As we near the end of the year, our hearts are full with the abundance of love that fuels our movement, led by survivors, youth, artists & activists in countries everywhere. Together, we are united in our fight to end violence against all women and girls (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender based violence) and we stand side by side in global solidarity until the violence stops.
In breathtaking solidarity, women leaders in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya are pushing boundaries and creating spaces born from the vision of local women survivors where women and girls turn their pain into power. They are creating a world where women can thrive rather than merely survive.
To send a V-Card on the donation pages, check the box next to “I’d like to make this contribution in honor or memory of someone” and then “I’d like to notify someone of this contribution,” then fill in the rest of the information to finish designing your gift.
Support their work this season. Give the gift of JOY, donate today:
Raise the Vibration, Educate a Generation! City of Knowledge in Kabul
City of Knowledge (CKO), – formerly Promoting Women’s Capability by Education Center –is an education center for girls and women in Kabul, Afghanistan where women turn their pain to power. Rising in the face of four decades of war that has left a huge population of Afghan women illiterate and several generations of women deprived of education, City of Knowledge is an education center for girls and women that offers courses in Computers, Science, Literacy, Arts, English, and Women’s rights. Graduates go on to pursue university and the careers of their choice, becoming the future doctors, engineers, lawyers, scientists, artists, and technical experts of Afghanistan, and inspiring countless others to do the same.
View the video (above) to get to know City of Knowledge. Donate today.
Changing Culture, Educating Girls; the V-Day Safe House for the Girls in Narok, Kenya
Led by Agnes Pareyio, the founder of Tasaru Ntomonok, Chair of the Anti-FGM Board of Kenya, and UN Person of the Year for Kenya (2005), Agnes and her team bravely confront the cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Maasai community in Kenya and have won many hard-earned victories, influencing community members to take on alternative rite of passage rituals, and educating women and men alike about the power of an educated girl.
Each year, hundreds of girls’ lives – and that of their families – are transformed because of their work and vision.
The City of Joy is a revolutionary leadership center for women survivors of gender violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is place where women turn their pain into power, a place that restores women’s sense of agency over their lives as they learn real, practical life skills to feed their futures, and connects them to the global V-Day movement, one billion strong. From the return of warmth and joy into women’s lives, to a reconnection to their bodies, to the feeling of empowerment each woman feels when she masters a new skill or acquires life-changing knowledge, the City of Joy gives women a platform to transform their pasts into fuel for a revolution of the mind, body, and community.
Over 1380 women have graduated to date. Over 1380 women have been educated, healed, and nurtured. Since the beginning of the program, these women have released massive trauma and horrific memories. And they have experienced pure joy – dancing, singing, learning and leading in community, no longer stigmatized for being raped but instead acting as forces of energy and determination. Today, graduates are teachers, journalists, business entrepreneurs, initiators of collectives, restaurants owners, and farmers. They advocate on sexual violence, volunteer in a self-created recruiting network for new candidates at City of Joy. Some are students, immigration workers, tailors, and herbalists. And other graduates are employed in the V-World Farm. The list goes on.
A woman who comes through the City of Joy is forever changed by it. She laughs more, she leads more, she gives more.
JOIN US, support the urgent work to end violence against women and girls in Kabul, Narok and Bukavu. Your trust, generosity and vision make our movement possible!
P.S. If your gift is already on its way, thank you!
V-Day is a California 501(c)(3) public charity and is one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar. 31 December is the last day to make charitable donations in order to claim them on your 2019 tax return.
For our 2020 season, we’ve released the a cappella arrangement of “Like A Woman”, by the Grammy award winning producer Ben Bram (Pentatonix). The song was first released as a single and accompanying music video in celebration of International Women’s Day 2019.
“‘Like A Woman’ invites men to actively recognize women in the face of the violence and systemic injustices they experience. In the [music] video, men (cisgender, transgender and those who hold fluid identities) challenge themselves and act in gratitude towards, uplift, and give due praise to the women who take on revolutionary and critical roles in their lives.” – Susan Celia Swan, Executive Director of V-Day
“Like A Woman” is now available to be performed by a cappella groups either on its own (at your annual jams, concerts etc.) or in conjunction with your local V-Day (The Vagina Monologues, A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer, and/or Raise the Vibration) and/or One Billion Rising event.
Get creative with adding this new piece into your event. Have someone introduce the song, host a discussion panel to look at the ways that men can actively become a part of the movement and RISE in solidarity.
“Two years ago, inspired by my involvement with V-Day and amidst the horror of our political shift, I wrote ‘Like a Woman’ to proclaim, from a man’s voice, my devotion to womankind. The song is a call to men to actively celebrate women and stand up against those who restrict women’s rights and/or perpetuate patriarchal abuse around the world. I am so happy to partner with One Billion Rising to bring this message far and wide.” – Ryan Amador, singer/songwriter of “Like a Woman.” This release was part of V-Day’s 20th anniversary initiative to create disruptive art pieces that inspire people to RISE.
What better way to raise the vibration in 2020 by bringing this to your community than performing it with fellow activists using the power of song to uplift women and stand up against perpetuators of patriarchal abuse?
We feel the energy of rising up, of resistance, of bold artistic energy and creativity coming forward from V-Day and One Billion Rising activists across the globe. At the City of Joy in Congo, 1294 women survivors have graduated, and the documentary film also entitled CITY OF JOY is available on Netflix, bringing a vast global audience their message of Turning Pain to Power.
Just days after she delivered the talk, Eve Ensler’s newest TED talk “The Profound Power of An Authentic Apology” has been released, one of the first videos coming out of TEDWomen 2019. Held in Palm Springs, the annual event was founded and is editorially directed by V-Day Board member and author of Dangerous Women Pat Mitchell.
“For a few years now, we’ve been calling men out. It had to be done. But lately, I’ve been thinking–we need to do something even harder. We need to find a way, as my good friend Tony Porter says, to call them in.” – Eve Ensler
From TED: Genuine apology goes beyond remorse, says legendary playwright Eve Ensler. In this frank, wrenching talk, she shares how she transformed her own experience of abuse into wisdom on what wrongdoers can do and say to truly repent — and offers a four-step roadmap to help begin the process. (This talk contains mature content.)
Eve’s appearance at TED comes immediately following her tour of India and Taiwan where she made a series of appearances on behalf of The Apology and participated in One Billion Rising events and actions.
While in India, Eve also completed a roundtable with feminist reporters resulting in a wave of media coverage and deep dialogue within the country about the book and the issues it raises. “I honestly think if we’re going to undo patriarchy men have to lead this, because they are the people who benefit from it.” says Eve in an interview with photographer Howard Schatz. She spoke with outlets including Vogue India, Hindustan Times, National Herald, and more about the transformational quality of a genuine apology and the necessity of men to do the work of rising up against this violence and taking responsibility for their role in perpetuating patriarchal violence.
Below are some inspiring takeaways:
“What’s changing? That is a deep concern of mine. We will call out, but if men are not using this as a moment to say, ‘I’ve got to investigate how I have been created in a toxic masculine world; do I even know what rape and abuse really is’, how will we change?” said Eve to Dhamini Ratnam of The Hindustan Times.
“The 31 years that my father has been dead, I have worked day in and day out to end violence against all women and girls. In that time, we have seen women break their silence, tell their stories, risk humiliation, attack and yet in all that time there has been no public apology. So, then I thought, why don’t I write the words to myself, the words I long to hear,” said Ensler.
“I wrote The Apology because in all the years of working in this movement, in all the recent cases of #MeToo, perhaps in 16,000 years of patriarchy, I had never heard a man make a public, thorough, authentic apology for sexual or physical abuse towards girls, boys or women. My father says in The Apology ‘to be an apologist is to be a traitor to men. Once one man admits he knows it was wrong, the whole story of patriarchy begins to collapse.’ Now is the time for men to become gender traitors, and begin the apology process.” said Eve, for The Times of India
The events ‐ led by One Billion Rising’s Chi Hui-Jung, Kamla Bhasin, Abha Bahaiya, and Anthony Carlisle – were transformative and the dialogue to end violence against all women and girls is continuing throughout India.
The Toolkit – created by Farah Tanis, a transnational Black feminist, human rights activist and co-founder and Executive Director of Black Women’s Blueprint, the toolkit is designed to help survivors and their allies grapple with the idea of reckoning and apology.
The Website – Building upon years of work with survivors, activists and anti-violence groups, V-Day launched theapologybook.net as an online space for readers, activists and survivors to process and explore the themes raised in the book, for perpetrators to begin their own processes of accountability and apology, and for survivors to write imagined apologies and offer themselves healing.
Support #VDay, the global activist movement to end violence against all women and girls (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender based violence).
V-Day, One Billion Rising, & City of Joy activists everywhere are RAISING THE VIBRATION through Action, Art, Connection, Imagination and Love.
As we write, activists are busy rehearsing for The Vagina Monologues, readying creative resistance actions and City of Joy screenings, and planning Risings in colleges, cities, communities and countries around the globe. At City of Joy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 16th class will graduate this month!
V-Day East Greenwich, RI
Photo Credit: Atong Atem
Activists are Rising against a rising tide of right-wing nationalism, white supremacy, fascism, tyranny, hatred of and fear of immigrants, misogyny, femicide, homophobia, transphobia, corporate greed and climate destruction. They are raising the stakes in 2020, further escalating the urgency with which we feel compelled to fight for gender, climate, economic and racial justice – and tirelessly working to end harassment, rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation and sex slavery.
Our work is more critical than ever. Your trust, generosity and vision make our movement possible. DONATE today.
In breathtaking solidarity, grassroots activists push boundaries and engage in dialogue through an intersectional lens, with art and activism always at the forefront.
Your solidarity and support makes this movement possible!
V-Day is a California 501(c)(3) public charity and is one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar.
On Monday, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Vlisco and the City of Joy honored the “World’s Strongest Women” with the launch of a new collection of fabrics that symbolizes their recovery from rape and trauma, and their journey from pain to power.
Gabriela Sanchez y Sanchez de la Barquera traveled to Congo where she was awed by the strength of the women and their journey from suffering to a place of love and hope. The fabrics are marked by the words ‘Love’, ‘Respect’ and ‘Strength’ and reflect their healing and renewal through sisterhood, love and mutual respect.
The collection is made up of five printed super-wax fabric patterns in bold, bright patterns, created using the old techniques of wax printing. The fabric designs pay tribute to the vagina and the natural beauty of the Congo region. Profits from the sale of the collection will be donated by Vlisco to the City of Joy.
Five African female designers, including former Fashion Scout Merit Award winner Tolu Coker, Aisha Ayensu founder and creative director of Christie Brown, recognised as a key player in the rise of contemporary African fashion, Bubu Ogisi creative director of contemporary womenswear brand Iamisigo, Ivory Coast-born Rebeccas Zoro from ready-to-wear brand Yhebe, and Nigerian Abiola Adeniran-Olusola who launched her eponymous fashion brand in 2017 after her studies in Paris.
These revolutionary designers have been working with several City of Joy graduates to create personalized dresses that showcase the themes behind City of Joy and highlights the strength of the bond of sisterhood.
The City of Joy collection is full of over 100 vibrant colors made with traditional Dutch wax printing and honors the strength and the journey of the women who have worked to move from a place of pain to one of love and healing. In addition, the fabrics highlight the orchid, a symbol of the deep turmoil that women face while the full bloom showcases the strength and beauty of the vagina. Other themes include the Congo River, representing the lush landscape, and the Bouquet, which depicts the vagina in a stark way and the flowers breathe back life and hope. The Congo theme highlights Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder of the Panzi Hospital and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. He is represented by the lion.
GIVE JOY
This giving season, give JOY, support the women at City of Joy.
RAISE THE VIBRATION FOR 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM (25 NOVEMBER – 10 DECEMBER), RISINGS LAUNCH GLOBALLY
From 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to RISE and RAISE THE VIBRATION to end violence against all women and girls (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender-based violence).
In honor of this day and to celebrate the One Billion Rising launches that have taken place and those that will launch today – including OBR South Asia, OBR Bangladesh, OBR Philippines, OBR Mexico, Congo, Swaziland and 17 countries in OBR Africa, we have news to share.
We mark today with the release of two new art pieces by extraordinary artists whose work represents our global 2020 call for Action, Art, Connection, Imagination and Love.
“WE ARE RISING”, A NEW LIBERATION SONG, BY TAÍNA ASILI – RELEASED TODAY
Social justice artist Taína Asili has composed and written a liberation song – in collaboration with One Billon Rising, entitled “We Are Rising.” We are honored that Taína has created this new anthem for One Billion Rising. It is a call to action, to dance, to RISE. The song celebrates our collective energy, creative resistance, and solidarity as we RISE against the tides of violence against all women, climate crisis, racism and corporate greed. Executive Produced by Eve Ensler, Susan Celia Swan & Monique Wilson for One Billion Rising.
“Music has always been the heartbeat of our movements for liberation. With “We Are Rising” I offer women around the world a new anthem to help us tap into the energy, strength, courage and wisdom needed to usher in a new era of justice and healing.” – Taína Asili
Taína is a New York based Puerto Rican singer, filmmaker, and activist whose work honors the tradition of her ancestors and carries themes of hope and liberation, which surges into one soulful and defiant voice.
Listen, share, and spread the song, RAISE the vibration for freedom for women around the world. Together, We Are RISING.
NEW! RAISE THE VIBRATION ART/POSTER DESIGNED BY ARTIST/ACTIVIST ALIXA GARCIA UNVEILED
Artist and activist Alixa Garcia, of the globally recognized spoken word duo Climbing PoeTree, has designed a poster for Raise the Vibration. The design echoes the themes of the campaign and Alixa and Eve’s collaborative vision of where this campaign will take us as we Raise the Vibration globally. We envision this image EVERYWHERE WE RISE, at events, on stage, on the sides of buildings, sidewalks, buses, taxis, you name it. We invite you to be creative!
“We are raising the vibration in the face of mediocrity, falsehood, greed, destruction, and separation. We are centralizing nature in this process and remembering that we are her. As our earth transforms, we transform with her, and just like the seed that has cracked open in the depth of the earth, we too have but only one direction to go.” – Alixa Garcia
In 2020, together we RISE to free all women from sexual, physical, racial, economic, political, socio-cultural, ideological and climate crisis violence. We RISE to end rape, battery, incest, sexual harassment, female genital mutilation, sexual slavery and trafficking, child marriage, femicide, sexual, gender and reproductive oppression, and violence towards LGBTQIA+ communities. We RISE to end capitalism, colonization, racism, imperialism, climate catastrophe and war.
We feel the energy of rising up, of resistance, of bold artistic energy and creativity coming forward from V-Day and One Billion Rising activists across the globe. At the City of Joy in Congo, 1294 women survivors have graduated, and the documentary film also entitled CITY OF JOY is available on Netflix, bringing a vast global audience their message of Turning Pain to Power.
Please join us in welcoming Roslyn Smith to the V-Day team. As Program Manager, Roz will oversee V-Day’s new Beyond Incarceration project which will further expand and deepen V-Day’s ongoing work with formerly incarcerated women and incarcerated women, engaging and educating activists throughout the US and worldwide in a dialogue around restorative justice.
Roz brings her personal experience from long-term incarceration as a vehicle for her work as a criminal justice reform advocate. “As I think about both the roots of my involvement in violence and the issue of responsibility, I know that increasingly it is understood that people who cause harm have often been victims themselves of violence. I also read more and more about the recognition that prisons are mainly sites of punishment, not places designed to help people grow and find self-worth, develop the capacity to redirect their lives, and to confirm their humanity,” said Roslyn.
Roslyn obtained her Bachelor’s degree while incarcerated and created curriculum and taught parenting classes for and with other mothers in prison. In addition, she worked with Puppies Behind Bars, a non-profit organization that trains incarcerated people to raise service dogs for veterans and first responders. She initiated the blog series for V-Day’s 2019 Spotlight on Women in Prison, Detention Centers, and Formerly Incarcerated Women.
A featured speaker in both academic and business settings, she has collaborated with the Osborne Association, Columbia University, the Brooklyn District Attorney Reentry Program and various other criminal justice reform groups. Roz was featured in the award-winning PBS film, “What I Want My Words To Do To You” that documents the writing workshop at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women, conducted and led by Eve Ensler. Since her release after serving 39 years, she has devoted her time between her daughter and her advocacy work.
Roz, we could not be more excited to have you joining the amazing V-team! We are honored and grateful to you for bringing your voice and vision to our shared work.
DISPATCHES FROM BEYOND INCARCERATION BLOG LAUNCHES
Today, we also announce Roz’ newly expanded blog, Dispatches from Beyond Incarceration, where Roz will write an ongoing series about her experiences as a formerly incarcerated women, including short and long dispatches on prison reform and prison abolition, often highlighting news articles around the experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, pieces highlighting what she’s thinking about, what she’s worried about, including interviews with formerly incarcerated women, stories from prison, visions of a world without prison, how violence against women leads to women coming to prison and then the violence they experience there, all the while highlighting important data and facts that shed light on incarceration and our commitment to restorative justice models.
You will hear from women whose lives have been profoundly impacted by the prison and detention system on issues as far ranging as: trauma and abuse; shackling; transgender experiences; dignity; health and mental health; experiences of long term inmates; the youth/school to prison pipeline; the experiences of mothers and children navigating the immigration system; higher education in prison; and reentry and technology.
We are thrilled to share the news that V-Board Member, Pat Mitchell, groundbreaking media icon and advocate for women’s rights, has released a new memoir detailing her journey from her childhood in the South to her rise in media and global affairs. In Becoming a Dangerous Woman, Pat Mitchell shares anecdotes from traveling in war zones with V-Day/One Billion Rising Founder Eve Ensler and Glenn Close to navigating power structures in Washington D.C.
“I can think of no woman who does more to move other women forward. From creating and providing platforms for women to share their voices, to making sure women are hired on the job, to insisting women are front and center in the media, to sharing, mentoring, networking, and always highlighting the best in us. Her life and being is a true lesson in sisterhood.” — Eve Ensler
The book features interviews with V-Day activists including City of Joy Co-Founder and Director Christine Schuler Deschryver, One Billion Rising Global Director Monique Wilson, V-Day Safe House for the Girls Founder Agnes Pareyio, and Afghan women’s leader Zoya.
“Dangerous times call for dangerous women,” Mitchell tells us, and in sharing her story, she encourages others to braver and bolder, to dismantle the barriers to full equality they see in their own lives, and to embrace risk to create a more equitable world. The book covers many of her career highlights such as being one of the first women reporters and anchors for national television, the first female president and CEO of PBS, and her role in creating TEDWoman.
Pat Mitchell is a relentless advocate for women and has paved the way for more dangerous women to RISE to power and dismantle the barriers of gender inequality.
“Equality can’t wait – and we can’t play our part from the sidelines.” — Pat Mitchell
ONE BILLION RISING STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF CORA AGOVIDA, GABRIELA MANILA CHAIRPERSON/ONE BILLION RISING (OBR) ACTIVIST AND ALL WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN THE PHILIPPINES
One Billion Rising stands in solidarity with GABRIELA and all activists in the midst of the recent spate of attacks against human rights in the Philippines. We condemn the illegal arrest of Cora Agovida, GABRIELA Manila Chairperson and fellow One Billion Rising activist. OBR also condemns the simultaneous raids conducted by the CIDG-PNP on the offices of Gabriela, Bayan Muna and the National Federation of Sugar Workers in the afternoon of the same day.
We call for the immediate release of those arrested in the raids. We vehemently condemn the use of spurious search warrants to orchestrate raids and mass arrests based on fabricated evidences against members and leaders of legitimate people’s organizations. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Duterte government’s continuous attacks against women and the Filipino people and its implementation of Executive Order No. 70 and the operation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which has unleashed deadly attacks against activists in the Philippines.
These allegations are a vile attempt to malign GABRIELA’s integrity and the women it represents. These allegations are meant to silence GABRIELA and all its principles and vision of a truly equitable, empowering, just and free society for women and the people that it has been pressing on for decades. We firmly urge the Philippine judiciary to not be an accessory to the Duterte administration and its ilk’s moves to violate the law and further suppress democracy in the Philippines.
As OBR activists, we stand with our sisters in the Philippines and all over the world who are being targeted for their activism, for defending their rights and their communities, and for working tirelessly for a better society without oppression, exploitation, and violence. As the macho-fascist, misogynist, and right-wing governments are on the rise, we also vow to take stronger stand and raise our voices even louder for our sisters whose voices are being silenced.
We RISE in Solidarity with and for our sisters – until the violence stops.
Free Cora Agovida!
Defend Filipino Women!
Stop the attacks against women human rights defenders!
Activists around the world are planning their Risings and V-Day benefits, and the 16th class at City of Joy in the Democratic Republic of Congo is well underway.
Here are recent October updates and news for upcoming events!
JOIN Eve and Jane Fonda for a TEACH IN on Women & Climate This Thursday
Last month, hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets all over the world to demand action against the climate crisis that will destroy our planet and make it inhospitable for the human race. “We have to act like our house is on fire, because it is,” said Greta Thunberg.
That’s why Jane Fonda, one of V-Day’s Board members, began Fire Drill Fridays, an action to highlight the importance of taking decisive climate crisis action now. Jane will be protesting every Friday, for the next four months, in front of the U.S. Capitol, at 11 AM ET and demand action be taken to address the climate crisis. She will be joined by scientists, Indigenous leaders, community members, movement leaders, and experts.
In addition to Jane Fonda’s weekly Friday action, she will also conduct a Thursday evening teach-in, covering various topics related to the climate crisis. While the climate crisis threatens everyone, vulnerable populations such as women, are threatened.
Join us in NYC for BE HEARD ON THE THIRD on 3 November!
Everyone deserves equality, safety, and dignity at work. Join the Be Heard Coalition, on Sunday, 3 November at Caveat in New York City for an empowering afternoon of storytelling. With the introduction of the Be Heard Act – comprehensive legislation to address workplace harassment – survivors and women will be rising every third of each month to demand local and federal policy change. It is a nonpartisan and educational event which will feature women from many different sectors of the workforce, such as State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, actress Alysia Reiner, producer, actor, and director Carmen Lobue, and workplace culture strategist Daisy Auger-Dominguez.
OBR Bangladesh Premieres New Theme Song, AMI SHIKHA
OBR Bangladesh commemorated their 2020 launch event with the premiere of a new theme song (in association with Colours FM 101.6). Entitled “Ami Shikha“, it is an artistic reminder to their commitment to ending social inequality and violence against women.
One Billion Rising South Africa Coordinator Lucinda Evans Honored on BBC’S TOP 100 WOMEN OF 2019
Congratulations to Lucinda Evans, One Billion Rising South Africa Coordinator, on being named by the BBC as a Top 100 Women of 2019. Lucinda Evans founded Philisa Abafazi Bethu (Xhosa for Heal Our Women) in 2008 to primarily help women and children suffering from sexual and physical abuse by offering services such as counselling, search committees for kidnapped girls, and safe houses for women escaping intimate partner violence. In response to South Africa experiencing rising rates of murder and rape against women and girls, Lucinda Evans continues to be a leader for us all by leading nationwide marches and rallying thousands of women in the streets of Cape Town, to demand action.
“My hopes, as a Khoisan woman, are that we will one day be freed from violence against our bodies, and the bodies of our daughters, sisters, mothers and aunties. I hope that one day we will have a female president. For this, I will continue to advocate and rise in pain to power.”
A new survey from the Association of American Universities reveals that almost one in four undergraduate college students have experienced sexual assault at 33 major universities. Released on 15 October 2019, it is the second one in recent years to document widespread sexual assault at public and private universities. These statistics remind us of why V-Day student activists produce The Vagina Monologues – and other artistic works – to raise and funds awareness to benefit centers and shelters that provide critical support for survivors everywhere.
Actor, Activist & #VDay Board Member Jane Fonda is RISING! Fire Drill Friday Teach-Ins, actions and demonstrations every week. Don’t Miss Teach-In: Women – on Women and Climate with Jane and Eve Together with Frontline Activists
Inspired by Greta Thunberg and the groundswell of support she and other young climate activists have inspired across the world – as well as the visionary work of Naomi Klein, Reverend William Barber’s Moral Mondays and Randall Robinson’s anti-apartheid protests – actor/activist and V-Board member Jane Fonda is upending her life and moving to Washington, D.C. for 4 months to be at the epicenter of the fight for climate justice where she will hold “Fire Drill Fridays.” Jane explains:
“Our climate is in crisis. Scientists are shouting an urgent warning: we have little more than a decade to take bold, ambitious action to transition our economy off of fossil fuels and onto clean, renewable energy. We need a Green New Deal to mobilize our government and every sector of the economy to tackle the overlapping crises of climate change, inequality, and structural racism at the scale and speed our communities require. We need and deserve a world beyond fossil fuels while creating millions of family-sustaining, union jobs, and prioritizing justice and equity for working people and communities of color on the frontlines of climate disaster and fossil fuel exploitation, so the clean energy transformation leaves nobody behind.”
At yesterday’s first Fire Drill Friday demonstration over climate change, Jane was arrested as she was among those protesting in Washington, D.C. on the Capitol. The Hollywood Reporter reported, “The actress was protesting with the group Oil Change International over the climate crisis… ‘I can no longer stand by and let our elected officials ignore — and even worse — empower — the industries that are destroying our planet for profit. We can not continue to stand for this.'”
Through mid-January, Jane will hold Thursday evening teach-ins (which can be viewed virtually on Facebook Live) with scientists, movement leaders, experts, activists, Indigenous leaders, community members and youth. On Fridays she will lead demonstrations at the US Capitol, each of which will have a different focus. At the demonstrations, Jane will invite activists, thinkers and leaders to speak to the crowd, some of whom will invite arrest.
Join Jane Fonda and Eve Ensler on 31 October to explain how Women and Climate are so intrinsically connected.
In this Thursday Teach-In on 31 October, our focus will be Women. Climate change is a women’s issue! And women are at the heart of climate solutions. While the climate crisis threatens everyone, it especially impacts vulnerable populations, including women and girls. In many places, extreme weather events increase the workload women have and adds enormous risk to their safety and security. Often, women and girls are the last to be rescued, and the last to be given crucial resources like food and water. They overwhelmingly face greater health and safety risks as water and sanitation systems become compromised as well. The good news is that promoting women’s rights, increasing women and girls’ education, advancing reproductive justice and centering women and girls in climate solutions works. Around the world, women and girls are leading climate solutions, from stopping deforestation and improving agricultural practices to leading Climate Strikes and running for office as the kind of real climate leaders the world needs.
Fire Drill Fridays is setting forth an urgent and bold set of demands:
A GREEN NEW DEAL
Transform our economy to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2030 and phase out all fossil fuel extraction through a just and equitable transition, creating millions of good jobs
A halt to all leasing and permitting for fossil fuel extraction, processing and infrastructure projects immediately in order to avoid a lock-in of increased emissions as we work together for a responsible transition to clean, renewable energy.
RESPECT OF INDIGENOUS LAND AND SOVEREIGNTY
Honor the treaties protecting Indigenous lands, waters, and sovereignty by the immediate halt of all construction, leasing and permitting for resource extraction, processing and infrastructure projects affecting or on Indigenous lands
Recognize the Rights of Nature into law to protect our sacred ecosystems and align human law with natural law to ban resource extraction in defense of our environment and people
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
A transition that invests in prosperity for communities on the frontlines of poverty and pollution
Welcoming those displaced by the cumulative effects of the climate crisis, economic inequality, violence, and lack of opportunity
PROTECTION AND RESTORATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Protection and restoration of at least 30% of the world’s lands and oceans including a halt to all deforestation by 2030
IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Investment in farmers and regenerative agriculture and an end to subsidies for industrial agriculture.
This giving season, give JOY, support the women at City of Joy.
Please join us in welcoming Roslyn Smith to the V-Day team. As Program Manager, Roz will oversee V-Day’s new Beyond Incarceration project which will further expand and deepen V-Day’s ongoing work with formerly incarcerated women and incarcerated women, engaging and educating activists throughout the US and worldwide in a dialogue around restorative justice.
