activism

Bzzzz Wordzzz

Kjerstin Johnson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:27:43 -0500

The Beehive Design Collective is wrapping up its read more

Grassroots Media Truth Tour

Debbie Rasmussen — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:19:30 -0400

The Grassroots Media Justice Tour is starting soon and might just be coming to your town. Check it out and spread the word! Bitch is proud to be a sponsor. In fact I was supposed to participate on the tour, but... well, as you all know, we need all hands on deck to sustain our beloved organization. I'm there in spirit...

Tour Highlights:

* Performances, multimedia, and interactive presentations from grassroots media makers.

* Workshops, trainings, and skill-shares.

Humanizing animal rights

Debbie Rasmussen — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:47:54 -0400

Several weeks back PM Press sent a video to Bitch for review. It sat in my inbox for weeks, because I knew would break my heart. It's called Behind the Mask: The story of people who risk everything to save animals. I finally watched it, partly out of obligation, partly because I wanted to share it with others. As you can probably guess, many moments are excruciating. Watching a researcher laugh at a monkey flinch and flail as he electrocutes her, watching a researcher pummel punch a beagle in the face... There are no words.

Action update on the birth-control-as-abortion thang

Lisa Jervis — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:33:48 -0400

NARAL's letter-writing link is here (goes to Congress). Planned Parenthood's is here (goes to the White House).

And, courtesy of commenter softpieces on yesterday's post, Department of Health and Human Services contact info:
Secretary Mike Leavitt's office: 202-690-7000

Drinking

Debbie Rasmussen — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:23:42 -0400

Alcohol is a depressant, right? And alcohol use and aggression/violence are related? But isn't it possible to use alcohol as a force of good, as a relaxant, as medicine? Don't we all deserve coping mechanisms?... And who are we to judge?

Warning: Downer alert

Give away rice and expand your vocab

Amy S. Williams — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:25:01 -0400

Now discovered - a new way to pass time at work, while expanding your vocabulary and giving away rice!

The Cold Shoulder

Kyla — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 02:00:00 -0500

There’s a new Bat in Gotham City. Like Bruce Wayne, she’s a rich socialite by day and a black-clad vigilante at night. And, also like Bruce Wayne, in both incarnations she’s apt to sweep the ladies off their feet. Kate Kane, the new, revamped Batwoman, isn’t the first lesbian character to debut in the DC Comics universe, but she might have the highest profile. Last June, DC Executive Director Dan DiDio issued a press release saying the move was intended “to get a better cross-section of our readership and the world.”

Egos Without Borders

Kyla — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 02:00:00 -0500

You can’t turn on the television or flip open a magazine these days without encountering an image of a star promoting his or her latest cause célèbre: Oprah handing out makeup kits at a women’s hospital in Ethiopia; Angelina Jolie visiting refugee camps (alone or with Brad Pitt); George Clooney zipping around in his tiny electric car and making speeches about Darfur; Jay-Z and Kofi Annan holding a press conference about global water issues; Madonna performing concerts against a backdrop image of aids orphans—and, more recently, bringing a motherless Malawian boy home with her after making a large donation to his orphanage.

Cornering the Market

Kyla — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:00:00 -0400

When Damali Ayo was 12, her parents sent her to day camp with 20 white kids. The kids were fascinated by the way Ayo’s hair maintained its texture in the pool. Even after she deliberately dunked her head in the water, they were convinced that black hair doesn’t get wet.

This experience stuck with her as she launched her art career in the predominantly white city of Portland, Oregon. Ayo often felt she was the token black person relied upon for opinions and advice precisely because of her skin color.

Scrambled Signals

Colin Sagan — Fri, 01 Jan 1999 02:00:00 -0500

When i was growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, it didn’t matter that my parents were some of the earliest feminist leaders on the East Coast, that I grew up watching their activism from up close, or that I saw them live (not just profess) equality between the sexes. It didn’t matter that I was a girl hooked on Ms. magazine from the very first year it was out, that I regularly flipped through my mom’s copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves, or that I ravenously collected Wonder Woman comic books.