One Billion Rising Santa Cruz

Join us and one billion people around the world on Valentine's Day as we rise and dance in the name of freedom and equality for women and girls.  In conjunction with the One Billion Rising global events our Santa Cruz event will be a free, family-friendly, participatory experience for all women and girls and those who love them, to stand up against violence that affects 1 in 3 women and girls around the world.  Our goal is to educate, network, inspire, and activate going forward.

This free event will be held at the Museum of Art and History in downtown Santa Cruz on February 14th, 2013 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm and will be preceded at 5:00 by a candlelight walk along Pacific Avenue from the Memorial Plaza to the Museum. All proceeds will be donated to local participating organizations dedicated to the prevention of violence against women, on an individual, communal, and systematic level:  Survivors Healing Center, Walnut Avenue Women's Center, Women's Crisis Support~Defensa de Mujeres and Rising International.

Activities include a candlelight walk downtown, music by local groups and dancing.  The music and dancing provides an opportunity to celebrate the incredible resilience of the spirit, and is inspired by women turning terrible circumstances into monumental strength and mobilizing for change.

The organizers are volunteers who care about the health and well-being of all girls and women and of the planet.  Participants are encouraged to wear their respective ethnic costumes and dance their cultural dances to represent their heritage, and to symbolize women in solidarity around the world rising to end violence.

Sponsors include the Pacific Cookie Company, Verve Coffee Roasters, Buttercup Cakes, Vinocruz, Dirk Andrews Music, and Hutton Sherer.  Other support provided by UCSC's Student Health Outreach and Promotion (SHOP), the City of Santa Cruz Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Children, and the Santa Cruz County Women's Commission.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Kate Roberts at kate@thewiredwoman.com.