Monique Wilson US Speaking Tour, Rising Revolution Videos, Dalit Women Fight Continues Their Tour

Gabriela USA & One Billion Rising Presents Women Rising Against Displacement, Forced Migration, and State Violence With Monique Wilson 

GABRIELA
USA in partnership with ONE BILLION RISING REVOLUTION presents “Women
Rising Against Displacement, Forced Migration, and State Violence” a speaking
tour with Monique Wilson, One Billion Rising Global Director.

Tour Dates Include:
9-10 October: San Francisco, California
11 October: Los Angeles, California
12 October: Seattle, Washington
19 October: New York, New York

VISIT the Facebook event page for details >  

Rising Revolution Short Videos From Guatemala, Mexico & Swaziland

As a part of the One
Billion Rising: Rise for Revolution launch, the Rising  Revolution video series unfolds. Showcasing the collective energy of Revolution by highlighting artistic expressions
and RISING victories from around the world with more to be added as
the campaign unfolds.

WATCH videos from Mexico, Swaziland and Guatemala > 

#DalitWomenFight North America Tour Continues

After a series of events and openings in Oakland, Berkely, Stanford, and San Francisco the Dalit Women Fight Tour continues on to Los
Angeles, Seattle, Austin and more. Don’t miss this incredible collaboration of
art and activism sharing the powerful messages of grassroots leaders
challenging caste apartheid and struggling against state violence.

VISIT the website for details > 

FOLLOW the movement on Facebook and
Twitter @dalitwomenfight >

New Piece By Eve Ensler “Bureau Of Sex Slavery”

Photo:  Yazidi sisters, who escaped from captivity by Islamic State militants, sit in a tent at Sharya refugee camp. (Reuters/Ari Jala) 

JUST OUT – Eve’s new piece on ISIS and the global epidemic of violence against women, originally commissioned by La Repubblica in Italy, and appearing today simultaneously in The Nation Magazine and Elle France.

READ the full piece online >

NYC: Special “Absolute Brightness Of Leonard” Ticket Offer; Eve To Receive Award

This offer is being provided by longtime  friend and activist James Lecesne and the producers of Absolute Brightness. We hope to see you there!

We’d like to invite you to a special night of theater and celebration in honor of Eve Ensler.  JOIN US on Wednesday, September 23rd at 8pm at The Westside Theatre for a performance of The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, written and performed by James Lecesne, immediately followed by the presentation of The Absolute Brightness award to Eve Ensler.

The award, previously awarded to LGBT civil rights hero Edie Windsor and Tony Award winning actor and activist Alan Cumming, is given to a unique individual who is a shining beacon in their community, and an inspiration to live as your truest self.

As a member of the V-Day & One Billion Rising community, we’d like to extend a special offer for you to share in this night with Eve.  Purchase a ticket to Absolute Brightness and bring someone to the show who helps you live as your truest self for free.

3 WAYS TO PURCHASE

1.    Click here, enter code ABSBG44, and select a performance.

2.    Call Telecharge 212-239-6200 and mention code ABSBG44

3.    Visit The Westside Theatre – 407 W 43^rd St. (between 9^th & 10^th)

If you can’t join us on September 23rd, you can use this code for performances through September 30th.

For more information about our show please click the image below.

Activists Reflect On The Tenth Anniversary Of The Storm

Ten years after the devastating storm hit New Orleans and the Gulf South, the city of New Orleans and surrounding communities still face a deluge of obstacles in their efforts to rebuild their neighborhoods in an equitable and authentic way.

The women of New Orleans and the Gulf South have survived the fall out of global warming, failure of public structures, racism, economic hardship, and violence against women. All of these are pieces of the story of violence that continues to impact women here in this country and around the world. 

One decade out, we bear witness to the rebirth of this culturally rich city and the surrounding wetlands being led by incredible activists with a deep understanding of her historical context. 

Carol Bebelle- Letter From The Frontlines Of Katrina Recovery

“I am looking for the things I am for, and how to create them.
I am working to be informed, but not constrained, by numbers.
I am trying to keep my head, when all around me
are blaming it on others.
I am trying to be an encourager for us to activate our own personal power, and watch it do its thing
as it connects to others creating this magnificent WE!
I am trying to be about beauty.

 In New Orleans we are rising and resisting everywhere.” 

In honor of the 10^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Carol Bebelle, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, native New Orleanian & longtime V-Day activist wrote a letter about the ongoing recovery efforts in the city and the need for art in activism in the face of mounting obstacles.

READ the full letter >

GRITtv with Laura Flanders Covers The Ongoing Reconstruction & Recovery

“New Orleans: Recovery or Removal?” 

GRITtv with Laura Flanders and teleSUR English produced a new documentary that explores the intersection of race, class, and gender throughout the reconstruction of New Orleans. 

WATCH the full episode >

“New Orleans: The Economics of Recovery” 

GRITtv continues their coverage of local perspectives on the recovery with an extended interview with a former insider turned outsider Oliver Thomas and poet Sunni Patterson.

WATCH the full episode >

#tbt Remembering Swimming Upstream

Written by 16 New Orleans’ women, Swimming Upstream premiered in 2008 at V-Day’s “V To The Tenth” celebration and enjoyed subsequent performances in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Houston, New Orleans, NYC, and Santa Fe. Swimming Upstream is a powerful theatrical production that tells the raw and soulful stories of women who lived through the flood with grace, rage and great resiliency, punctuated by a flair for story telling, humor and music that comes from being New Orleanian.

This video is from the premiere of the play at the Superdome in April, 2008.

WATCH the clip >

Experience The Journey That Created City Of Joy & The Transformation That Women Are Leading

Experience The Journey That Created City Of Joy & The Transformation That Women Are Leading

On 15 September, The Flagey in Brussels, Belgium is hosting a revolutionary evening highlighting the extraordinary transformations happening in the heart of Africa. Ravaged by the scars of colonialism, corporate greed, extraction, and devastating warfare the women of Eastern Congo and their homeland have faced unimaginable violence. In the face of seemingly intractable conflict and systematic abuses, a city is flourishing and a farm is blossoming. Attendees will learn about The City of Joy and V-World farm, from the leaders and visionaries who dared to dream of a new Congolese story, one where women thrived.

A REVOLUTIONARY NEW MODEL

CITY OF JOY & V-WORLD FARM:

CONGOLESE WOMEN RISING

TUESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER
DOORS OPEN AT 19:30
PROGRAM BEGINS AT 20:15

THE FLAGEY
PLACE SAINTE CROIX, 1050
BRUSSELS

Tickets: € 10.00

To purchase tickets, visit www.vday.org/flagey

Conceived by Congolese women, the City of Joy opened its doors in 2011 and has since housed and healed over 500 women, graduating 492 leaders who have transformed their pain into power. V-World farm, in its third year, is providing food, income, sustainable agricultural practices and jobs for the women of City of Joy as well as local citizens. The evening will include Christine Schuler Deschryver, Isabelle Durant, Eve Ensler, Congolese musician Lokua Kanza and dancing.

To purchase tickets, visit www.vday.org/flagey

#SayHerName Vigil May 20th in NYC, Revolutionary Women’s Court Held In The Balkans

#SayHerName A Vigil In Remembrance Of Black Women And Girls Killed By Police

Although Black women are killed, raped and beaten by the police, their experiences are rarely foregrounded in our popular understanding of racialized state violence.

#SayHerName
A Vigil In Remembrance of Black Women And Girls Killed By The Police
Wednesday, May 20 5:30pm Union Square South

If the loss of their lives matters;
If the grief of their families matters;
If the impunity with which all Black lives can be taken matters;
Then we cannot allow these tragedies to remain unmarked, silenced and forgotten.

This vigil is being held the evening prior to May 21st, a national day of action to end state violence against Black women called by BYP100.

Sponsoring Organizations (list in formation):
Justice League NYC
The Stop Mass Incarceration Network
The African American Policy Forum
One Billion Rising
BK Nation
Judson Memorial Church
The Precedential Group
The Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression

Message AAPF to add your organization or community group as a sponsor.

VISIT the event page on Facebook >

Women’s Court: Feminist Approach to Justice Hosted in Sarajevo

“In Sarajevo, women activists from countries of the former Yugoslavia held a Women’s Court – feminist approach to justice – for survivors of war and post-war violence. Witnesses spoke out about their experiences, advocated for justice and peace, judicial reform to protect survivors, and built stronger feminist networks in the region.” One Billion Rising Global Coordinator Rada Boric shares her recent experience co-organizing a revolutionary Women’s Court for war crimes committed against women during the wars in the region throughout the 1990’s.

LEARN more about this revolutionary model of justice >

READ reporting on the court >

READ the latest updates on Mary Jane Veloso:

One Billion Rising supporter and survivor Erwiana releases a statement about Mary Jane and human trafficking >

Pinoy Weekly reports How international solidarity helped save Mary Jane >

V-Day Taconic Benefit for Incarcerated Women Friday in NYC, Rise for Nepal, Mother’s Day e-Card and Update on Mary Jane Veloso

V-Day Taconic To Present Benefit Production of “The Vagina Monologues”

After their successful performance on April 22nd at Taconic Correctional Facility the cast of V-Day Taconic, including formerly incarcerated women, is headed to Cherry Lane Theater in NYC on Friday, May 8th. Cherry Lane is donating their space so that all proceeds will benefit the Blackbird Project at Women’s Prison Association.

The Blackbird Project is designed to integrate life coaching and arts-based intervention to promote physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being for women who are currently involved in the criminal justice system, re-entering the community following incarceration, or living in one of WPA’s residences. Jenna Worsham (Broadway’s The Heidi Chronicles) is directing and the cast consists of formerly incarcerated women, professional actresses and activists.

For more information & to purchase tix >

READ a review of the performance at Taconic >

WATCH the preview film >

Celebrate Mother’s Day

Celebrate Mother’s Day by supporting our rising work to end violence against women and girls. Make a donation to V-Day on behalf of your mother, friends, and loved ones, and V-Day will send the specially designed 2015 Mother’s Day V-Card of your choice letting them know of their unique gift in their honor.

CLICK HERE to give this V-Gift >
To send a V-Card on the donate page, check the box next to “Donate on behalf of a loved one?” labeled “Yes, I would like to send a V-Day e-card,” chose the design you would like to send, and fill in the rest of the information to finish designing your gift.

Support Our Sisters And Brothers In Nepal

Over a week out from the devastating earthquake in Nepal, the need for support and solidarity is increasing. The road to rehabilitation after such a tragic loss in ongoing and. “We appeal to One Billion Rising activists all over the world, to stand and rise for our sisters and brothers in Nepal – as we did for our sisters and brothers in Bangladesh when the garment factory, Rana Plaza collapsed – and in the Philippines last year, when Typhoon Haiyan devastated the city of Tacloban and neighboring cities – with both tragedies claiming thousands of lives. Your help and solidarity provided much needed relief and support then, and we are appealing to you all once again now, to donate so that the people of Nepal can continue to Rise” stated Monique Wilson, One Billion Rising Director.

All funds will go directly to communities affected by the earthquake, administered and facilitated by One Billion Rising Nepal groups on the ground.

DONATE to the RISING FUND for Nepal >

Mary Jane Veloso’s Execution Temporarily Suspended

Thanks to widespread international solidarity of the “Save The Life Of Mary Jane” campaign and the pressure put on the Indonesian and Filipino governments, Mary Jane Veloso, the domestic worker who was a victim of multiple violences and human trafficking was granted a temporary stay of execution. We would like to thank the One Billion Rising community for their ongoing support during the run-up to the reprieve and who remain committed to her long term freedom and security.

READ the update >

EVE ENSLER STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF FILIPINA MIGRANT WORKER MARY JANE VELOSO

On behalf of One Billion Rising activists, we would like to appeal to the Indonesian government for clemency for Filipina migrant worker Mary Jane Veloso, who is awaiting execution in Indonesia. We are asking Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to spare Mary Jane’s life as she is clearly a victim of both trafficking and economic violence. Mary Jane is due to be executed on Tuesday, April 28th, for carrying 2.6 kilos of heroin into Indonesia, a crime she has pleaded not guilty to as she was deceived and manipulated into doing it. But what is not as visible to society at large and to the world are the invisible hands of poverty and grave economic need that so desperately drive women like Mary Jane out of their home countries and into worst forms of economic enslavement, exploitation and abuse in other countries. Mary Jane was first a victim of human trafficking, having been tricked into a false job in Malaysia.

She was then victimised a second time when, upon arrest, she lacked access to justice outside her home country. Faulty legal procedures and court-provided interpreters gave Mary Jane huge challenges and difficulties understanding the legal proceedings. But what has to be understood is that before she even left to work abroad, Mary Jane was already a victim of forced labor migration, pushed by poverty to seek employment away from everything she knew to be home, by any means possible and available to her, just so that could provide food and education for her two young sons. As a single mother, it must have been harrowing to leave her infant children behind. And even more harrowing is the fact that she has sat in an Indonesian jail for five years where, today, her two young sons are saying goodbye. Saying good-bye to their mother they barely knew, pulled away from them so early, only to be executed by firing squad for simply having the desire to give them a better future. People like Mary Jane should not be the ones punished for wanting only what is humanely due to people – a dignified life where aspirations for their children are cradled and nurtured in possibility and hope. The ones who should be accountable are the people who tricked her, who used her, and her government that is mandated to protect and respect her basic human rights for a dignified life. Not a single mother from a peasant family, reared in poverty caused by the exploitation of resources, who are then pushed to migrate – only to be used as cheap and dispensable labor.

We urge President Joko Widodo to save Mary Jane – and to treat her not as a criminal, but as a victim of successive and incessant exploitation. It is all our responsibility to understand the contexts of economic deprivation and exploitation and its connection to the escalating violence being experienced by women all over the world – and do everything in our power to challenge and change the system that perpetuates this violence.

We, the global One Billion Rising community, RISE in solidarity with Mary Jane. We RISE for JUSTICE for her. And we will continue to RISE for REVOLUTION for all migrant workers around the world – to demand their dignity, respect, equality and freedom.

Eve Ensler

V-Day Taconic Presents “THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES” A Prison and Benefit Production

OVERVIEW:

NY-based activists, Elizabeth Mackintosh, Elyse Sholk, and Noelle Cristiano are mounting a benefit production of The Vagina Monologues in conjunction with V-Day, Eve Ensler’s global organization founded to end violence against women and girls. The fundraising event will take place on May 8th at Cherry Lane Theatre, following a performance at Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford, NY on April 22nd. Proceeds from our one-night event will benefit a nonprofit working to end violence against women and girls.

V-Day Taconic will be directed by Jenna Worsham (Broadway’s The Heidi Chronicles) and feature a cast of formerly incarcerated women, professional actresses, and activists.

V-Day’s One Billion Rising Campaign has steadily gained momentum over the past few years, with Broadway theaters holding post-show dance parties on February 14th and thousands of productions of TVM being held all over the world. Our event will highlight currently and formerly incarcerated women – two populations that are very much affected by gender based violence. Our hope is that this production of The Vagina Monologues will help facilitate healing, empowerment and transformation among the women at Taconic, while raising awareness in the NYC community.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Right now we’ve got an amazing team of women coming together to make this happen. Every single person involved in V-Day Taconic is volunteering their time. We have made it a top priority to obtain donated performance space in order to cut all administrative and overhead costs and ensure all proceeds raised go directly to our beneficiary. We are appealing to individuals or organizations that can help us continue to bring V-Day Taconic to fruition by providing any one of the following items:

• $500 to rent a van to transport the entire cast and production team to and from Taconic

Donors will be recognized in our program and marketing materials. If you are interested in sponsoring V-Day Taconic, please contact Elyse Sholk (elysegs(at)gmail.com) and Elizabeth Mackintosh (elizabethmackintoshinc(at)gmail.com).

THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES: International Women’s Day

Sunday, 8 March marks International Women’s Day and activist around the world celebrating and RISING!

One Billion Rising: Revolution continues to escalate, growing out of 14 February, through 8 March all the way until 1 May, International Workers Day. This week major events are happening in Bangladesh, Guyana, India, the Philippines, and more. In Haiti as they build to Rev Pa’m Fest, in Joburg, South African youth activist are leading the way on the ground and with online activism, Kinshasa DRC is dancing and RISING in the face of multiple oppressions, and activists in Mongolia are RISING across sectors: V-Men, students, actors, health workers, and participants from Ulaanbaatar to Sükhbaatar Province are joining the Revolution!

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