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 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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]