, US) / Astrid Menasanch (Madrid, ES) / Bados Earthling (Melbourne, AU) / Christina Sukhgian Houle (Alabama, US) / The Civilians (NYC, US) / Egg No Ego (Bucharest, RO) / Emerge Collective (NYC, US) / Francesca Fini (Rome, IT) / Ginna Vélez (Bogotá, CO) / Guerrero Project (Mexico City, MX) / Heather Warren-Crow (Wisconsin, US) / Justine Marrion Massey (Buenos Aires, AR) / Kanene Ayo Holder (NYC, US) / Kaxinawá Occupy. Som, Música e Poesia (Greater Rio de Janeiro, BR) / Lukas Avendaño (Oaxaca, MX) / Miles Pflanz (NYC, US) / Minipimer.tv (Barcelona, ES) / Moe Beitiks (Illinois, US) / Nyugen E. Smith New Jersey, US) / Occupy Your Spirituality (NYC, US) / The People Staged (NYC, US) / Proyecto 21 (Mexico City, MX) / Revolutionary Games (NYC, US) / Second Front (Second Life) / The Super Art League (DC Universe) / Tempest Productions + Pilgrim Theatre + Bread and Puppet + Occupy Boston’s CASA working group (Massachusetts, US) / Tara Raye Russo (New Jersey, US) / Tutu-Marambá: Pesquisas das Artes do Corpo (Sao Paolo, BR) / Victoria Gibson (Vancouver, CA) /

About Low Lives
Founded in 2009, Low Lives is an international platform for live performance-based works transmitted via the internet and projected in real time through online broadcasting networks. These networks provide a new alternative and efficient medium for presenting, viewing, and archiving performances. Low Lives celebrates the transmission of ideas beyond geographical, political, and cultural borders, and opens multicultural and intergenerational dialogue through visual language, new technologies, and contemporary expressions.

Interested co-presenters can contact Low Lives at lowlivesoccupy@gmail.com before March 1. For information on presenter requirements, visit lowlives.net

Saturday March 10th Celebrate International Women’s Day in NYC!

Celebrate International Women’s Day March 10! NYC

Saturday March 10th
Celebrate International Women’s Day!

End Pornography and Patriarchy: The Enslavement and Degradation of Women!

Abortion On Demand and Without Apology!

Fight for the Emancipation of Women All Over the World!

Read the call to action that started this whole campaign

NYC Plan
12:00 Noon
Protest and March against sites of women’s oppression!

12 noon: GATHER AT ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL!
Fifth Avenue between 50-51st Streets:
The Catholic Church’s approach to women, gender, science and sexuality is a Dark Ages disaster! The Pope has condemned condoms (causing millions of HIV/AIDs deaths). The Church condemns homosexuality and insists that “divorce is a sin” (contributing to women staying in abusive marriages). Recently, Catholic Bishops urged “non-compliance” with new regulations requiring health insurance to cover birth control!

MARCH to TIMES SQUARE:
Protest the objectification of women! Women’s near-naked and rail-thin bodies are used to sell everything from clothes to cars to “American culture” to the entire world.
Protest the US Military Recruiting Center! Protest the US military’s quasi-official reliance on brothels as a “perk” to male soldiers; the role of military forces in trafficking women & girls; and the epidemic of rape, harassment and violence against female soldiers.

MARCH to and PROTEST STRIP CLUBS in the area!
U.S. men spend an estimated $15 billion a year on strip clubs, as compared to $4 billion on baseball. Strip clubs have always objectified & degraded women.  But as women have entered – and fought for increasing respect in – the public sphere, strip clubs have become an enclave for sexism and male entitlement towards women’s bodies.  Further, strip clubs prey upon the desperation, abuse and addiction of many women, including trafficked women.

ALONG THE WAY: Protest “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” & Celebrate Abortion Provider Appreciation Day:
Crisis Pregnancy Centers are fake “clinics.”  They are driven by an anti-abortion agenda, often have no clinical staff, spread lies, guilt-trip women and enormously delay and complicate women’s ability to access abortion.

In contrast, we’ll celebrate abortion providers because March 10th is Abortion Provider Appreciation Day!

PLANNING/MOBILIZING MEETINGS  are held THURSDAYS @ 7 PM

If anything in this flier resonated with you… If you care about the conditions of women… If you want to do something that can really make a huge difference – not only for yourself, but for women (and all people) worldwide and for future generations…

CONTACT US at stoppatriarchy@gmail.com

3 things you can do right away:
1. Invite us into your class, club or dorm.
2. Spread this call to action on Facebook and Twitter.
3. Distribute this flier everywhere/anywhere you go.

Organize actions on March 10th to Stop Patriarchy! Email us at stoppatriarchy@gmail.com or submit your action via tumblr to post them here.

Call to Action END PORNOGRAPHY AND PATRIARCHY; THE ENSLAVEMENT AND DEGRADATION OF WOMEN!

We are told that “equality for women has been won” and that “there are no limits to what girls can achieve.” BULLSHIT!

Every 15 seconds a woman is beaten. Every day three to four women are killed by their partners. One out of four female college students will be raped or sexually assaulted while in college.

In recent years, pornography has become increasingly violent, cruel, degrading towards women; women are referred to as “cumdumpsters” and “fuckbuckets”; the “money shot” (ejaculation in a woman’s face) is standard; humiliating cruelty—like violent “ass-to-mouth” penetration—is normalized, and racist bigotry is sexualized. Meanwhile, the broader culture has been pornified: pole dancing is taught at gyms, “sexting” is a national phenomenon among teens, and the strip club is the accepted backdrop to “male bonding.” All this is tied in with, and reinforces, the trafficking of millions of women and girls as literal chattel in the international sex industry.

This is NOT society becoming more comfortable with sex. This is society becoming saturated with the sexualized degradation of women. If you can’t imagine sex without porn, you’re fucked.

At the same time, a Christian fundamentalist-driven assault is imperiling abortion, birth control, real sex education and women’s lives. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people who do not conform to traditional patriarchal gender and sexual norms are demonized and threatened. Abortion doctors are killed. Women who seek abortions—or even birth control—are stigmatized. 2011 saw the largest spate of legal restrictions on abortion since Roe v. Wade in 1973.

ALL THIS MUST BE STOPPED!

Fetuses are not babies. Women are not incubators. Abortion is not murder.

Women are not objects. Women are not things to be used for the sexual pleasure of men NOR are they breeders of children. WOMEN ARE HUMAN BEINGS CAPABLE OF FULL EQUALITY IN EVERY REALM!

It is long past time that this new generation stand up, reject, and RESIST this culture of rape and pornography; this culture that labels women “selfish” if they choose not to become mothers; this culture that reduces women and girls to sexualized objects while denying their full multi-dimensional humanity (including their right—as one essential part of this—to explore their sexuality without shame or stigma); this culture that demonizes and bullies LGBT people.

Our purpose is NOT to lobby for new legislation to ban pornography (“decency laws” have always served to further repress homosexuality, boundary-challenging art, and scientific sex education). We oppose the criminalization of women in the sex industry. Our mission is to challenge the new generation in particular to reject this culture of rape and pornography, to resist the shaming of women who have sex and/or abortions, to wage fierce cultural and political resistance to wake others up, and to bring forward a liberating culture that celebrates the full equality and liberation of women.

Contact stoppatriarchy@gmail.com with your questions, comments, ideas, and interest in getting involved. Get flyers to hand out, bring a speaker to your campus, ask your toughest questions. The future of women depends on YOU!

http://stoppatriarchy.tumblr.com/call

“Where Are The Women?”: Lawmakers Walk Out on Contraception Rule Hearing After Female Witness Barred

Good morning,
Democracy Now! reports on the controversial contraceptive hearing that
took place on Capitol Hill yesterday with two women who were directly
involved. We speak with Sandra Flook, the witness who was barred from
testifying at the hearing, and to D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes
Norton, who walked out of the hearing in protest. They discuss the
significance of the hearing and the all-male panel.

Several other Democrats walked out of the congressional hearing on the
Obama administration’s rule that would require health insurance plans,
including those provided by Catholic-affiliated hospitals and
universities, to offer free contraceptives for health-related issues
and birth control.

When you have a chance, please take a moment to watch the interview
and read the complete transcript, which is available at the link
below. I have also provided the link and video embed code if you would
like to share the interview on your website and social media networks
today.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Please let me know
if you have any questions.

My Best,
Megan Hafner
Social Media and Online Outreach Intern
Democracy Now!

“Where Are The Women?”: Lawmakers Walk Out on Contraception Rule Hearing After Female Witness Barred

LINK:
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/17/where_are_the_women_lawmakers_walk

YOUTUBE LINK:
http://youtu.be/uY8M3boxqbk

FACEBOOK:
We have posted the interview on our Facebook page. Please share to
your Facebook network and join the discussion:
http://www.facebook.com/democracynow

TWITTER:
Please use @democracynow in your tweets about the interview.

YOUTUBE:
We have posted the interview to our YouTube channel where you can
share and join the conversation: http://www.YouTube.com/democracynow

Megan Hafner
Social Media and Online Outreach Intern
Democracy Now!
212-431-9090 x8806
www.democracynow.org
Twitter: @democracynow
Facebook.com/democracynow
YouTube.com/democracynow

March 3 Indwelling: Living in a Female Body… at The Women’s Therapy Centre Institute

Indwelling: Living in a Female Body . . . . at The Women’s Therapy Centre Institute

http://www.wtci-nyc.org/page39/page39.html

Saturday, March 3, 2012
1:00pm-3:00pm
Friends Meeting House

15 Rutherford Place @ East 15th St. between 2nd and 3rd Aves (a short walk fr/Union Sq.).
Last March The WTCI convened an international summit – Endangered Species Preserving The Female Body. We launched the Endangered Bodies Campaign- partnering with like-minded body positive organizations in 5 different countries who are engaged in the the same fight to free women’s/girls’ bodies from commodification and objectification.

This year, INDWELLING honors Jamia Wilson, a feminist media activist, organizer, and storyteller. Jamia is currently Vice President of Programs at the Women’s Media Center where she works on amplifying women’s voices and changing the conversation in the media. She trains women and girls so they are media-ready and media-savvy, exposes sexism in the media, and directs the WMC’s social media strategy. Before joining the Women’s Media Center team, Jamia worked for Young People For the American Way, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Federation of America where she managed their youth outreach program Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood.

After working with coalition partners and campus organizations to help bring thousands of students to the historic March for Women’s Lives, Jamia was honored as one of the “Real Hot 100” by the Younger Women’s Taskforce. After growing up as an expatriate in Saudi Arabia, Jamia Wilson graduated from American University in 2002. Jamia received her M.A. in Humanities and Social Thought at NYU, where she focused on research and writing inspired by critical race theory. Her words and works have been featured in GOOD Magazine,  CBS News, Alternet, GRIT TV, In These Times, The Today Show, Fox.com,  and more. Jamia serves on the leadership committee for SPARK Movement and is on the board of directors for Feminist.com and REVEAL.

Please join us for a rousing celebration of the revolution so far!

$25 Registration / $15 Students / underwritten tickets available

–Honoring Jamia Wilson, SPARK

–For the last 30 years, The WTCI has offered a Speakout, a time honored traditional forum for women to find their individual voice and share experiences, allowing the personal story of each woman to be heard, dignified, and transformed by our coming together.

–Performance by SPARK Youth

–Reception

REGISTER

The Women’s Therapy Centre Institute, partner of Paradigm Shift!

Dr. Catherine Baker-Pitts, Co-Director of the training program for psychotherapists at The Women’s Therapy Centre Institute, was Paradigm Shift’s featured presenter for our 4th webinar for Berkley College “Is Love Blind: Seeing and Being Seen In Relationships”

As Contraceptives Rule Enters GOP Race, Will Reproductive Rights Affect 2012 Election?

Good afternoon,
I am writing to share an interview that we broadcast on the
independent, daily news hour Democracy Now! today. Rick Santorum’s
three-state victory comes after a week of heavy Republican campaigning
against a new Obama administration rule requiring health insurance
plans, including those provided by Catholic-affiliated hospitals and
universities, to offer free birth control methods. Democracy Now!
looks at how reproductive rights could become major issues in the 2012
race with three guests: Michael Brendan Dougherty of Business Insider
and The American Conservative; Loretta Ross of the SisterSong
Reproductive Justice Collective; and Jon O?Brien of Catholics for
Choice.

“What this law does,” explains Brendan Dougherty, “is it invites the
bishops and monks that are running these institutions into the
bedroom. It says, ‘you have to come down to the store and pay for
these contraceptives. You have to pay us to do this.'”

“The idea that an employer, that a bishop, can get between you and
your birth control, there’s something that’s very un-American and
wrong about that,” says Jon O’Brien. “Freedom of conscience is an
essential part of actually being a Catholic.”

Loretta Ross argues that, “We need to talk about the fact that this
rule really allows low income women, women who are dependent on their
healthcare, to access birth control, women of color in particular.”
She adds, “And while they talk about values and conscience, let’s not
lose sight that there are women being damaged by this political
football men are making of our lives.”

When you have a chance, please take a moment to watch the interview
and read the complete transcript, which is available at the link
below. I have also provided the video embed code if you would like to
share the interview on your website and social media networks today.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Please let me know
if you have any questions.

My Best,
Megan Hafner
Social Media and Online Outreach Intern
Democracy Now!


HEADLINE:
As Contraceptives Rule Enters GOP Race, Will Reproductive Rights
Affect 2012 Election?

LINK:
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/8/as_contraceptives_rule_enters_gop_race

 

YOUTUBE LINK:

http://youtu.be/bb314ED7yOw

FACEBOOK:
We have posted the interview on our Facebook page. Please share to
your Facebook network and join the discussion:
http://www.facebook.com/democracynow

TWITTER:
Please use @democracynow in your tweets about the interview.

YOUTUBE:

We have posted the interview to our YouTube channel where you can
share and join the conversation: http://www.YouTube.com/democracynow

March 7-8 Annual Celebration of International Women’s Day in Washington DC

Again this year, CARE’s supporters and advocates will gather in Washington, D.C., on March 7-8 for our annual celebration of International Women’s Day. Because your members of Congress are being asked to weigh in on several key issues related to women, girls and communities that live in poverty, we hope you’ll participate!

March 7: Join us on the eve of International Women’s Day as we kick off this year’s event with a special screening of the film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which will be followed by a panel discussion that I’ll host.

March 8: Team up with advocates from around the country for our one-day conference. You’ll learn about key legislative issues and take part in Congressional meetings. Come raise your voice and help educate policymakers about the importance of U.S. government investment in poverty-fighting programs.

We’ve designed the conference to be a little different this year. We’ll have a smaller group of advocates representing CARE on Capitol Hill, which will make for a more targeted and intimate experience. And we’ll be joined in spirit by thousands of CARE supporters who will stand with us from home. Together, our actions will make a powerful noise on behalf of poor people around the world.

Space is very limited, so please register today!

We hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH
President and CEO, CARE

Tell the Grammys to Apologize for Trivializing Domestic Violence

Dear feminist bloggers and advocates,

I’m reaching out to request your help in calling the Grammys to account for trivializing domestic violence. Chris Brown’s performance at the Grammys last Sunday night, the first time since he beat up then-girlfriend Rihanna, has caused significant outrage. What’s more shocking is that Grammy Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich thinks that the awards show was “the victim of what happened.”

When Brett Simon saw that Chris Brown was back performing on the prestigious show last night, while still on probation for the domestic assault, he was upset. When he heard that the Grammys thought they were the real victim, he had to do something. That’s when Brett started a Change.org petition demanding an apology and a donation to a domestic violence organization.

Below is a list of tweets targeting Grammy performers and presenters, asking them to join the campaign. We’d appreciate if you would tweet and share with your networks. You can see further info on the campaign here: http://news.change.org/stories/tell-the-grammys-no-you-were-not-the-victim-of-chris-browns-domestic-violence

Thanks,
Alex

.@officialAdele Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@AliciaKeys Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@katyperry Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@NickiMinaj Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@coldplay Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@taylorswift13 Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@BrunoMars Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@OfficialCarrieU Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@springsteen Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@foofighters Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@PaulMcCartney Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@fosterthepeople Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@thebandperry Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@BlakeShelton Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@thecivilwars Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@DavidGuetta Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@LilTunechi Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@IAMJHUD Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@theBonnieRaitt Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@dianakrall Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@maceoparker Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@Maroon5 Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@adamlevine Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@jrcarmichael Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@jamesbvalentine Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

@itstonybennett Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@GlenCampbell Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@marcanthony Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@dierksbentley Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@jackblack42 Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@Reba Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@Drake Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@Fergie Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@GwynethPaltrow Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@ladyantebellum Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@Miranda_Lambert Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@RyanSeacrest Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

.@questlove Will you ask the @TheGrammys to apologize for trivializing domestic violence & donate to support victims? http://chn.ge/xBEHlH

March 5: Fighting For A World Where Girls Are Not For Sale: Talk with Author/Activist/ Survivor Rachel Lloyd at The Cooper Union

Monday, March 5 at 6:30 PM

GIRLS LIKE US:
Fighting For A World Where Girls Are Not For Sale

Talk with Author/Activist/ Survivor Rachel Lloyd at The Cooper Union

Free and open to the public

WHAT:               GIRLS LIKE US:  Fighting For A World Where Girls Are Not For Sale
Rachel Lloyd tells the moving story of her escape from the commercial sex trade in Europe, detailed in her memoir, Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not For Sale, at The Cooper Union-Rose Auditorium on Monday, March 5 at 6:30 PM.  Once a teenage victim of exploitation, she has devoted her career to activism and helping other young girls escape “the life.”   Today Lloyd is executive director of GEMS: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services in New York City and has turned it into one of the nation’s most groundbreaking nonprofit organizations.

WHO:             Rachel Lloyd is a nationally recognized expert on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation. In 1998, with only a computer and $30, Lloyd, a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation, established GEMS: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services to support girls and young women victimized by the commercial sex industry in the U.S.   Now the nation’s largest organization offering direct services to girls and young women, ages 12-24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking, GEMS empowers survivors to escape the sex industry and develop to their full potential.

WHEN:          Monday, March 5, 2012 at 6:30 PM

WHERE:       The Cooper Union – The Great Hall, 7 E. 7th St. (bet 3rd and 4th Aves), NYC, 10003 Subways: Astor Place (6), 8th Street (N, R))

COST:            Free

INFO:             212.353.4195; cooper.edu; events@ cooper.edu

PRESS CONTACT: Jolene Travis, (212) 353-4158, jolene@cooper.edu

Find The Cooper Union on Facebook at https://facebook.com/cooperunion and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/cooperunion.

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is a distinguished private college of art, architecture and engineering founded in 1859 by Peter Cooper, an inventor, industrialist and philanthropist.

Urgent Deadline 2/14 12 noon: Orgs Needed to Support Contraceptive Coverage in Student Health Plans

Dear friends,

For the past few weeks, birth control (of all things), has been all over the media because of the Administration’s recent decision to make sure that birth control is covered through health plans (except for those that work at churches and other houses of worship).

After the President’s announcement today to allow religious-affiliated institutions to opt-out of directly covering contraception they may oppose (insurance companies would then step in), still members of Congress are bent on dismantling this important advancement.

Please join Advocates for Youth, Campus Progress, Young Invincibles and fellow national, state, local and campus-based youth organizations by signing on to this statement in support of the Administration’s decision as well as including contraceptive coverage in student health plans. Young women are too often the ones who can’t access contraception because of cost, and we want to make sure youth voice is heard in this national debate.

If you are not a youth-focused organization, but you have a “youth arm,” please consider signing-on the statement using the name of your youth arm. While we appreciate the support of all organizations working on access to contraception, we want to ensure that young people’s voices are heard on this important issue.

To sign-on, please email the following information to Sarah at sarah@advocatesforyouth.org by Tuesday, February 14th at noon EST.

Organization’s Name:

Location:

Campus (if applicable):

Contact Person’s Name:

Contact Person’s Email Address:

We’re hoping to deliver a the letter to Congress before any vote happens on this issue which could be as soon as early next week. Please share this with students you work with, as we welcome sign-ons from individual student organizations at college campuses across the country.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Sincerely,

Sarah

Sarah Audelo

Senior Domestic Policy Manager

Advocates for Youth

2000 M Street NW Suite 750

Washington, DC 20036

202.419.3420 ext. 14

www.amplifyyourvoice.org

www.advocatesforyouth.org

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