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She Breathes

Another world is possible…

Holding Our Own’s Statement on UAlbany Bus Students

Holding Our Own’s Statement on UAlbany Bus Students

Holding Our Own stands with the young women of color from UAlbany who reported an assault on a bus on January 30th, and who are now being prosecuted for false reporting and assault. It is our unwavering position in all instances of gender-based violence, sexual assault, and racist violence to support those who are systematically […]

Open Letter To UAlbany Bus Students – [#DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany]

Open Letter To UAlbany Bus Students – [#DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany]

From Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration’s People of Color Caucus. This is a cross-post from here: CAAMI.org Dear Alexis, Ariel, & Asha: While the circumstances compelling us to write this letter have no doubt been taxing to your well-being, we hope to find you all in good physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Late last month, […]

SAY HER NAME, Part II: Women, Violence, and Incarceration

SAY HER NAME, Part II: Women, Violence, and Incarceration

SAY HER NAME, Part II: Women, Violence, and Incarceration (Part I is here) “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is my own government.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967 “I am convicted of murdering my ex-husband who abused me for years. I have done 33 years of my 25-to-life sentence. I am […]

Why We Need a Black Lives Matter Movement

Why We Need a Black Lives Matter Movement

Letter to the Editor Written in Response to Charlie’s Angle: Black lives don’t need movement, published in The Saratogian, and the Troy Record, Jan 31, 2016 Saratogian Article We were shocked and offended by the Opinion piece written by Charlie Kraebel denying the need for the Black Lives Matter movement. As managing editor of The […]

Say Her Name: Women, Mass Incarceration, and Violence – Part I

Say Her Name: Women, Mass Incarceration, and Violence – Part I

Fewer than 5% of those incarcerated in the prisons of New York State are women. Therefore, our movement for justice in the criminal justice system should devote less than 5% of its time, energy, and resources to issues of incarceration and women — right? Wrong. But it often seems like that’s what we do. Here […]

adaku utah: healing resources to support us as we rise up

adaku utah: healing resources to support us as we rise up

<3 “being oppressed in this world means endlessly having one’s heart break on many fronts simultaneously — yet a healed heart that reopens again and again after it has been broken is larger, stronger, and takes on the lessons of resilience.” ~ blkcowrie http://blkcowrie.wordpress.com <3 <3 “Contributed with fierce, magnanimous Black love from fellow Black healers […]

interstitial stitching: checkin’ for real womanist solidarity with trans kin

interstitial stitching: checkin’ for real womanist solidarity with trans kin

from genesissy & on the eighth day, God said let there be fierce & that’s the story about the first snap, the hand’s humble attempt at thunder, a small sky troubled by attitude // & on the ninth day, God said Bitch, werk & Adam learned to duck walk, dip, pose, death drop, Eve became […]

alla dem gag at serena’s brilliance & resilience

alla dem gag at serena’s brilliance & resilience

Serena-goddess, Serena-sis, please know i am still in a ruby red rage cloud over the racist, misogynistic, BESTIAL treatment you received on July 11, 2015 at the hands of The New York Times. fresh off the court where you left your latest historic notch, i can’t imagine how you must have felt to have to […]

intersectionality: weaving many roots into one tree

intersectionality: weaving many roots into one tree

a natural outgrowth of the groundbreaking Black feminism of the Combahee River Collective et.al. in the 1980s, intersectionality is a 30-year old concept developed by Kimberle Crenshaw and shared by many activists and organizers across and within multiple contemporary movements. i tend to think of it as the ability to think, walk, and chew gum […]

Police Surveillance & “anti-trafficking”: rally Monday March 16

Police Surveillance & “anti-trafficking”: rally Monday March 16

Letter to the Community: On Monday, March 16, NOW NYC will be coming to Albany to rally in support of the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act (TVPJA). TVPJA has widespread support from the feminist community, but has raised concerns as it grants more authority to the police and criminal justice system– and at the […]

Help send a Capital Region Delegation to INCITE!

Help send a Capital Region Delegation to INCITE!

Black History Month 2015

Black History Month 2015

Within the month of February comes a few dates that are considered to be National holidays; whether it’s about love, dead white men, a big rodent who determine the weather to come, or most recently the viewing of a sport that only Americans understand, but there’s only one month that celebrates the memory, the achievement, […]

Dear Queers:  A love letter from Michigan

Dear Queers: A love letter from Michigan

“A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”  Maya Angelou “The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.”  Adrienne Rich “Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you […]

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #7: DJ Goldee Dust

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #7: DJ Goldee Dust

The seventh  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets! ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #7: DJ GOLDEE DUST Andrea has always been fascinated with creating soundtracks and setting a mood for any environment. She […]

LadyFest–the Artist Behind the Curtain–Sean,aka bell’s roar

LadyFest–the Artist Behind the Curtain–Sean,aka bell’s roar

The tenth  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets! Ladyfest Upstate is brought to us by the visionary artist, Sean Desiree. When Sean is not organizing radical cultural events, she is […]

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #8:FREE CAKE FOR EVERY CREATURE

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #8:FREE CAKE FOR EVERY CREATURE

The eighth in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets! ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #8: FREE CAKE FOR EVERY CREATURE Free Cake For Every Creature is the project of Saratoga Springs-based Katie Bennett, who […]

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #6: Amani Olugbala

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #6: Amani Olugbala

The sixth  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets!   ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #6: AMANI OLUGBALA A radical of the heart and pacifist of the mind, Amani spends much of her time […]

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #5: Sweet Chocolate

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #5: Sweet Chocolate

The fifth  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets!   ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #5: SWEET CHOCOLATE Niroma Johnson a New York Native, resident of Albany, NY. When she appeared on the Amateur […]

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #4: Moor Mother Goddess

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #4: Moor Mother Goddess

The fourth in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets!     ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #4: MOOR MOTHER GODDESS Moor mother goddess is a musician, beat maker, event curator, poet,writer, and workshop facilitator […]

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #3: Evan Greer

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #3: Evan Greer

The third  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets!   ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #3: EVAN GREER Evan Greer is a radical genderqueer singer/songwriter, parent, and community organizer based in Boston. (S)he writes […]

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #2: CIHUATL CE

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #2: CIHUATL CE

The second  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets!   ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #2: CIHUATL CE Back again for the 2nd year, Cihuatl Ce has been spitting truth to power in the […]

Lady Fest Artist Spotlight #1: GARMIN

Lady Fest Artist Spotlight #1: GARMIN

The first in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate! For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page For the Schedule of Events Get Tickets! ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #1: GARMIN right here. be here now. is an installation that exists somewhere between performance and social practice. The project […]

Everything Lady Fest!

Everything Lady Fest!

Get Tickets to LadyFest Upstate Festival! Saturday-Sunday, November 22  1pm-1am At the Low Beat 335 Central Avenue, Albany NY  Upstate LadyFest On Facebook LadyFest Upstate is a 1 day music and arts festival featuring women-identified, trans and gender nonconforming artists. This is its 2nd year in Albany and it’s not to be missed! It’s all […]

Caterpillar For Rachel Corrie

Caterpillar For Rachel Corrie

Caterpillar For Rachel Corrie by Victorio Reyes Sometimes I sit down to dinner and I imagine that you’re sitting with me. We’re talking about the history of capitalism and the connections between Marx and Adam Smith. My partner chimes in about the sexist and Euro-centric implications of such discussions.        We nod in agreement. You […]

Cutting the Umbilical Cord: My Departure from the Mainstream Movement for Reproductive Rights

Cutting the Umbilical Cord: My Departure from the Mainstream Movement for Reproductive Rights

My upcoming birthday brings with the usual set of mixed emotions: happiness as I reflect on all that filled this last year, and all that may be in next; trepidation, as I recognize that the steps I have left to walk have become fewer. This year, however, it carries a greater weight, as I think […]

Join Us at the Annual Picnic!

Join Us at the Annual Picnic!

Saturday, August 30th at 12 noon Lyon’s Lake, Nassau Bring the whole family! We provide the music, the beautiful location, the paper products, beverages and protein — hamburgers, hotdogs, veggie burgers, etc. You bring fruit or a dessert to share with friends and any extras you like. Come as early as 12pm to claim your […]

The Newest Chapter in the “War on Drugs”: The Pregnancy Criminalization Law (SB 1391)

The Newest Chapter in the “War on Drugs”: The Pregnancy Criminalization Law (SB 1391)

On Tuesday, April 29th, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, signed into law the first law in the United States that authorizes the arrest and incarceration of women who use drugs while pregnant. Women in Tennessee can now be prosecuted for assault if they take a narcotic drug while pregnant and the baby is born addicted, is […]

Very Young Girls–Movie Screening and Discussion

Very Young Girls–Movie Screening and Discussion

  “Very Young Girls”: A Film and Discussion Friday, May 23rd, 7pm at the WB, 373 Central Avenue, Albany On Facebook Sponsored by Holding Our Own,  NYS Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Patty’s Place The screening will be followed by a facilitated discussion. Very Young Girls is an expose of human trafficking that follows thirteen […]

Spotlight on Barbara Sutton

Spotlight on Barbara Sutton

In an effort to give Holding Our Own network members an opportunity to get to know each other just a little better, we will be spotlighting a couple of local feminists each month. We hope that this will help give you more opportunities to connect, collaborate and leverage your resources. Do you want to be next, […]

Spotlight on Jessica Pino

Spotlight on Jessica Pino

In an effort to give Holding Our Own’s network members an opportunity to get to know each other just a little better, we will be spotlighting a couple of local feminists each month. We hope that this will help give you more opportunities to connect, collaborate and leverage your resources. Do you want to be next, or […]

Albany Casino Public Input Opportunities

Albany Casino Public Input Opportunities

For those of you who have been following this story, it isn’t news that the City of Albany is one of several possibilities for the siting of a new casino. We have gathered information from several different sources (thanks go out to Richard Conti, 6th Ward Council Member, Cathy Fahey, 7th Ward Council Member, and […]

Casino in Albany: Yay or Nay?

Casino in Albany: Yay or Nay?

Note: This post will be followed quickly by another detailing the schedule of opportunities for public input (that we know about). There has been surprisingly little public debate to date over the proposition of a new casino in the Albany area considering the huge impact it will have on the community.  The proposal for the […]

Why we should care about college education programs for prisoners

Why we should care about college education programs for prisoners

Prison education programs, particularly those that provide college-level courses are important to everyone, not just the prisoners who participate in them. Governor Cuomo’s proposed initiative to fund – with state money – college programs in 10 prisons has sparked some very interesting dialogue surrounding this topic. Although it is looking like the program will not […]

Spotlight on Blue Carreker

Spotlight on Blue Carreker

In an effort to give Holding Our Own’s network members an opportunity to get to know each other just a little better, we will be spotlighting a couple of local feminists each month. We hope that this will help give you more opportunities to connect, collaborate and leverage your resources. Do you want to be next, or […]

Women and Incarceration: Letter-Writing as Resistance

Women and Incarceration: Letter-Writing as Resistance

“You asked, ‘What’s on your mind today?’ The whole time I’ve been in prison not one person has asked me that question. Thank you. …I’m still alive and it doesn’t matter how many times I have fallen. It’s how many times I get back up that counts.” The quote above is taken from a letter […]

In Memory of Adrienne Rich

In Memory of Adrienne Rich

Victorio Reyes is a poet and Executive Director of the The Social Justice Center of Albany. Three years ago, I decided to return to school to pursue an MFA in creative writing. As a poet, who came from the spoken word and Hip Hop schools, I was surprised by how many corners of the literary […]

communityLAB: community organizing is for everyone

communityLAB: community organizing is for everyone

There’s a new and exciting project brewing in the Capital Region called communityLAB (Leadership and Action Building), which is about offering community organizing training, for everyone. We want to build leaders in every neighborhood, starting with our Troy Fellows Project. Our goal is to help build grassroots power and hope in the neighborhoods of the […]

Towards Eliminating the Wedge Part 2: Continuing the Conversation on Prison Justice and Gender-based Violence

Towards Eliminating the Wedge Part 2: Continuing the Conversation on Prison Justice and Gender-based Violence

Join in the conversation. We began this dialogue on November 21st, 2013. This is part 2, but don’t hesitate to join in! RSVP on Facebook Download, print or share the flyer There is a conflict between the mainstream movement to eliminate gender-based violence and the movement to end mass incarceration. But here are some basic […]

Spotlight on Victoria Kereszi

Spotlight on Victoria Kereszi

In an effort to give Holding Our Own’s network members an opportunity to get to know each other just a little better, we will be spotlighting a couple of our members each month. We hope that this will help provide you with more opportunities to connect, collaborate and leverage your resources. Do you want to be next, […]

Listen to What I Have to Say: Why Teenage Feminists are Important

Listen to What I Have to Say: Why Teenage Feminists are Important

Every so often when I have a conversation with girls I know and feminism comes up, they’ll say something along the lines of “I don’t need feminism,” or “feminism isn’t relevant.” This obviously upsets me, not just because something I’m passionate about has pretty much been put down, but because of the fact that young […]

Spotlight on Chrys Ballerano

Spotlight on Chrys Ballerano

In an effort to give Holding Our Own’s network members an opportunity to get to know each other just a little better, we will be spotlighting a couple of our members each month. We hope that this will help provide you with more opportunities to connect, collaborate and leverage your resources. Do you want to be next, […]

Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration

Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014 at 6:30pm The Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement: Solitary Confinement in New York and the Statewide Movement to Challenge It at the Social Justice Center 33 Central Avenue, Albany, NY Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration (CAAMI) would like to invite you to join them for a presentation provided by The […]

A Kiss for Gabriela: A Film and Discussion

A Kiss for Gabriela: A Film and Discussion

Friday, March 7th at 7pm @ the WB, 373 Central Avenue Albany, NY Come join Holding Our Own on Friday, March 7th at 7:00 pm at The Women’s Building, 373 Central Avenue location for a screening of the documentary, “A Kiss for Gabriela.”  Following the film there will be a thought-provoking, open discussion about sex […]

Sing Your Heart Out for the Love of HOO!

Sing Your Heart Out for the Love of HOO!

Sing Your Heart Out for the Love of HOO! a karaoke fundraiser Thursday, February 20th, 8pm at McGeary’s Come join Holding Our Own for a fun night of pub grub & shameless singing! Not only will you get to show off your inner Celine Dion, you’ll also have a chance to indulge in one-of-a-kind drink […]

Finding Feminism in the Dominican Republic

Finding Feminism in the Dominican Republic

Over the course of my fifteen-day community service trip in the Dominican Republic, a recurring theme was the insistence that women take special precautions due to the country’s gender dynamics. “When two women are dancing together in the club,” we were told, “it means they are asking for a man to come take them.” Similarly, we […]

Call to Action

Call to Action

During the past week couple of weeks, the media noted and had much to say about the 50th Anniversary of the ‘War on Poverty’. Here’s an article from the LA Times: LA Times New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/opinion/kristof-progress-in-the-war-on-poverty.html And the Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/what-america-won-in-the-war-on-poverty/283006/ Many of the opinions expressed and statistics quoted are at odds with each other. […]

Wednesday Rant–the “War on Christmas”

Wednesday Rant–the “War on Christmas”

Another holiday season has come and gone, but even a few days into this new year I can’t help but be haunted by something that’s been bugging me for the past few months: The War on Christmas. Basically, some extremely religious people are convinced that the world is out to end the Christmas holiday. The […]

Port of Albany and more…

Port of Albany and more…

Note: This post is a follow up to Grace Nichols’ post yesterday, “Environmental Defense.”  As promised, we will share links and resource information on the Albany Port issues. On Monday night, January 6th I attended a meeting of the Albany Common Council. My main reason for going was that I had heard via social media […]

Environmental Defense by Grace Nichols

Environmental Defense by Grace Nichols

Editor’s Note: We will post additional resources, references and article links in a separate post tomorrow, Wednesday,  January 8th. Please feel free to comment (be patient, all comments are moderated and you must be logged in to comment) or log in and Submit a Post of your own on this issue. There are numerous threats […]

Hidden injustice

Hidden injustice

Every year in New York State hundreds of people sign over their homes in order to receive welfare assistance. This is a little known requirement, since most people who have homes do not receive welfare benefits, and those that do, certainly do not want to talk about it. I have had first hand experience with […]

Minus Pause by Doreen Perrine

Minus Pause by Doreen Perrine

Menopause meets me, pistols drawn and gunning for a showdown, in the middle ground of life. I prefer to mount my horse, gallop in reverse, slam on the brakes, and stop the clock. Mix metaphors and juggle words tossed into thin air. Whatever does the trick. Meno? Minus? Hopefully not a Minotaur charging through the […]

Ending Violence Against Sex Workers

Ending Violence Against Sex Workers

December 17th, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, was created to address the ubiquity of crimes against this marginalized population that too often go ignored. Following the statements by the “Green River Killer” in Seattle, Washington, who claimed to have chosen sex workers as his target because he knew too few people would […]

Food Cuts as Violence Against Women

Food Cuts as Violence Against Women

Hunger and Human Rights: Budget Cutbacks as Violence against Women By Cody Cabrera December 10, 2013 The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence—a call to action to raise awareness of the multi-faceted forms of violence women face in the context of  human rights—ends today on International Human Rights Day.  As I reflect on today […]

Cathy Rojas responds with her thoughts on gender violence

Cathy Rojas responds with her thoughts on gender violence

Overcoming trans* and gender-based oppression by Jac Mautner

Overcoming trans* and gender-based oppression by Jac Mautner

Jac Mautner is an activist and member of Women Organized to Resist and Defend (WORD) – a grassroots women’s rights organization. She has worked on a wide number of campaigns and actions including those for queer and trans liberation, for women’s rights, and against police brutality. Violence towards trans and gender non-conforming people is pervasive […]

Where have all the respectable-boys gone?

Where have all the respectable-boys gone?

Over the course of the past few months I started wondering why it seems that sexism has taken a step in the wrong direction in recent years. Why does it seem that women are spending way too much time and money trying to look good and attract men, and men are taking women less seriously? […]

State Terrorism and Violence Against Women

State Terrorism and Violence Against Women

By Barbara Sutton The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence symbolically link the multiple forms of violence that women around the world experience (November 25) with the question of human rights (December 10). In Argentina, my country of origin, the specter of human rights abuses has particular connotations, reminding of a time in which […]

Reimagining the ‘John’

Reimagining the ‘John’

Victim-blaming has become a catchphrase among feminists of all schools of thought, addressing the repercussions of burdening people (usually women) with the responsibility of remaining unharmed by others. An example of this can be found in the dialogue of Zerlina Maxwell, who earlier this year spoke out against the right-wingers suddenly ‘taking a stand’ against […]

Towards Eliminating the Wedge: a Conversation on Prison Justice and Gender-based Violence

Towards Eliminating the Wedge: a Conversation on Prison Justice and Gender-based Violence

  Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 6pm 1199 SEIU, 155 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY Join in the conversation. There is a conflict between the mainstream movement to eliminate gender-based violence and the movement to end mass incarceration. But here are some basic truths: *We need to be safe from gender-based violence, *Current public policy about […]

Fabulous Feminists 2013 Awards Bash–Tickets Now Available!

Fabulous Feminists 2013 Awards Bash–Tickets Now Available!

Sell Tickets Online through Eventbrite

Nominate a Fabulous Feminist!

Nominate a Fabulous Feminist!

Holding Our Own and the Women’s Building are again jointly celebrating women’s community building and feminist social change organizing in the Capital Region. We invite you to nominate your local feminist heroes, visionaries, builders, pillars of resistance and community, etc.!  Read more on this year’s awards categories here. Celebrate with us on Saturday, December 7th […]

Malalai Joya Speaking in Albany

Malalai Joya Speaking in Albany

Tomorrow Night! Malalai Joya Renowned Afghan Activist and Author Wednesday, October 9th at 7pm Emerson Hall, FUUSA, 405 Washington Ave, Albany Co-sponsored by Women Against War, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace and Holding Our Own along with many others (see flyer). By special arrangement, free parking will be available in the U Albany Hawley lot, across […]

On Syria by Fatma Ozdemir

On Syria by Fatma Ozdemir

I assume that everyone agrees that there must be something to do for Syrian people. However, the solution should not be ‘bombing’ or killing more and more people to stop the current civil war. This sounds to me as weird as saying that the U.S. has to kill people in Syria just because Syrians kill […]

An Amazing and Historic Week by Sheila Healy

An Amazing and Historic Week by Sheila Healy

What an amazing and historic week just transpired. Monday, the nation marked Women’s Equality Day with the commemoration of the passage 93 years ago of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote. It’s hard to believe today that women’s enfranchisement didn’t occur until the early part of the 20th century. […]

Chelsea Manning, Identity Control & Government Violence by Drew Cordes

Chelsea Manning, Identity Control & Government Violence by Drew Cordes

This article re-posted from the Bilerico Project with the permission of the author. “Discipline” may be identified neither with an institution nor with an apparatus; it is a type of power, a modality for its exercise, comprising a whole set of instruments, techniques, procedures, levels of application, targets; … an essential instrument for a particular […]

Watch the Albany City Mayoral Candidate Forum

Watch the Albany City Mayoral Candidate Forum

Thanks to Seantel Chamberlain for the video.

Listen in on Albany City Mayoral Candidate Forum

Listen in on Albany City Mayoral Candidate Forum

If you missed the forum on Wednesday, July 24th at the Rockefeller Institute, you can listen to the unedited audio here. We are still waiting on the video. We will add it in a new post as soon as possible.

Albany City Mayoral Candidate Forum

Albany City Mayoral Candidate Forum

Albany City Mayoral Candidate Forum Wednesday, July 24th at 7pm RSVP on Facebook Rockefeller Institute of Government 411 State Street, Albany NY This past election cycle, it seemed every politician wanted to be seen as the “pro-woman” candidate. So what does it mean to be a “pro-woman” candidate? The purpose of these forums, the second […]

Listen in on the Albany County Family Court Candidate Forum

Listen in on the Albany County Family Court Candidate Forum

If you weren’t able to come to the Albany County Family Court Judge Candidate Forum on Thursday last week, you can listen in to the recording here. Hope you will join us on Wednesday, July 24th at 7pm at the Rockefeller Institute, 411 State Street, Albany for the City of Albany Mayoral Candidates Forum!

trayvon martin/lynne stewart

trayvon martin/lynne stewart

trayvon martin/lynne stewart (naomi)   they talk of terror they who have all the drones but to kill you trayvon is not a crime they call it the land of the free but we the 2.3 million unfree, what land do we live in? terror, lynne, is when you aid and abet the escape of […]

What does it mean to be a “pro-woman” candidate?

What does it mean to be a “pro-woman” candidate?

Albany County Family Court Judge Candidate Forum Thursday, July 18th at 7pm RSVP on Facebook City of Albany Mayoral Candidate Forum Wednesday, July 24th at 7pm RSVP on Facebook Both events held at: Rockefeller Institute of Government 411 State Street, Albany NY This past election cycle, it seemed every politician wanted to be seen as […]

Celebrating DOMA, forgetting all else, same stuff, different decade

Celebrating DOMA, forgetting all else, same stuff, different decade

I really wish that, in the midst of all the rejoicing about DOMA being overturned, the local LGBT community leadership had paused for just a second to also acknowledge that the Supreme Court also issued some decisions disastrous to the civil rights of people of color and women by gutting the Voting Rights Act and […]

Close Guantanamo by Mabel Leon

Close Guantanamo by Mabel Leon

  Our Constitution is based on simple and powerful principles of justice and law as in due Process( Amendment 5 ), right to a speedy trial(Amendment 6) and no cruel or unusual punishment(Amendment 8). Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions guarantees that detainees  be treated humanely and prohibits cruel treatment and torture. Guantanamo prison violates […]

How Are Our Struggles Related?

How Are Our Struggles Related?

Address to May Day Rally Academy Park, Albany, NY May 1, 2013 How Are Our Struggles Related? People often talk about the intersection of oppressions. I propose that it is the intersections of violence that reveal the oppressed and best show how our struggles are the same. In the past five months the United States […]

Register Now for Holding Our Own’s Network Event!

Register Now for Holding Our Own’s Network Event!

Sell Tickets through Eventbrite

Mother Earth by Doreen Perrine

Mother Earth by Doreen Perrine

A few years back, I watched a movie, the title of which I can no longer recall, about a physicist who quit the field. But I’ve never forgotten the movie’s heartfelt message. The physicist moved to an island, a quiet, nearly deserted, place beside the sea, to raise her only child, a daughter. A male […]

Solidarity Fast with Guantanamo Prisoners

Solidarity Fast with Guantanamo Prisoners

Online Ticketing for Fast for Justice for Guantanamo Detainees powered by Eventbrite

Ladyfest Schedule of Events

Ladyfest Schedule of Events

What is Ladyfest you ask? Ladyfest is a community based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for women identified, trans, gender queer and gender nonconforming artists. For the first time, local organizers are bringing Ladyfest to us here in the Capital Region! Below is the schedule of events. For more information go to www.ladyfestupstate.com You […]

Ladyfest is What’s Happening this Weekend!

Ladyfest is What’s Happening this Weekend!

“she, until then” by blkcowrie

“she, until then” by blkcowrie

(***trigger warning: references to sexual violence) * she envies spider webs their transparency, forever moist.  their embrace of gaps, corners and the forgotten, held within a network of countless delicate fingers.  strong enough to hold those that spun them, immune to their paralyzing poisons.  she covets that kind of love. she longs for this love, and […]

“irrigation” by blkcowrie

“irrigation” by blkcowrie

i was always absent in your eyes but you were caught in mine lodged between lid & sclera gathering salt. wasn’t it penance enough that holding you choked my blood? did you have to scald my cheeks as you left?   http://blkcowrie.wordpress.com/

“powdered milk” by blkcowrie

“powdered milk” by blkcowrie

unlike the phoenix, fertilized by fire or the iguana, ever cloaked in awaiting armor our shorn leavings won’t allow human beings to reemerge * that this is now without exception is too much for me to bear * my aries mother insists that her next passage be by fire thus, heralded by a blaze that will only douse […]

“‘so says naomi’ haiku” by blkcowrie

“‘so says naomi’ haiku” by blkcowrie

life is stringed lessons leading to unplucked questions: fiddle.     open.     test.   http://blkcowrie.wordpress.com/

“for g.m.” by blkcowrie

“for g.m.” by blkcowrie

so many doors you wedged to find me first sex to first love to shared home (to left on my own) you made me feel newly desirable and powerful. corazón, no longer tentative with every early creak, i danced to your bomba drum while, slowly, over our years your fingers spanned my chest     gripped its grooves […]

Let’s Talk About Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Let’s Talk About Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Okay, personally, I hadn’t given much thought to the legalization of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in New York State.  What does that have to do with me? I am not going to watch it. I am not going to let my three boys participate in it any more than I would allow them to participate […]

Letting Women Decide

Letting Women Decide

As a U Albany student and a young women entering her twenties, I have been paying close attention to the recent laws passed in Arkansas and North Dakota that would ban abortions as early as twelve weeks and even six weeks respectively. At the same time I am getting involved and excited as the number […]

On Her Shoulders, Amelia Whalen

On Her Shoulders, Amelia Whalen

On Her Shoulders—a valuable multimedia presentation to inspire unity and awareness By Amelia Whalen I was invited to meet Noelle Gentile last month when she was auditioning women for roles in her upcoming theater project. When I showed up to audition, all I knew about the project was it involved female veterans, and all I […]

Throw Shaving to the Wind

Throw Shaving to the Wind

The weather is warming up, the birds are dancing and chirping, the snow has finally melted and the sun is starting to shine brighter. All of this can mean only one thing: Summer is just around the corner. Swimming, hiking, biking, warm sunny days, thunderstorms, flowers, green grass, and driving with the windows down are […]

Honest Weight Food Co-op Review, Gail Halestone

Honest Weight Food Co-op Review, Gail Halestone

The cornerstone to any good diet is fresh ingredients to make delicious and nutritious meals, and the important thing is to get them from a trusted source where you can not only get more bang for your buck, but also answers to any questions you my have. When it comes to being vegan, many people […]

Rape and Mass Incarceration: Part 2, Naomi Jaffe

Rape and Mass Incarceration: Part 2, Naomi Jaffe

Note: In response to the (apparently male) poster who suggested castration for rapists: men’s preoccupation with revenge, punishment, and violence is the problem, not the solution. One more time: violence is the problem. “The master’s tools can never dismantle the master’s house.” (Audre Lorde) Also, thank you to the commenter who called on feminists to […]

Adventures in Teaching Women’s History, Sean Heather McGraw

Adventures in Teaching Women’s History, Sean Heather McGraw

    Adventures in Teaching Women’s History By Sean Heather McGraw   I am a European history adjunct lecturer at several local colleges and as part of my introductory Western Civilization classes I teach them about the waves of 19th and 20th century feminism. I teach my students about the progress and activities made by […]

No One Asks

No One Asks

  I never pictured myself wedding-planning. It never occurred to me that I might find someone I liked enough or had open enough communication with that I would want to make such a commitment. I never leafed through bridal magazines or designated my middle-school friends as future bridesmaids, and you would be hard pressed to […]

Rape and Mass Incarceration: the connection, Naomi Jaffe

Rape and Mass Incarceration: the connection, Naomi Jaffe

The conversation in our feminist and justice movements about violence against women and the conversation about mass incarceration seem to be happening in separate spaces, anti-sexism and anti-racism spaces respectively. The experiences and voices of women of color make it clear that sexism and racism are intersecting oppressions,  but how do they intersect, in this […]

Undocumented Students Will Keep Fighting for Education Equity (and We Should, too), Angelica Clarke

Undocumented Students Will Keep Fighting for Education Equity (and We Should, too), Angelica Clarke

Across New York, people are demanding policy changes to improve the lives of undocumented immigrants. On Tuesday, March 19, that demand rang in Governor Cuomo’s halls from New York City to Albany. The New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC) gathered more than a hundred students, young people and allies to demand NY State pass […]

Passivity-An Invisible and Pervasive Thief, Lacy O’Brien

Passivity-An Invisible and Pervasive Thief, Lacy O’Brien

What’s difficult about communication is that most of the messages we receive are delivered through the words we do not speak.  Passivity is an invisible and pervasive thief, which robs us of a direct route to progress.  Sometimes, no- I think most of the time, we leave information out of our dialogue on purpose because […]

“imperfect perfect” by blkcowrie

“imperfect perfect” by blkcowrie

  they say: – Martin was a true philanderer – Bob and Marvin, too – Bayard was know to dilly-dangle bits of sons (& not just men) – Gil stitched needles like Trane when American lies were too much – Ntozake & Michelle W. drank away the vitriol over their truths – Billie would have said that’s how she softened the lies – Josephine and Nina left America to survive the […]

Poverty, Women and World Hunger

Poverty, Women and World Hunger

  By Joanne Kathleen Farrell When I think of spring I think of a time for rebirth. A time for seeding crops and clearing fields. I enjoy planting bulbs that will bring colorful flowers in the sunny days to come. For many around the world that life would be a fantasy. It is hard to […]

Badass Feminist Dilemma

Badass Feminist Dilemma

The siren has called.  I have been invited; I have a place at the table.  We are coming together to form our first outrageous, courageous, open mouth questioning and analysis of the patriarchal, colonizing racist and homophobic oppression dialogue and my question is, what do you wear to a badass feminist blog meeting? In my […]

“genesis 2: fictive ether” by blkcowrie

“genesis 2: fictive ether” by blkcowrie

my dream is fading faster than i can move this pen: * a wild child, not feral who runs into rooms laughing she talks back to adults pulls off yellow tablecloth to use as cape sending a few items flying to the floor and screams loud at potential violators lil pretty Black girl, curious, inquisitive […]

“genesis 1: sojourns” by blkcowrie

“genesis 1: sojourns” by blkcowrie

  x years after sojourner’s question       hung, in air met with nervous applause by white women and quiet murmurs by Black men Black women were seen as seals barking our selves to others’ jarred amusements noisy clappers       tossed the occasional dead fish never silent, never nourished, never understood: “ain’t […]

Report Back on “The Politics of Immigration,” Oakwood Community Center, Troy

Report Back on “The Politics of Immigration,” Oakwood Community Center, Troy

Immigration: A Growing Humanitarian Crisis On Friday, February 15, 2013 Jane Guskin, author of The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers, was invited to speak at the James Connolly Forum in Troy. The forum was held at the Oakwood Community Center and co-sponsored by the Troy Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO and Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace. […]

X’s to O’s Vegan Bakery Review

X’s to O’s Vegan Bakery Review

Ever had the experience of eating a delicious meal out with friends, and when it comes time for dessert, the menu is compiled completely of things you can’t eat? I have, because I’m vegan. I am vegan because I love animals, my body, and the planet. Any vegan can tell you that even when you […]

Guest Post: Reflections on ‘Half the Sky’

Guest Post: Reflections on ‘Half the Sky’

Tonight, I attended a community conversation held by the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society, WMHT, and Holding Our Own. The topic was multifaceted and centered around human rights violations that by the nature of biology and culture are mainly perpetrated against women around the world. If you haven’t seen the PBS documentary […]

Half the Sky, Continue the Conversation

Half the Sky, Continue the Conversation

Did you attend tonight’s Salon Screening? See the film? What are your thoughts? Reactions? Rants? Inspirations? Kick off the conversation.

International Women’s Day by Sean Heather McGraw

International Women’s Day by Sean Heather McGraw

Holding Our Own has decided to launch our new blog on the annual International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8. The history of International Women’s Day is intertwined with the history of efforts to obtain suffrage for women as well as socialist party agitation to achieve fair conditions for workers in the years […]

“women’s work” (for asmaa mahfouz* and israa abdel-fattah**) by blkcowrie

“women’s work” (for asmaa mahfouz* and israa abdel-fattah**) by blkcowrie

  “habibti?”  “yes, mama?” “come.” she checks my hijab for glimpses, and says that we are to walk the streets with respect. we are to buy groceries, not sell ourselves. “today,” she adds, “we do women’s work.” * at the market, she pounds fruit for their secrets and examines vegetables for their lies. i am […]

Badass Feminist Blog Report Back

Badass Feminist Blog Report Back

Want to catch up on what happened at the 1st meeting to organize a local feminist blog? Check out the notes here. We will post the date for the next meeting shortly. You can plug in whenever you like! 1st Badass Feminist Blog Organizing Meeting Minutes

Half the Sky

Half the Sky

Salon Screening and Discussion Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide Friday, March 8th, 2013 6pm-8pm University at Albany Downtown Campus 135 Western Avenue, Albany, NY WMHT, the Center for Women and Government and Civil Society and Holding Our Own invite you to a Salon Screening of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression […]

30th/35th Anniversary Program

30th/35th Anniversary Program

Program With Cover

Celebrate Fabulous Feminists!

Celebrate Fabulous Feminists!

Online Ticketing for Holding Our Own and the Women’s Building 30th/35th Anniversary & Fabulous Feminist Awards powered by Eventbrite

Spotlight on Local Feminists Part 2

Spotlight on Local Feminists Part 2

Spotlight on Local Women Leaders Carmen Duncan and Naomi Jaffe In an effort to give Holding Our Own’s network members an opportunity to get to know each other just a little better, we will be spotlighting a couple of our members each month. We hope that this will help provide you with more opportunities to […]

intersectionality: weaving many roots into one tree

Posted on April 24, 2015

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a natural outgrowth of the groundbreaking Black feminism of the Combahee River Collective et.al. in the 1980s, intersectionality is a 30-year old concept developed by Kimberle Crenshaw and shared by many activists and organizers across and within multiple contemporary movements. i tend to think of it as the ability to think, walk, and chew gum at the same time: to synthesize more than one aspect of identity &/or community with respect and in equal measure while mapping webs of connection and struggle, externally and internally, across interlocking systems of oppression in order to achieve the broad-based liberation of multiple communities.

unless one is trapped in linear thinking, the concept is a lot simpler than it sounds: e.g., i am of Afrikan heritage and bi-ethnic (1/2 Jamaican, 1/2 Afrikan American) and a person of color and a child of an immigrant and a U.S. citizen and queer and a woman and cisgendered and femme* and of size and disabled and highly sensitive and radical and poor and middle-aged and…and… these are all aspects of my identity.  these are all sites of struggle.  in addition to the beauty of my own uniqueness, i bring the magical synergy of these multiple aspects that combine in wonderful ways to my communities at all times. we all do. the oppression &/or privilege we experience fluctuates relative to whatever social context we are in, and we need to be cognizant of and responsible for those dynamics within community.   i take alla me with me wherever i go, and, when it comes to fighting for social justice, we need to take alla us with us wherever we go.

*

*

“Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.”
~ Sue Grafton

all oppression is connected, pervasive and mutually reinforcing.  when grassroots organizing, radical activism, and popular education/cultural work are rooted in intersectionality, none of our survival struggles are subject to being shelved or stepped on in the name of some twisted, sordid (and usually self-serving) strategy of  “first us, then you”. HELL NAW.  first of all, quiet as it’s kept, ain’t none o’ us free ‘less we all free. not here for no single issue struggles cuz we don’t live single issue lives, to paraphrase mama Audre Lorde.  no such thing as ‘situational liberation’.

get used to it.

instead, fighters for social justice, revolution, and real liberation must web connections, open up transparent accountability, and elegantly utilize a wealth of creative cultural strategies.  we must engage the work with laser-sharp critical thinking, alive imagination, boundless vision, courage, and true collectivity.  we must deepen our empathy, compassion, and self-care so that we can show up, recognize, and heal the violence lying within and among us wrought by oppression.  we must sustain ourselves and each other.  we must dance, we must laugh.  we must love, we must live.  intersectionality encourages us to deal with the complexity of our communities, our struggles, our relationships to power, and evolve.  these are the ways we wage war for our freedom, and survive.

we must plait our selves, our journeys, our dreams into fierce, beautiful baobab trees that are ripe of fruit, and feed & flower ourselves for many generations to come. ❀

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want to explore intersectionality as it relates to police violence in U.S. Black communities? check out these articles and the sample case below:

  • http://www.forharriet.com/2015/04/who-we-march-for-how-movement-is.html#axzz3YXR3SfEQ
  • http://janetmock.com/2015/02/16/six-trans-women-killed-this-year/
  • http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/01/violence_against_black_transgender_women_goes_largely_ignored.html
  • http://bitchmagazine.org/post/gender-and-race-and-police-violence-women-ferguson-michael-brown
  • http://www.forharriet.com/2014/12/how-do-mothers-of-slain-unarmed-black.html#axzz3YXR3SfEQ
  • http://mic.com/articles/116102/this-unarmed-black-woman-was-shot-by-the-police-so-why-aren-t-we-marching-for-her
  • http://mic.com/articles/116216/the-type-of-police-brutality-no-one-is-talking-about
  • http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/black-feminist-movement-fails-women-black-minority

********  SAMPLE CASE  for intersectionality********

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…TOO, for the Black community,

along with Black & multiracial

trans, queer, two spirit, genderqueer, intersex,

and other gender nonconforming folx.

to be clear, ALL beings everywhere matter.  i know of no disposable lives.  however, this call has been amplified to challenge the current context within many Black communities in the U.S. of Blackness being conflated to only signify presumably straight, gender conforming Black men.  there are so many others of us, so many whose lives are also in a constant state of peril.  this conflation works to void the significance of our lives within our own communities.

one recent painful example is the awful indifference shown toward the unjustifiable and still legally unaccounted for murder of 22-year old Rekia Boyd, shot and subsequently killed by off-duty Chicago police detective Dante Servin on March 21, 2012.  Servin drove the opposite direction on a one-way street and fired five rounds over his left shoulder into a crowd at Douglas Park while sitting in his unmarked vehicle following a verbal altercation with another person.  Rekia was shot in the head and died less than 24 hours later.  according to the Huffington Post, “police initially claimed a man in the group approached Servin with a weapon, prompting Servin to fire ‘fearing for his life.’  the Independent Police Review Authority later stated they found no weapon at the scene and that the man was reportedly holding a cell phone — not a gun.”

the following is excerpted from an online article posted by the Inquisitr on 4.21.2015:

Dante Servin, the first Chicago cop to face criminal charges for shooting and killing another person in 15 years, was acquitted Monday of all charges in the slaying of Rekia Boyd, a 22-year-old innocent bystander who was racing for cover from a barrage of shots fired by the off-duty Servin over his shoulder while the Chicago detective sat in his car.

But while incidents of police officers killing unarmed citizens then getting off free, often with no charges at all, have become all-too-familiar in recent months, the reasons given by Cook County Judge Dennis Porter for letting Servin walk are being called “incredible” by legal experts — who say that though the judge prefaced his decision by declaring, “this is a court of law, not a court of emotion,” his legal reasoning was tortured at best.

The judge handed down a “directed verdict” in the Servin trial Monday, meaning the cop’s defense lawyers never even needed to present their case, and a jury never issued its own decision. Instead, the judge found that the law — in his view — did not support a guilty verdict no matter what the defense might have presented.

His reasoning? Basically, Judge Porter said that Servin should have been charged with first or second degree murder. Instead, prosecutors charged him only with manslaughter and with recklessly discharging his firearm.

Because the judge found that Servin was probably guilty of the greater crime rather then the less serious one, he could not be convicted of anything at all.

Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/28/rekia-boyd-mike-brown_n_6236974.html
http://www.inquisitr.com/2031060/cop-dante-servin-not-guilty-in-death-of-rekia-boyd-innocent-bystander-judges-reason-is-bizarre/#EP2kFReGuUUvDUeI.99

broad Black community reaction to this case has been shockingly indifferent and intensely painful, echoing the experiences of the very many of us in community who don’t fit into the straight Black male paradigm.  no one rises for us — but us.  no one even knows our names.  in Rekia’s case, and in other recent tragic deaths by police of Black trans folx/queer folx/women, this indifference is betrayal.  Servin’s acquittal arises against a backdrop of many thousands of Black community members across gender and sexuality consistently flowing with volcanic outrage at the unchecked brutality and unpunished murders of many presumably straight Black men by police officers during the last several months.  whether on the streets within U.S. borders or in acts of solidarity around the world, collective actions with allies have called out their senseless deaths, including the horrific murder of Freddie Gray literally at the hands of Baltimore police officers.  the streets rocked with fury on Freddie’s behalf — explosive, enraged, incensed — less than a week after the acquittal of Rekia’s murderer was met with undisturbed silence.  hmph.  i guess she wasn’t “we”.

where will you be when they come for me?

so yes, YES, of course all beings matter across spectrums, species and galaxies.  and YES, yes, struggles with living out intersectionality are not at all unique to Black communities.  in fact, they often corrupt many of the ways we configure personhood and social formations.  oppression is so pervasive that we tend to replicate its footprint if we are not intentional.  as always, there are those who benefit from the ways we silence ourselves, our survival struggles, therefore YES, the challenges we face in living out intersectionality are not unintended occurrences.  oppression has always sought to keep us stuck in its mire.  even so, it shatters the heart to consider the level of dialogue we are still at with one another within these so-called communities: begging consideration of our lives.  our worth.  begging us to matter.  to each other.

it shatters.  it scatters us from ourselves.  it kills.

yet what intersectionality and our survival demand is for us to pick up these broken bits of our selves and our struggles, and stitch them more firmly together into new patterns.  we must collectivity deepen our understanding of our socio-economic and political conditions, the ways oppression manifests its poison within & between us and our fellow oppressed kin, and destroy the root causes.  we must value who “we” are however “we” configure ourselves while honoring our rich complexity and soul ties to other oppressed communities.  we must show up for ourselves and for each other.  alla we exist in war zones around this world and our absences from each other have perilous consequences: if we don’t fight fiercely to protect and preserve all of our lives, if we don’t hold each other dear amidst serial genocide, WHO WILL???

“As a Black woman, these moments remind me that I live in a society and work in a movement that insists on prioritizing the lives of Black men over women,” Nakisha Lewis, a strategist and organizer with Black Lives Matter NYC, told Mic.  “There is a special gut-wrenching pain that is present when the victim is a Black woman, because their deaths will go unnoticed by the general public.  And there will be no protests nor national vigils in their honor.”

http://mic.com/articles/116102/this-unarmed-black-woman-was-shot-by-the-police-so-why-aren-t-we-marching-for-her

*

Underground Sketchbook Zine – Volume 1:

Black Women Matter

*

*

psst…on a not so SIDE NOTE:

FAIR WARNING: i might have to pluck an Adam’s apple the next time i hear the term ‘Black’ (without further modifiers) being used not as a collective community description but instead to solely reference cisgendered and presumably straight &/or gender conforming Black men — rendering the rest of us null and Black-less.

u will bleed out from the throat.

‘n if ya don’t have an Adam’s apple, you WILL gush blood from your voice box all the same.  proceed at your own peril ~ in every sense of the phrase.  i’m keeping my nails sharp.

Earth%20Day%20-%20Rekia%20Boyd%20Rally%20APR22%20150 (2)

❀ ❀ ❀ in the spirit of no invisible labor and in honor of collective births, i happily offer my love and gratitude to the following fellow kin around the cauldron in which this post was brewed ~ all of whom so generously and informally added their patient support and eager encouragement to the pot.  sorceresses all, without their potent spices, watchful eyes, veiny arms and warm cloaks, this witch’s brew would be so much less tasty:

adrienne maree brown, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Barbara Mhangami, Collette Carter, Ebele Ajogbe, Gabriela Sonam, Hannah R. Mondiwa, Izzi Creo, Lori Hirt, Rusia Mohiuddin, Since Combahee, Storme Webber, William Maria Rain

i hope that some glint of what has been offered here at this stage in our personal evolutions, shared analysis, and trust in one another may be of use to our beloved communities in their popular education/cultural work, community-building, radical activism, and/or grassroots organizing efforts.  may any tinsel found help sparkle the new pathways we need to create to gain our liberation.  🙂

<3

~ blkcowrie

http://blkcowrie.wordpress.com

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Posted in Activism, Political Education, Social Justice Tagged activism, blkcowrie, intersectionality, power, she breathes, women of color Leave a comment

Police Surveillance & “anti-trafficking”: rally Monday March 16

Posted on March 13, 2015

Letter to the Community:

On Monday, March 16, NOW NYC will be coming to Albany to rally in support of the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act (TVPJA). TVPJA has widespread support from the feminist community, but has raised concerns as it grants more authority to the police and criminal justice system– and at the same time makes no distinction between those involved in human trafficking and others in the sex industry under different circumstances.

I’m writing to ask if any organizations or individuals would be interested in a counter protest on Monday addressing the following issues. I plan on making a fact sheet to distribute as well. I haven’t yet heard back from NOW but it looks like they’ll be arriving at 12:30pm officially beginning a their press conference and lobbying at 1-1:30pm.

TVPJA would allow police to enable wire-tapping where prostitution is suspected; in addition to the conflation of prostitution with human trafficking, as noted by the Sex Workers Project there currently does not appear to be a standard procedure for identifying trafficked persons prior to or following arrest.

Additionally, there would be a sharp increase in penalties for those convicted of trafficking victims which would extend beyond those who coerce people into the sex trade and include people in proximity of sex workers, particularly those under the age of 18.

If one were to give an underage sex worker shelter or even a condom, for instance, they would be subject to arrest.

Lastly, the use of police raids has been proven detrimental to victims of human trafficking. While TVPJA is intended to reduce victimization through the criminal justice system, they would still initially face arrest. In a study by Sex Workers Project, it has been documented that these raids are often violent and frightening, leading to a weakened trust among victims and inability to form a working relationship in order to gain access to services needed.

There is a lot more information on the repercussions of this bill available through the NY Anti-Trafficking Network here: NYATN Files, and Sex Workers Project has a fantastic report on the harm caused by the use of police raids in cases of trafficking: SWP Executive Summary

This is a clear opportunity for intervention, but the harm of “trafficking” interventions is something that needs more discussion in our community, especially as our police have recently said they plan to continue busts upon the recent slew of arrests in January. I’d be more than happy to help form a committee on this issue as much as my work has been related to sex workers’ rights (part of, but more specific than, the conversation on gender & state violence), or work on this in any other way.

Best,

Stephanie Kaylor

For more info or to get involved email: stephaniemkaylor@gmail.com

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Posted in Prison Justice, Sexual Assault, Social Justice, Uncategorized Tagged feminism, gender-based violence, holding our own, human trafficking, sex workers project, sex workers rights, she breathes Leave a comment

purple bruises

Posted on March 9, 2015

untitled (117)

*You sho’ is ugly*

shug says to celie

first, she gathers her close

leaps swiftly into her eyes

– intimate as a kiss –

then, mere centimeters away,

cackles up her venom

callous words sting,

dear speaker,

they claw

lacerate

puncture fragility

and You are responsible

for the scars

*You sho’ is…*

post-coital, we lay on her bed

my vampire lover and me

she, the first to taste all of me, says

“turn over”

naked, i comply

curious aroused patient

as she takes in

all of me

then she whispers

“you have an elephant butt”

her revulsion courses my spine

scorches my ears

& melts my eyes

*You sho’…*

born with a lazy eye, i crawl thru fog

with eye patch over industrious eye

until thick, coke-bottle glasses

rescue and curse me

popping distorted orbs,

they invite plenty to laugh

but no one to kiss me

one day, i ask mama if i am beautiful

curious hopeful eager

as she continued to iron

without meeting my eyes

she, herself a crushed flower, replies

“you’re average”

*You…*

metal in my mouth from 14 to 16

bands and brackets snag food

& rip the soft, wet insides of my lips purple

their flesh throb echoes to my blues

she, a loyal companion the best friend

this bastard baby could have

my companion accompanies me

during forced exercises, weigh-in after weigh-in

& marathon mocking sessions

where dreaded-daddy ogles my ugly

raging disgust at my gelatinous armor

that will soon again bank

rainbowed blood

*…*

i seem to attract bees

who rob me of nectar

and sting

and sting

while lodging barbs

their coarse pricks pierce fragile lens

making me beauty-blind eyeless to the grace

of a sista’s soft earthen curves

& a fat gurl’s blossomed abundance

does a fragrant wildflower live in me as well?

damn darts have parsed mirrors from my sight

lacerating self acceptance to unseeing slits

unable to hold loving likenesses

*

yet

*

shug became grateful to finally love celie

as i became grateful

to finally love me

vampire lover offered amends years ago

self-hate addled with coke spawned her spew

mama-beloved said

she didn’t want me to get a big head

an island gyal, she was raised stoic to survive

‘n daddy-monster? well,

he departed over 25 years ago now

leaving me only my loyal companion

but it’s time i said goodbye to my blues

otherwise she’ll kill me

*

*

~ blkcowrie (with gratitude to Alice Walker)

http://blkcowrie.wordpress.com

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Posted in Body Image, Creative Writing, Relationships Tagged blkcowrie Leave a comment

Help send a Capital Region Delegation to INCITE!

Posted on March 4, 2015

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Posted in Activism, Local Feminists, Political Education, Sexual Assault, Social Justice, Uncategorized Tagged activism, angelica clarke, feminism, gender-based violence, holding our own, local feminism, mass incarceration, prison justice, sexual assault, women of color Leave a comment

Black History Month 2015

Posted on February 13, 2015
pixabay.com_11 Feb. 2015_

pixabay.com_11 Feb. 2015_

Within the month of February comes a few dates that are considered to be National holidays; whether it’s about love, dead white men, a big rodent who determine the weather to come, or most recently the viewing of a sport that only Americans understand, but there’s only one month that celebrates the memory, the achievement, and pays homage to an entire race.

Recently I went to see the film “Dear White People: A Satire about Being a Black Face in a White Place”, by Justin Simien. Three words…Black actors rock!! The film was comical, witty, and shocking. It’s unexpected twist and turns opened the door to many arguments and discussions that exist in today’s African American community such as the ever more complex issue with identifying as Black, the concept of the Black token, the Black voice and the need to protest, Black sexuality, and interracial relationships.

I enjoyed this film mostly because it exposed the issue of white supremacy within institutions that pride themselves on their diversity, and it spoke not only to the intended audience as identified in the title, but also to other races including Black people. One could argue that this film can be reflective of America as a whole.

One thing to think about this month and keep in your mind for future reference is how do we as people living in America, home of supposed freedom, liberty, and justice for all deal with issues of oppression not just among one specific race, but within the intersecting oppressions that make us the melting pot we are. Black history month is more than just a reminder of what has happened in the past, it is a call for attention and action for what is currently happening. It’s a time to speak up and stand up for those in our LGBTQ communities and no longer separate ourselves from the oppression placed upon them. Until next time.

Best

Anonymous Black Feminist

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Dear Queers: A love letter from Michigan

Posted on January 28, 2015

“A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.”  Maya Angelou

“The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.”  Adrienne Rich

“Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat.”  Audre Lorde
July 29, 2014

Dear Queers,

I’ve been meaning to write you this letter for nearly a year, but I keep putting it off. The thing is, I’m scared shitless that if I tell you my real honest truth you’ll hate me, which leads to other, bigger fears, like the fear of isolation and the fear of dying alone in a dark snowy ditch. But we all know that the fear of people not liking you is perhaps the worst possible reason not to speak your truth, and so, with deepest respect for myself and for you and for the world we’re creating together, I sit down to lay these words on the page.
I am writing to ask that you reconsider everything you’ve ever heard, read, or assumed about the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. I know it might seem very straightforward: Mich Fest does not recognize trans women as real women, and therefore chooses to exclude them. Supporting such an institution by attending or performing or working crew makes you a shithead and a terrible ally to your trans sisters. For over a decade, I was totally convinced of this.
When I was 19, I got pregnant in a cave outside Sedona. I was ill-prepared on various fronts to become a parent, but ready or not, I had an infant 9 months later. Two and a half years after that, my daughter informed me she was actually a boy. That’s another story which I already wrote and published in a 2006 zine titled “Hatch! Mister Sister.” The gist is he cut off his hair, refused to wear anything girlish, and began introducing himself by an ever changing assortment of male names – Blake, Henry, Jack, etc. When he was in pre-school and I was still introducing him as my daughter, he began correcting me, by stopping his foot and shouting “I’m your SON!!” And so, by 2nd grade, we had changed all his school records to reflect his male name and he was living full time as a boy.
I’ve noticed a tendency to romanticize this aspect of our lives – he, the incredibly self-aware, highly articulate and enlightened trans kid; me, the totally hip, super supportive queer mother; together having amazing adventures; all the while joking around and looking fly, but the truer picture, of course, is less idyllic.

 

In truth, I felt overwhelmed every day, and I was struggling with severe depression. In truth, I was really stressed out about stuff like getting the bills paid, being a good enough mother, and would I ever find true love. I was doing sex work while he was at school to pay his Waldorf tuition, and trying my best to act cheerful when he got home. In truth, I knew I was being judged by my every move, as all mothers are, and it wore me down.
Meanwhile, I spent countless hours patiently educating other cis people, before trans kids were on everyone’s radar, before Oprah and NPR were there to help me, back when his gender expression somehow indicated me as crazy and/or abusive. I sat down with every teacher, principal, social worker and camp counselor, doing trans 101 trainings on safe bathrooms, preferred pronouns, and how to deal with other students potentially finding out he is “actually a girl.” It was painstaking and I got asked a lot of annoying questions, like “have you ever considered it’s because he has no father figure?”
The only lesbians I knew back then were midwives. I loved them a lot and respected them greatly, so it really bummed me out when even some of them said essentialist things about his anatomy. “But, she has LABIA, are you nuts?” I knew many of these women went to Mich Fest, and thus I concluded that Mich Fest was an epicenter of transphobia, a gathering ground of lesbian bigotry, and no place I’d ever be caught dead.
Time passed. And then, I fell in love with someone who convinced me to come work short crew. I felt like a spy in the enemy camp that year. I was constantly on my guard, very careful not to get splashed with the Kool-aid, all the while collecting information about how the lesbians do it. The Capricorn in me noticed the intricate systems. I was impressed by the sacred order of how everything came together. Seeing how the stages got built and how the cooking fires were kept alive all night left me in a state of awe. I walked away knowing that women could indeed run the world. I had forgotten that even mattered to me.
While I still had some trepidation, I came back the following year for long crew, and immediately had this crazy revelation that the lesbians matter. Perhaps this seems obvious, but for me it was a total epiphany. Having spent most of my adult life with radical faeries and queers, all I knew about lesbians was that they had no sense of humor and wore really ugly shoes. That they held their clipboards tight and their stale notions about sex and gender even tighter. Basically, I saw them as less evolved and way less cool than all other letters of the LGBTQ.
What I’m getting at here, actually, is the queer elitism that is so rampant right now. This is the part you may hate me for, but I think the calling out of bigotry has become quite hypocritical. The word bigot means “having or revealing an obstinate belief in the superiority of one’s own opinions and a prejudiced intolerance of the opinions of others.” Frankly, I see the young, urban, often highly educated and mostly white queers being at least as guilty of this as the lesbian separatists. The recent attack on elderly trans women who choose to keep using the word “tranny” is another good example. I can’t help but notice the common factor of these two groups is their senior age and their lack of male privilege. It seems very ironic to so aggressively attack the so-called bigotry of the two most vulnerable demographics of our queer pantheon. Is not the whole point of our activism to support everyone’s right to freely be who they are?

 

The intention of this festival, as we all know, has been a source of deep controversy and bitter resentment for at least 18 years. We have spun out in every direction, always landing at about the same place – exhausted and unresolved. I realize there’s not much more to say on this, so instead, let me remind us of our common ground.
Queers, we’ve been fighting courageously and taking a stand for the freedom to express our true selves as safely and openly as possible. Due to our diligent hard work, trans folk have far more power in the world today than they did 15 years ago. This is awesome and something to be celebrated, and yes, the struggle continues.
Let’s not forget that the lesbian separatists also did just this. They took a stand during an era when being butch meant risking getting your head bashed in by cops just for walking down the sidewalk. They arose from a time when having sex with other women was considered a disease, and could get you institutionalized. They laid the foundation for queer studies departments that today’s college students have the privilege of taking for granted. They were the gender outlaws who redefined what it meant to be female, and they often had to fight harder than you or I can imagine for their simple right to exist.
There are many women here who feel fiercely protective of their right to come gather in cunt-only space for one week in August. While I, like many of my peers, would love for this space to openly welcome all women and all trans folk, and I believe strongly that shifting the intention to be inclusive has tremendous potential for healing, I also support whole-heartedly the rights of dykes and all women (and everyone else for that matter) to throw a party and invite whoever the fuck they want.
I’ll bet my motorcycle and a winning lotto ticket that every year, Lisa Vogel gets a mountain of letters from rural, working class lesbians who insist that the intention remain or they won’t come. Tell me this queers: do you care about this festival enough to come in their place? Or is this simply a matter of principle? Let’s be pragmatic for a moment. If you really want change to happen, you gotta stop being right and come do the work. It’s only your presence, your questions, your willingness to listen and your desire to build relationships that can make the deep and healing change possible.
Right now, I’m sitting in my tent surrounded by oak trees and ferns. Off in the distance I hear chainsaws and hammers hitting stakes. It’s my 3rd year working. When I pulled onto the land 10 days ago, I started crying, or I think bawling would be the more accurate word. It caught me completely off guard. It was like this wave of relief swept over my body. For the next 4 weeks, I wouldn’t be gawked at or yelled at by dudes. I wouldn’t have to brace myself waiting for the light to change when 3 men in a truck pulled up next to me at night. I wouldn’t be shamed for having emotions, or told I’m just “on the rag” when I dare to have an opinion. Instead, I’d be riding around in flatbed trucks filled with hay and smart, sexy babes. I’d be stacking firewood in the sunshine wearing only my gloves, boots and cut offs shorts. I’d be in the land where beards are worn with pride, fat is truly fabulous and old ladies dance naked in the afternoon, tits hanging low, and this is seen as beautiful, not disgusting or shameful.
In a world where patriarchy is still imbedded so deeply in the fabric of our collective being, it’s hard to imagine a realm outside of that. You cannot comprehend the value of this place until you come breath it in, sweat it out, and walk alone with it through the woods at night.

 

Copyright Creative Commons Flickr-mags-Mitchfest_Flyer2008 28 Jan 2015

Copyright Creative Commons Flickr-mags-Mitchfest_Flyer2008 28 Jan 2015

This festival has been a vital lifeline to countless women from so many walks of life. I am deeply grateful to have finally landed here, and I hold firmly that you can be an excellent trans ally and still come be with dykes in the woods. To spend our precious time arguing over whether cis women or trans folk are more deeply oppressed is a major distraction, a waste of our collective vitality, and a total drain on our political potential.
No one is served by victimization. All of us benefit when we learn to walk with heads high and hearts open. This place is not perfect, it’s not a utopia, it’s just a bunch of wild womyn figuring out how to love ourselves and exist together as best we are able.

 

& SO MY QUEER SISTERS, if you’ve ever had the hankering to be here or heard the howl calling, get your ass here in 2015! Nothing lasts forever, and this may be your last chance to come witness what 40 years of womyn in the woods feels like. You don’t need to figure it all out, just buy yourself a ticket and come while you still can. It’ll make sense later. I wish someone had convinced me of this 20 years ago.
My pet name for Mich Fest is the House of Divine Order. Believe me, the deep lez woo is something fierce. I want us freaks here, with our shameless, wide open hearts. Come feel it for yourself. It’s okay. We’ve got the power.

With mad love and deepest faith in all of us,

Mary Doyle

 
To read an official letter to the community
from Lisa Vogel on the festival intention, go to: www.michfest.com/lettertothecommunity050914.htm

To order more copies and/or request the PDF version,
email me~ DIRTYWERQ@gmail.com

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Posted in Events, Uncategorized Tagged Cis, Dear Queers, feminism, holding our own, Mary Doyle, Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, she breathes, trans Leave a comment

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #7: DJ Goldee Dust

Posted on November 21, 2014

The seventh  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate!

For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page
For the Schedule of Events
Get Tickets!

Goldee Dust Spotlight 7ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #7: DJ GOLDEE DUST

Andrea has always been fascinated with creating soundtracks and setting a mood for any environment. She was introduced to DJing by her friends at Albany Frequencies, and continues to books shows in the area to expose regional and local musicians to the 518’s budding music scene. Under her DJ moniker, Goldee Dust, she enjoys blending a euphoric mix of deep, hypnotic and soulful house music.

https://soundcloud.com/goldee-dust
GOLDEE DUST
soundcloud.com

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Posted in Activism, Events, Social Justice, Uncategorized Tagged albany, albany ny, dj goldee dust, feminism, feminist events, gender noncomforming, holding our own, LadyFest Upstate, sanctuary fund, she breathes, trans artists Leave a comment

LadyFest–the Artist Behind the Curtain–Sean,aka bell’s roar

Posted on November 21, 2014

The tenth  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate!

For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page
For the Schedule of Events
Get Tickets!

sean

Ladyfest Upstate is brought to us by the visionary artist, Sean Desiree. When Sean is not organizing radical cultural events, she is performing as Bell’s Roar, making furniture as South End Pallet Works or spending time with her beautiful and creative family. Originally from New York City, Sean moved to Albany to be able to afford to work on her music and her furniture. Of her music, she says ” Singers like Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday and many other blues and soul singers are a strong reference for me. Books that I read by bell hooks, Frantz Fanon and other radicals give me perspective and comfort in the world. My experiences as a queer women of color give me the fire behind my words. “
Sean hopes to some day create a performance and artist space somewhere in the Capital District that will house festivals and performers like Ladyfest Upstate.

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Posted in Activism, Events, Local Feminists, Social Justice, Uncategorized Tagged activism, albany, albany ny, bell's roar, feminist events, gender noncomforming, holding our own, LadyFest Upstate, local feminism, sean desiree, she breathes, trans artists, women of color Leave a comment

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #8:FREE CAKE FOR EVERY CREATURE

Posted on November 21, 2014

The eighth in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate!

For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page
For the Schedule of Events
Get Tickets!

free cake

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #8: FREE CAKE FOR EVERY CREATURE

Free Cake For Every Creature is the project of Saratoga Springs-based Katie Bennett, who began recording and releasing songs under the name last fall. On last year’s solo tape Young Professional, her voice rarely rises above a hush as if she’s unsure of what she’s going to say next. “Don’t Go Away” is a new recording of a song from that tape and she’s recruited a full band for her Double Double Whammy debut Pretty Good. She sounds more confident here, while still capturing the world-weary optimism that made her earlier work so endearing. “Don’t Go Away” is lived-in and warm, recalling the muted resilience of P.S. Eliot and it fits in nicely with fellow DDW-affiliated artists like Frankie Cosmos and Quarterbacks (who also released a great tape recently), full of awkward pauses and unassuming romanticism.

www.freecakeforeverycreature.bandcamp.com

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Posted in Activism, Events, Uncategorized Tagged activism, feminist events, free cake for every creature, holding our own, LadyFest Upstate, she breathes, trans artists, transgender, transgender artists Leave a comment

LadyFest Artist Spotlight #6: Amani Olugbala

Posted on November 21, 2014

The sixth  in a series of Artist Spotlights brought to you by Lady Fest Upstate!

For details on Lady Fest Upstate go to their Facebook Page
For the Schedule of Events
Get Tickets!

 AMANI Lady Fest Spotlight 6

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #6: AMANI OLUGBALA

A radical of the heart and pacifist of the mind, Amani spends much of her time contemplating the degrees of difference between humans, other animals and non-living things. Committed to changing the world through both overt and subversive techniques she is a writer, educator and community organizer who uses the tools of artistic expression and social awareness to impact change and foster a sense of empathy and inter-being in local urban communities. A recent addition to Albany’s slam poetry scene, Amani is enthusiastic about raising her voice and using the power of art to spark major social change in the Capital Region and the larger world.

 

Like what you heard at LadyFest, check this out later on the weekend:

amani

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Posted in Activism, Social Justice, Uncategorized Tagged amani alubala, feminist events, gender noncomforming, holding our own, LadyFest Upstate, she breathes, trans, trans artists, transgender, women of color Leave a comment
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