friends of Bitch

I love that my co-workers think of cows when they think of Wisconsin (thanks, Jess and Briar, for the awesome flyer!).

Also, please come to Room of One's Own Feminist Bookstore, 307 W. Johnson, on Wednesday (May 14) from 6:00-8:00PM for a participatory discussion about Feminism In/Action: What is your feminism for and why does it matter?

Isn't a rack of independent magazines a lovely sight? 

Everything's coming together. Here's what's happening in Chicago. Please spread the word...

Another update on my upcoming trip...

Ok, folks – here's my heart on the line: I organized my entire trip around Mother's Day so that I could combine the organization I love plus my mom and grandma, who – as much as they support and love me – really don't "get" what my work is all about.

So please, Twin Cities friends, come – and bring anyone special you want to appreciate – and let's celebrate Mother's Day with gratitude for the amazing people that allowed us to live the lives we have today.

If nothing else, do it for my grandma! She's 91 and she's incredible.

Please spread this far and wide! Cheers!

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Much as we wanted, we at Bitch were unable to attend the V to the Tenth celebration in New Orleans last week. So I asked Bitch friend Annie Lipsitz to write up a quick report-back. Here it is...

...

NOLA feminism's big, but not always easy

By Annie Lipsitz

On Saturday, we spent the morning at an ACORN affordable housing fair in the Ninth Ward and in the afternoon we went to the Superdome for Superlove and the V to the Tenth celebration. Over a week later, after leaving New Orleans, I've been struggling with what to write for this post. I so so so badly wanted to stick it to Eve and Oprah and Donna and Jane, and Victoria and her secret, but I must admit that I've come off my high horse. I'll say it; I think V to the Tenth was great. I think it celebrated women from the Gulf South who've had a helluva time putting their lives back together. Who am I to say these women didn't want a massage or a makeover after their years of hard work before and after the storm? It was the feel-good, celebratory, vagfest it set out to be. I do, however, still have some complaints.

Shortly after WAM, Andi and I made a quick trip to Philly. A very gracious Bitch supporter (with two incredibly charming dogs, photographed below of course) had offered to host a fundraising house party for us. An unfortunate snafu with our invite system meant that most of our Philly supporters didn't even know about it. But lucky for us, our host had lured a whole slew of her own friends and neighbors to come out, meet us, and hear about our work. 

I'm coming to the Midwest in May to do some fundraising/outreach! I'm really excited (hence my use of the exclamation point); it'll be my first trip back to my roots on behalf of this organization I love so dearly. It's like chocolate and peanut butter together.

So far, I'm coming to:

Detroit
Chicago
Milwaukee
Madison
Minneapolis

A lovely group of folks has organized a monthly Bitch-themed Think and Drink at the Florida Room, a local bar here in Portland. I had the pleasure of attending this month's meet-up, where we talked about everything from Hillary versus Obama, dogs versus cats, and cranky farm pigs and their geese friends (what can I say, I love me some animal stories?). They even fundraised for us! Apparently they heard the news that Briar likes her beer...