Feature Archives

Thursday, March 8th is International Women's Day - a day on which women on all continents to come together to celebrate their various struggles for equality, justice, and peace. A number of events were held around the Bay Area and the Central Valley, including screenings of two different films about sweatshops, events that focused on struggles of women in Mexico, and an evening of poetry, music and dance with local activists and artists.

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. On Saturday, February 24th the 7:00pm Goddess Rosary service was in memory of Heather, at HerChurch, 678 Portola Drive, San Francisco. 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 a wake at El Rio ( Report). 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. She was an anti-racist and queer community organizer and activist.

Since 1998, the V-Day movement has worked to stop violence against women and girls worldwide. V-Day’s model of "empowerment philanthropy" has been a catalyst for activists, college students and anti-violence organizations to "transform their communities," in more than 112 countries to date. Between February 1st and March 8th, local activists will stage benefit productions of “The Vagina Monologues” to raise funds and awareness for local anti-violence groups, rape crisis centers, and women’s shelters in their communities. There will be many performances in California.

The Santa Cruz City Council passed a resolution on January 24 declaring Santa Cruz a pro-choice city. Cynthia Mathews, a Santa Cruz City Council member and co-founder of Planned Parenthood in Santa Cruz, co-sponsored the resolution dubbing Santa Cruz a pro-choice city. "...We thought it was important for the city to go on the record" says Mathews.

Saturday, January 20th, 2007 was the third annual day of protest against the "Walk for Life" in San Francisco. Bay Area residents celebrated the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized a woman's right to have an abortion in the US. The kick-off rally began at 10:30 a.m. at Pier 5. This was followed at 11:30 a.m. by a multi-issue counter-demonstration to the “Walk for Life” route along the Embarcadero waterfront which ended with a community rally at Aquatic Park. Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 · Audio · Report

The film "HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" takes an in-depth look at representations of manhood, sexism and homophobia in hip-hop culture. This documentary is a “loving critique” of certain "disturbing" developments in rap music culture from the point of view of a fan who challenges the art form’s representations of masculinity. The film was screened on January 9th at the San Francisco Public Library. That event included a screening of the short "Trendsetters or Fakers," and a panel discussion. The film was also shown on January 17th at the Oakland Museum of California. The evening included performances by Youth Movement Records and Youth Speaks, audio pieces produced by TEMPO, and discussion with filmmaker Byron Hurt and hip hop community activists.

Over a year ago, "Nicole," a 22-year-old Filipina, was gang raped and tossed aside by six U.S. Servicemen outside of a club in Subic Bay, Olongapo City (a former U.S. naval base site). On November 26th, GABRIELA Networkheld a vigil for “Nicole.” Photos People gathered at 4pm at the Dewey Memorial in SF's Union Square, to light candles for "Nicole" and others who have been brutalized by rape and other forms of violence against women. babae sf has called for an action in support of "Nicole" to be held from 5-6:30pm on Monday, November 27th at the SF Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate Ave. GABRIELA reports that the alleged perpetrators should receive a verdict in their trial this week.