via tumblr; credit David N. Berkwitz

on the tough guy style I’m not too keen
to try to change the world I will plot and scheme

We at For the Birds were devastated to hear about the loss of Adam Yauch this week after a several year battle with cancer. MCA was a cultural and political force– he was not only a brilliant artist, but was inspirational to many of us during our formative years as budding activists. His commitment to social justice was unwavering. MCA was an anti-racist, a pacifist, a feminist and didn’t shy away from critiquing and subverting power, whether it be Islamaphobia and United States foreign policy or raising awareness and money for Tibetan independence.

Many have remembered his transformation along with Ad-Rock and Mike D in the ’90s. Moving past their frat-like younger years, the Beasties publicly apologized, as well as wrote lyrics about their own, and others’ sexist antics. The Beastie Boys took on topics like masculinity and respect for women, seamlessly rapping about it in their trademark bratty style, or speaking out in more blatant forums, like the MTV Video Music Awards. Watching the Beastie Boys become more outspoken and mindful as celebrities was empowering.  It was often MCA at the helm as he increasingly used his fame to advocate for social change throughout the 2000s. Most recently, he has been a supporter of the Occupy movement, marching on the Brooklyn Bridge this past November in between treatments.

While we have been heartened by the Beasties from afar, it’s also great to hear snippets about a young Yauch being “SO COOL” to “teenage all girl brat attack bands” of the early 1990s (recalled by Layla Gibbon of Maximum Rocknroll). The Beastie legacy is not just the one we all know that looms so large, but a real, community-based one. In recent years Yauch’s film company, Oscilloscope, has been yet another vehicle for sharing and promoting renegade cultural work in the world.

You will be missed, MCA. We got your back on the plotting and scheming.

– Roz Hunter & Kate Wadkins

This Thursday one of our members will be speaking at the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s Annual Conference in Albany.  This year’s theme, “Weaving A World Without Violence,” signifies all of the tremendous work so many of the various organizations and presenters are doing to address violence in their communities.  Topics will include bystanders’ work to prevent violence, mobilizing men and youth to prevent sexual assault, and the use of art therapy in healing.

Leah Todd and Sarah Hanks, a member of For the Birds, will present a panel about the work of the Support New York Collective entitled “Community Accountability and Transformative Justice: An Alternative Approach to Responding to Intimate Partner Violence”.

Find out more about NYSCASA, how to become a member, find a crisis center, or take action by visiting their website.

Time and Place: The Walk-a-thon will take place on Saturday May 12th, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and will end with a finish line Block Party and health fair sponsored by Beth Israel Health Center at 1st Street Park, East 1st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. The walk will kick off at the PS 20 playground on Essex Street between Houston and Stanton Streets. Registration is from 9:00am to 10:00am.

Why walk? 100% of funds raised through the event will support Girls Club health and nutrition programs. Each $2,500 raised supports a full year of programming for one girl; $1,500 supports school year programming; and $1,000 supports intensive summer programming. Girls Club health programs include community health workshops, nutrition and cooking classes, body image and women’s health counseling, running a Farmer’s Market, yoga and dance classes, free summer camp for girls and more!

Stop by our table at this Sunday’s Brooklyn Zine Fest! The event runs from 11am-6pm at Public Assembly in Williamsburg, and it’s a free event. Hope to see you there!

The Safe Horizon Brooklyn Community Program is proud to present Brooklyn’s third annual SAYSO! (Sexual Assault Yearly Speak Out!). SAYSO! is dedicated to promoting healing and raising awareness about sexual assault and New York City’s specialized rape crisis services. SAYSO! will feature speeches from survivors and allies along with diverse music and spoken word performances. Simultaneous healing activities will be offered such as yoga, participatory art and self-defense classes. The Speak Out will take place on April 17th from 4:00pm to 6:00 pm in Cadman Plaza outside Brooklyn Borough Hall.

You can help ensure the success of SAYSO! this year in the following ways:

·         Speak – share about how sexual violence has affected you and/or your community

·         Perform – dance, read a poem, play music, sing, etc.

·         Recruit your friends, family or peers to speak, perform or attend

·         Volunteer to help set up and clean up for the event.

·         Spread the word – post our flier at your workplace or on your website or social media outlets.

·         Donate – If your workplace or business has goods or services that can be donated for raffle prizes, please contact us!

We welcome your suggestions and contributions for this exciting event!  Please feel free to contact Jessica LaHood at (718) 834-6688 ext. 27 or Jessica.LaHood@safehorizon.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

MARCH 10 THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 7
WOMEN CENTER STAGE
@ The Living Theatre // Launched before the formal incorporation of Culture Project, Women Center Stage is our longest-running programmatic initiative. From the first collection of works presented under the festival mantle in 1996, Women Center Stage has grown into a multi-pronged initiative, an echo chamber for women artists to build community and share their stories, and a launch pad for provocative and relevant new work. The cornerstone of WCS is the annual Women Center Stage Festival, a dynamic and diverse laboratory for works in progress from women artists at all levels of their careers. Presented every March for Women’s History Month, the month-long Festival provides a much-needed setting for exploring new ideas and inspiration, testing out early stages of new work, and putting women artists in dialogue with their peers, new audiences, and critical review. More info HERE.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28
PERFECTING YOUR PITCH: A WORKSHOP WITH WAM! & SADIE MAGAZINE
@ WORD Bookstore // As part of the WAM-It-Yourself conference, a decentralized version of the annual Women, Action & the Media (WAM!) conference, Sadie Magazine is running a workshop on how to perfect your pitch. The workshop will offer guidance about finding that ah-ha moment, translating your brilliant idea into an effective pitch, and finally, getting noticed by editors of your favorite publications. For more information about this and other WAM! It Yourself events click HERE.

SATURDAY, MARCH 31
TRANSNATIONAL FEMINISM AND WOMEN ARTISTS IN DIASPORA
@ The Brooklyn Museum of Art // As a celebration of women in the arts, and National Women’s History month, A.I.R. Gallery, the Institute for Women and Art at Rutgers University, and The Feminist Art Project are co-sponsoring a two-panel series exploring New York’s international feminist diaspora community: Transnationalism and Women Artists in Diaspora. Artists Kira Greene and Chitra Ganesh; Curator, educator, writer and cultural producer Yulia Tikhonova; Women’s and Gender Studies Professor at Rutgers University Abena P.A. Busia; and Research Associate at the Centro de Estudios Puertorriquenos Yasmin Ramirez, Ph. D. / Moderators: Julie Lohnes, Director, A.I.R. Gallery; and Ferris Olin, Co-director, Institute for Women & Art at Rutgers. / Commentator: Kat Griefen, Co-Director and Co-Owner of Accola Griefen Gallery in New York City. More info HERE.

WAM! IT YOURSELF CONFERENCE FOR FEMINIST MEDIA MAKERS
Are you feminist journalist or media activist? Love feminist media? Want to learn more tools, strategies and ideas to do your work better, and meet other print, online, multimedia journalists and activists doing awesome work? Follow this event live via Twitter at #wamnyc! More info HERE.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4
PERMANENT WAVE BENEFIT FOR WILLIE MAE ROCK CAMP FOR GIRLS
@ Big Snow Buffalo Lodge // a show with PSXO, Mitten, Magnetic Island, and Desert Sharks. All proceeds from the door go to Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls. More info HERE.

THURSDAY, APRIL 5
ART PRACTICE, ACTIVISM, AND PEDAGOGY: SOME FEMINIST VIEWS
@ Parson’s the New School For Design // The conference will consider feminist art as a zone of multi-disciplinary art production associated with a radical critique of gendered power relations in society. Participants will discuss what it means to be a feminist artist today within a extended range of diverse political engagement. Speakers include Susan Bee, A. K. Burns, Audrey Chan, Maureen Connor, Caitlin Rueter & Suzanne Stroebe and Ulrike Müller. The conference concludes the first MFA Advanced Practice course in Feminist Art taught by Mira Schor. More info HERE.

FRIDAY, APRIL 13
ESSENTIAL HUES
@ Wayfarers Studio // A collaborative group show featuring Adee Roberson, Anna Luisa, Caitlin Sweet, Caroline Paquita and Sam Lopes. We live in a world surrounded by color. We lead colorful lives. We make colorful work. As artists who identify as queers, feminists, people of color, spell-casters and radicals, our work is saturated with the chroma of the vibrant lives and communities we have created and shared over the past decade and across geographic divides. Our histories are entwined, and color embodies the bright hues of the threads of collectivity, sexuality, gender, family, history and magic that bind us together. More info HERE.

SUNDAY, APRIL 15
BROOKLYN ZINE FEST
@ Public Assembly // We are excited to be tabling at this year’s Brooklyn Zine Fest. Check out BZF’s “Meet Your Zine Maker” with Lauren Denitzio & For the Birds! The greatest borough in the greatest city in the world (we’re being humble here) deserves a great zine fest. The Brooklyn Zine Fest 2012 is a space for creative, independent, talented voices from New York City and beyond to connect with an engaged audience. Our exhibitors create all kinds of zines to showcase their writing, illustration, photography, interviews, cooking, and any & everything else they’d like to share with the world. More info HERE.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 29
DEADLINE FOR FEAST #13: CULTURAL LABOR PROJECT APPLICATIONS
For our next FEAST, we welcome your explorations and interventions concerning the position of Cultural Labor in our communities. In a changing and often immaterial landscape, how do we continue to reshape, revalue, and reclaim our production and labor? For those of us whose labor is explicitly artistic, cultural, or communal, how do we effectively incorporate the material histories of May Day into our present practices? FEAST Brooklyn welcomes project proposals that address the idea of Cultural Labor whether literally or figuratively. More info HERE.

THROUGH WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
APPLY FOR GIRLS TO THE FRONT COVER SHOW #2
@ TBA, New Brunswick, NJ // GIRL GANG GIG VOL. New Brunswick & ON THE DOT FEMINIST COLLECTIVE will be hosting the 2nd annual GIRLS TO THE FRONT cover show on MAY 19, 2012! The goal of this event is to build a more inclusive community while showcasing women/queer/trans-identified musicians. This year the show will benefit C.L.I.T FEST NB. THE POINT: We are looking for bands/people who are interested in participating this year! More info HERE.

THROUGH MONDAY, APRIL 30
DEADLINE TO ENTER THE 10TH A.I.R. GALLERY BIENNIAL
A Juried Exhibition Open to All Women Artists: All women artists, including self-identified women, may submit original work of art. Painting in any medium, photography, prints, drawing, works on paper, new media, sculpture, mixed media, traditional or non-traditional materials are welcome. **Please note that installations will only be accepted if they have been completed. NO PROPOSALS for installation will be accepted.** More info HERE.

STAFF PICKS
THIS MONTH’S NEWSWORTHY ITEMS

FROM WORDSWITHOUTBORDERS.ORG
For the Birds organizer Rosamund Hunter’s book review: “Margherita’s inner struggle with the Reich is sometimes startling, as when, for instance, she shuttles between her admiration of Adolf Hitler and Martin Luther, two men who have trod down opposite paths in historical memory. Margherita has internalized wartime propaganda, and she tries not to question Nazism since challenging it is to wish harm on her husband and homeland. Still, inevitably, there are moments of doubt.” Read more HERE.

FROM NYDAILYNEWS.COM
For the Birds organizer Kate Wadkins on the word “slut”: More than 500 years before Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut,” Geoffrey Chaucer used a form of the word to describe an “untidy man” in “The Canterbury Tales.” “Why is thy lord so sluttish, I thee pray, And is of power better clothes to bey,” he wrote in the 14th century poem. But in the ensuing centuries, the would come to take on different meanings – and much more provocative ones, as Limbaugh’s crude use of the word reminds.” Read more HERE.

FROM THEATLANTIC.COM
“The president is wary of being seen as the “angry black man.” People of color, women, and gays — who now have greater access to the centers of influence that ever before — are under pressure to be well-behaved when talking about their struggles.” Read more HERE.

FROM LA.STREETSBLOG.ORG
“Two months ago, when 22-year-old Bree’Anna Guzman was murdered in Lincoln Heights, the all-women bike group Ovarian-Pscyos Bicycle Brigade scrapped their previously planned ride to ride instead through the neighborhood to protest the killing. “Whose Streets,” one woman called out. “Our Streets” the more than 30 women riding answered.” Read more HERE.

FROM BIKESAFEBOSTON.COM
“It’s here! It’s NYC Bike Accident Report Card is HERE. It was generously, graciously and all-around awesomely printed by Article, an NYC-based art collective who — in addition to being bold advocates of safer cycling in NYC — have their inky fingers in a ton of creative projects.” Read more HERE.

FROM NEWSONE.COM
“I grow weary of actions without consequences and disrespect without anyone being held responsible. Just because a movement did some good doesn’t mean that it’s infallible. Occupy chapters have serious issues and there have been serious discussions about its relations with women and people of color.” Read more HERE.

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
FTB organizer Rosamund has been writing about radical women in history over at our blog for women’s history month. Meet Lucy Gonzales Parsons, Angela Davis & Yuri Kochiyama, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Ernestine Rose if you haven’t yet!

Originally from Poland, Ernestine Rose was a nineteenth-century human rights advocate and atheist who was committed to the rights of women and the abolition of slavery. Below are excerpts from the many speeches she delivered during her time in the United States. She was one of the first women to advocate for property rights for women as well as one of the first women to speak publicly and forcefully about the morality of atheism.

On Women’s Rights:
“Humanity recognizes no sex—virtue recognizes no sex—mind recognizes no sex—life and death, pleasure and pain, happiness and misery recognize no sex. Like man, woman comes involuntarily into existence; like him she possesses physical and mental and moral powers, on the proper cultivation of which depends her happiness; like him she is subject to all the vicissitudes of life.” -1851

On Slavery:
“What is it to be a slave? Not to be your own, bodily, mentally, and morally—that is to be a slave. To work hard, to fare ill, to suffer hardship, that is not slavery; for many of us white men and women have to work hard, have to fare ill, have to suffer hardship, and yet we are not slaves.Slavery is, not to belong to yourself—to be robbed of yourself. There is nothing that I so much abhor as that single thing—to be robbed of one’s self.” -1853.

On Atheism:
“Truth, justice, charity, kindness and love, combined, make the creed of morality and virtue belonging to man, and necessary to this life; for it teaches him his duty to his fellow man, while religion, being a mystery, belongs wholly to some other unknown life, hence we can make no use of it in this. It teaches faith, blind, implicit faith, in things unseen and unknown; morality has nothing to do with religion, for a man may be ever so virtuous and moral, yet if he does not profess faith, he is called an Infidel.” -1859

Excerpts from Mistress of Herself: Speeches & Letters of Ernestine Rose, Early Women’s Rights Leader edited by Paula Doress-Worters.

“The more I studied the situation, the more I was convinced that the Southerner had never gotten over his resentment that the Negro was no longer his plaything, his servant, and his source of income. The federal laws for Negro protection passed during Reconstruction times had been made a mockery by the white South where it had not secured their repeal. This same white South had secured political control of its several states and as soon as white southerners came into power they began to make playthings of Negro lives and property.” —From Crusade For Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells was an anti-lynching advocate and journalist from Memphis. She asserted the innocence of black men who were lynched for allegedly raping white women and revealed that these accusations were never grounded in actual evidence. Often, white Southerners lynched the most successful and respected members of the community in order to terrorize black folks into submitting to white authority. Additionally, many men accused of rape were engaged in consensual relationships with white women, but white supremacists continued to circulate the narrative that white women needed protection from black rapists. Ida B. Wells took her fight to England in order to shame and pressure the U.S. government to stop ignoring the white terrorism faced by black people in the South.

“On March 7, 1942, fire engulfed the simple home of 89-year-old Lucy Gonzales Parsons on Chicago’s North Troy Street, and ended a life dedicated to liberating working women and men of the world from capitalism and racial oppression. A dynamic, militant, self-educated public speaker and writer, she became the first American woman of color to carry her crusade for socialism across the country and overseas. Lucy Gonzales started life in Texas. She was of Mexican American, African American, and Native American descent and born into slavery. The path she chose after emancipation led to conflict with the Ku Klux Klan, hard work, painful personal losses, and many nights in jail.

…Lucy Parsons’ determined effort to elevate and inspire the oppressed to take command remained alive among those who knew, heard, and loved her. But few today are aware of her insights, courage, and tenacity. ”

—From a profile of Lucy Gonzales Parsons (1853–1942). By William Loren Katz.

Click here to continuing reading the full profile at the Zinn Education Project!