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As the longest running festival of its kind, the UCSC Women of Color Film and Video Festival has sparked dialogue across communities – locally, nationally, and trans-nationally – by providing a platform for critical explorations at the intersections of race, nation, class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. The festival took place March 14th and 15th at UC Santa Cruz along with spoken word and hip-hop on Friday night at the Hide Gallery in Santa Cruz.
Saturday, March 8th is International Women's Day. The first IWD in the United States was observed in 1909, after a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. The day is observed in countries all over the world, with celebrations taking political, social, and cultural forms. In many cities around the world, people observe a Global Women's Strike. Some organizers focus on the situation of women in countries such as Iran.
The Women of Color Resource Center will present Speaking Fierce, an evening of art, spoken word, humor, and music, on Thursday night, March 6th, at 7:00pm at the First Congregational Church, at 2501 Harrison Street at 27th in Oakland. Speakers and performers will include presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, the Service Women's Action Network, hip-hop duo Climbing PoeTree, and electro soul singer Jennifer Johns. On Friday evening, the BFUU will screen "Tillie Olsen- A Heart in Action", about the life of the writer and activist, on Friday evening at 7:00pm in Berkeley.
On Saturday, a day of celebration, networking, and sharing will take place in Richmond. There will be a performance of "My Name is Rachel Corrie" in Santa Cruz on March 8th and 9th. On Saturday afternoon, Revolution Books will host a discussion of the movie "Juno"
On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, the United Nations Association of Santa Cruz County will celebrate International Women’s Day. The International Musuem of Women's 4th Annual Gala: Women, Power and Politics will take place on Saturday evening in San Francisco.
On Sunday morning, the Institute for the Critical Study of Society will host an event about the situation of women in Iran. On Friday, March 14th, Dance Brigade will present A Storm of Roses: Women Against War, a commemoration and protest against the 5th Anniversary of the War in Iraq, at 7:30pm at the Herbst Theater.
On March 14th and 15th, UC Santa Cruz's Kresge Town Hall will host the 14th Annual Women of Color Film and Video Festival. The Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco will host Luna Negra: A Night of Women's Live Art on Wednesday, March 26th.
Revolution Newspaper: Let Us Celebrate Our Fighting Unity on International Women’s Day | Revolution Newspaper: The Horrors for Women in the “Modern” World of Global Capitalism | Indybay's past coverage of IWD | International Women's Day .com | Global Women's Strike
On Friday January 18th, anti-choicers gathered for the first-ever "Standing Up For Life" conference/march in Oakland. This march placed its influence on the African American community of the East Bay. Dr. Alveda C. King and Dr. Clenard Childress, founder of Blackgenocide.org, an anti-choice website comparing abortion to the next holocaust, were the event's scheduled headliners. Comparisons with genocide are being used with misleading statistics to accuse abortion providers of racist practices.  Photos: 1 | 2 | 3
Standing Up for Life had planned to march past the Women's Choice Clinic, which is an avid supporter of all people of color, religions, genders, sizes and abilities. WCC focuses on community health empowerment, and it plans fight these accusations and stand up "against the patriarchal, RACIST, police state that 'would rather see us die than live healthy, free lives.'"
Those who support Oakland as a pro-choice community confronted the anti-choice tables that had been set up in Frank Ogawa Plaza at 14th and Broadway (near 12th St./City Center Bart). Participants brought their own pro-choice signs and confronted the content of the anti-choice messaging.
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27th. Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state. She was sworn in as Prime Minister in 1988 but was removed from office after only 20 months on grounds of alleged corruption. In 1993 Bhutto was re-elected but was again removed in 1996 on similar charges. In mid 2007, Bhutto appeared to have arranged a power sharing deal with the US backed dictator Pervez Musharraf, but the deal was scuttled when the Supreme Court appeared set to rule that Musharraf could not legally remain President. Musharraf declared emergency rule in December and replaced the Supreme Court. Bhutto was placed under house arrest and publicly denounced Musharraf, but refused to boycott elections set for January 2008.
December 17th marks the 5th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. The day calls attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers. The Sex Workers Outreach Project conceived of the event as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River murders in Seattle, Washington. This day empowers sex workers and their supporters to come together to organize against discrimination and to remember victims of violence. On Monday, December 17th, 2007 the Erotic Service Providers Union will be joining other sex worker rights organizations across the world for actions and vigils to call attention to hate crimes against sex workers, namely prostitutes.
Events on and around December 17th will call attention to trial proceedings against a Vancouver B.C. farmer who is charged with the murders of twenty-six street-based prostitutes who were killed on their jobs. They will also call attention to a recent ruling in by a female Philadelphia judge who dismissed charges of rape of a prostitute at gun point because she didn't believe that a sex worker could be raped.
The Sex Workers Outreach Project will hold a press conference on Monday on the steps of San Francisco City Hall (Polk side) at 11:30am. They will announce that the 5th Annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers will take place in Civic Center Plaza at 6pm. Names of those who have been victims of violence will be read, as they and their stories will be remembered with a candlelight vigil. A vigil in San Francisco was held on Thursday, December 13th to call attention to the unethical practice by a USF Ethics professor who videotaped massage parlor workers without their permission to promote his idea of forced labor, with no regard that he violated their privacy rights under the guise of rescuing workers.
List of events | ESPU announcement about 12/13 event | International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers | 5th International Day on myspace
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Chez Stella
Anti-choice "protesters" have reportedly been harassing, intimidating, threatening, and blocking patients, friends, family, and staff of reproductive health clinics in Oakland for years. The City of Oakland and East Bay clinics are uniting to support an ordinance protecting safe and unrestricted access to clinics. The city council will consider an Oakland Buffer Ordinance, which would define penalties for those who try to interfere with access to clinics, on Tuesday, December 4th at 6pm. Those who support safe access to reproductive health services will gather outside of Oakland City Hall for a 5pm rally.
More about the rally and city council hearing | Online Speaker Card for those who cannot attend
The National Women's History Project says, "At the behest of Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 the U.S. Congress designated August 26th as 'Women’s Equality Day.' The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York."
The 2nd Annual California Women's Equality Day Parade & Rally took place on Saturday, August 25th, beginning at Sacramento's Southside Park at 9:30 in the morning. Participants then rallied on the West Steps of the Capitol at 11am.
On Thursday, August 30th, Radical Women hosted an event to celebrate the anniversary of U.S. women's right to vote, at 7pm at the new New Valencia Hall, which is located at 625 Larkin Street, Suite 202 , San Francisco.
NWHP's Women's Equality Day Site | Women's Equality Parade | Radical Women
In late May, Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr announced that her office would not be filing any charges in the De Anza gang-rape case, in which an underage, unconscious young woman was assaulted by a group of De Anza College baseball players. At a press conference on Thursday, May 31st, community members gathered outside the DA's office in San Jose to demand justice for the survivor of this attack, who still wants to press charges against the offenders. Within a week's time, Carr said that community response and protest prompted her decision to submit the case to the state Attorney General's office for review. No timeline has been given for the review process, and several possibilities are left open: including that Jerry Brown's office will agree with Carr and leave the case closed with no charges.
Organizations such as California National Organization for Women (CA NOW), Stop Family Violence, and the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes organized the protest and press conference in response to the apparent closure of the case, in which a 17-year-old girl was gang raped at a party thrown by members of the De Anza College baseball team.
Katherine Redmond, founder and president of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, spoke about the local and the national outrage at the failure to investigate and prosecute this case. Redmond demands transparency in the investigation: since the DA's reasoning in refusing to bring charges is the lack of evidence, she wonders why the eyewitnesses to the crime (who were sober at the party) were not called to the grand jury to give their testimony. Redmond also discussed the public response to this kind of case and the rape culture that refuses to deal with the truth about rape. She said, "Rape is about the violent and degrading theft of a person's bodily integrity and personal autonomy."
 Photos and Audio | Stop Family Violence | California National Organization for Women | National Coalition Against Violent Athletes | Santa Clara County District Attorney's website
Santa Cruz City Hall Courtyard hosted a jean art exhibit on April 25th as part of Denim Day in Santa Cruz. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and wearing denim, "Wear Your Jeans", is part of an international protest of an Italian High Court decision to overturn a rape conviction because the victim was wearing jeans.
Denim Day is about challenging myth-based injustice. The Italian High Court decision (1999) to rule against the woman because she was wearing jeans (and therefore would have to have helped) was a hugely unpopular verdict that sparked a worldwide outcry and has now become an international symbol of myth-based injustice for sexual assault victims. Read More and View Photos
On Thursday, April
19th, at 5:00 p.m., a rally was held at Civic Center in San
Francisco to oppose the
Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. On April 18th, the Court voted to erode the
protections of Roe v. Wade, and thusly, to endanger women's health. In a
5-4
decision, the justices upheld the Federal Abortion Ban that was passed by
Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2003. The ban
is now federal law that will come into effect within a few
weeks. It will trump California's strong pro-choice laws and ban
certain abortions, without an exception to preserve the health
of the woman.
Video & Photos:
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Any doctor who violates this ban would face criminal
penalties of up to 2 years in prison, even if he/she was acting
to protect the woman's health. NARAL Pro-Choice California says, "Our
legislators need to know that California will not stand for
anti-choice politicians interfering in women's private medical
decisions." At the rally, pro-choice speakers will discuss the ban's
implications for California and the country as a whole.
NARAL Pro-Choice America states, "By upholding the Federal
Abortion Ban in its entirety, the
Supreme Court has not only supported an abortion ban with no
exception for a woman's health, it has given the green light to
the anti-choice movement's plan to outlaw abortion entirely." The ban
does not make an exception for the health of the woman who wishes to
terminate her pregnancy. In her dissenting opinion, pro-choice Justice
Ginsberg, who
called the majority opinion "alarming", writes "...[T]he Act and
the Court's defense of it cannot be understood as anything other
than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again
by this Court."
The Freedom of Choice Act is legislation
that would codify Roe v. Wade into law, and guarantee the right
to choose for generations to come. Pro-choice advocates are vowing that
in the 2008 election, they will help to elect a president will help to
defend Roe v. Wade. Read more
Decision in
Gonzales v. Carhart et al | Indybay's Past Coverage: 6/2/2004: 9th Circuit Says Partial Birth Abortions Legal | Right to abortion in US a controversial theme in 2003 | NARAL Pro-Choice America | National
Women's Law Center | National
Organization for Women
Alice Nuccio, a member of Local 510, the Sign and Display Workers Union, and an activist in the social justice community in the Bay Area, died of cancer on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007, at age 46. Her fellow activists and Local 510 members held a memorial service on Saturday March 24th at 6:30pm, at the St. Martin DePorres House, 225 Potrero Avenue (near 16th St.). Her life as an activist began with the anti-nuclear peace movement on the east coast in the late 1970s, then continued with her relationships, serving food with Food Not Bombs, working on AIDS issues with ACT UP, participating in the direct actions that shut down the WTO in Seattle, and organizing Anarchist Cafes. Alice fought for people to have more access to information about their illness, as well as for more holistic and less intrusive healing methods. Alice enjoyed community gardening, potlucks, bonfires at the beach, spending time with her cat, and collective musical experiences such as playing music with friends.
Heather MacAllister was "a fucking sexy fat wicked smart intense and funny fierce femme." She died February 13th in Portland, Oregon after battling ovarian cancer for several years. She was 38 years old. Memorial events were held all over the United States, including in San Francisco. On Saturday, February 24th the 7:00pm Goddess Rosary service was in memory of Heather, at HerChurch, 678 Portola Drive, SF. Heather had attended this church. On Sunday, February 25th, a Funeral/Mourning/Goodbye ritual was held at 1:30pm at Precita Park, corner of Folsom and Precita, followed by a procession up Precita to El Rio. A wake was held at El Rio at 3:00pm (  Report). She will be remembered by communities that she inspired and helped to create through her performances and community organizing. Heather requested that, in lieu of flowers,
donations be made to a trust, which will be used to help fat college students to afford fabulous fashions.
Ms. MacAllister was the founder and artistic director of Big Burlesque
and
the Fat Bottom Revue, the first burlesque act exclusively featuring
large-sized performers. Her performance name was "Reva Lucian." Tours included the midwest, Canada, and the east and west coasts. She had a
degree
in Anthropology and worked for several non-profit groups, such as Triangle Foundation, Michigan's statewide civil rights organization for the gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and allied communities. She was committed to anti-racism training. She also helped to inspire the
anti-size discrimination law that was passed in San Francisco in June 2000. At the Fat-Bottom Mama's Benefat, a fundraiser for her health expenses, Heather MacAllister told the crowd that she had learned how important it is for all of us "to learn to love the bodies we
live in, and to truly occupy them, and to take good, good care of them."
A community member wrote, "She made her body at once both sacred and profane- the way many women who work in the sex trades do and when you are fat and do this you are, let's not kid ourselves for a second- full of a kind of chutzpah that is remarkable. She was making a revolution that Emma would have delighted to dance at and perhaps might have gone on stage, in all her anarchist glory to shake a booty with- Heather made for that kind of space in the world. She did this with a consciousness that connected the struggles of trans people with fat people with people with disabilities as people who were challenging system of normalcy. She did it with style and she laughed as she did it... I am thinking that the world did not need another dead lesbian, who died far too young from cancer- another dead fierce, outrageous political femme."
Tribute to Heather MacAllister | Leonard Nimoy's photos of Heather and her dance troupe (Heather is on the right in the clothed picture) | Big Burlesque | Rainbow Network's Article About Heather
More about Fat Activism: Fat Liberation Archives | May 6th: International No-Diet Day | October 17th: Love Your Body Day | National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance | The Council on Weight and Size Discrimination
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