Join us at the opening service, Why We Give A F*ck!, of Word*Rock*&Sword: A Festival Celebration of Womens Lives on Sunday, September 16 at 4pm.
Why We Give A F*ck! Opening Service
Sunday, September 16
4:00 p.m.
The Brecht Forum
451 West Street
(between Banks and Bethune Streets)
New York, NY
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
From whereever you are, whatever your strength is, you can make a difference for the good of this world. Join the discussion.
- Laura Flanders, Broadcaster and best-selling author, Grit-TV
- Dr. Sara Zaidi, Professor of Educational Foundations and Counseling at Hunter College.
- Jacqueline Woodson, Author of numerous award-winning books for children and young adults.
- J. Bob Alotta, Executive Director, Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice
And be sure to check out the Word*Rock*&Sword Festival line up with concerts and events in New York City through Sunday, September 23rd!
Join the Astraea Foundation at EDGE Funders Alliance’s Just Giving: 2012 Conference from September 5-7, 2012. On September 6, we welcome you to join us at two breakout sessions: A Dialogue with Donors and Activists on Economic Rights, Not Economic Rescue, and Speak Up and Speak Out: Media and Movement Building.
How Philanthropy Can Meet the Challenges of Our Time
Just Giving: Global Social Change Philanthropy Conference
September 5-7, 2012
Doubletree Berkeley Marina Hotel
200 Marina Blvd.
Berkeley, CA 94710
REGISTER HERE
On September 6th, Astraea invites you to two Breakout Workshops:
A Dialogue with Donors and Activists on Economic Rights, Not Economic Rescue
10:45 AM to 12:30 PM
Current economic development discourses ignore the root causes of poverty and shift donors focus away from promoting actual economic rights. This world café style session will explore how to work together as a movement to use coordinated strategies to influence resources into the sector and develop a set of messages towards promoting economic justice. We will focus on debunking three common myths: Economic Justice cant be achieved by working with marginalized communities; Microfinance is the best strategy to achieve womens economic empowerment; and Measuring rights based change is too difficult. Session participants will have opportunities to speak with peers on these three issues as they relate to economic rights, share their experience and explore their own inquires. With: Mónica Enríquez-Enríquez, Astraea Foundation; Susan Jessop, MamaCash; Erika Guevara, Global Fund for Women.
Speak Up and Speak Out: Media and Movement Building
3:30 PM to 5:15 PM
Dynamic and strong independent media is necessary for the progress of any social movement for change, including the movements for gender, racial equality, and global justice. Organizations have developed cost-effective strategies to enable people to speak up and speak out on issues and perspectives not previously covered in mainstream media. Join us to gain an understanding of how funders are making media a central strategy, and how they are helping grantee partners to amplify their stories and make waves locally and globally. We will discuss how journalism, radio and film serve to change laws, policies, behaviors and mindsets leading to true paradigm shifts. With: Selly Thiam, None on Record; Cristi Hegranes, The Global Press Institute; J. Bob Alotta, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice; Mariam Armisen, Queer African Youth Networking Center (Burkina Faso).
The Astraea Foundation will sponsor two sessions on Wednesday, July 18th at the 2012 International Human Rights Funders Group (IHRFG) Conference in New York City.
On July 18th, join the Astraea Foundation at New York University School of Law for two sessions of IHRFG’s New York Conference.
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
IHRFG’s New York Conference
New York University School of Law, D’Agostino Hall*
110 West Third Street, between MacDougal and Sullivan Streets
New York, NY 10012
*This venue is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
10:45 AM -12:15 PM
Movements that Express: Arts and Cultural Advocacy for the Advancement of Human Rights (Sponsored by the Astraea Foundation)
2:45 PM-5:15 PM
Closing Plenary Session
Who Gets the Money? Scrambling Power Dynamics in Human Rights Grantmaking
An exposition of three grantmaking practice questions:
- Grantees as grants decision-makers (Sponsored by Mama Cash and Open Society Foundations)
- The role and future of intermediaries (Sponsored by Groundswell Fund, Astraea Foundation, Wellspring Advisors)
- Grantmaking to bring marginal groups to the mainstream (American Jewish World Service, IHRFG Disability Rights Working Group, Disability Rights Fund, Mama Cash, Wellspring Advisors) Click here for more info and to register
On Saturday, July 14, Astraea is sponsoring D’FunQT, a one-person show featuring the inimitable comedian D’Lo sharing hilarious and poignant snapshots of the worlds that shaped who he is now.
D’FunQT
Saturday, July 14th, 2012
9:30pm
Dixon Place Theater
161A Chrystie Street
NY, NY 10002
Part of Dixon Place’s annual HOT FESTIVAL, DFunQT is a one-person show featuring L.A. based theater artist/writer D’Lo. D’Lo grew up in a strict immigrant family, caught between two overzealous parents who provided a wealth of material for his self-reflective musings, rants, and side-splitting coming out stories. Written and performed Leguizamo-style, this one-person show celebrates the joy of survival in a world often intolerant of difference. As a queer boy/stud/transgender person, D’Lo unapologetically takes center stage and uses his fluidly morphing form and spot-on timing to bring the fierce with the funny.
Additional performances run from July 6th to 21st, Fridays and Saturdays at 9:30pm
BUY TICKETS ONLINE
Tickets are $15 pre-sale, and $20 at door. Students and Seniors can pay $15 dollars at door. Box office opens at 9pm. Any inquiries for group discounts and industry tickets please email contact@dixonplace.org.
D’Lo is a queer Tamil Sri L.A.nkan-American, political theatre artist/writer, director, comedian, and music producer. His writing has been published in many anthologies and academic journals. DLo is a recipient of multiple grants from the National Performance Network and has been touring the NPN circuit as well as the college/university circuit for over a decade with performances and speaking engagements, as well as presenting his one-person shows in theaters internationally.
www.dlocokid.com
The Astraea Foundation invites you to an evening of performances and film screenings with gender justice activists from around the world including musician Toshi Reagon, Astraea’s Executive Director J. Bob Alotta, Amina Doherty of FRIDA The Young Feminists Fund, and Selly Thiam of None on Record.
The Astraea Foundation invites you to an evening of performances and film screenings with gender justice activists from around the world including musician Toshi Reagon, Astraea’s Executive Director J. Bob Alotta, Amina Doherty of FRIDA The Young Feminists Fund, and Selly Thiam of None on Record.
Monday, July 9th
Servant Jazz Quarters
10a BRADBURY STREET
DALSTON | London, UK | N16 8JN
Doors open at 8PM
£7 entry
£5 concession
Please spread the word. Join the Facebook event!
Join the Astraea Foundation and Out and Equal Workplace Advocates on Thursday, July 5th in London for the Global LGBT Workplace Summit 2012. Astraea Executive Director J. Bob Alotta will present in the workshop LGBT Workplace Equality in Emerging Markets: How to Get There?
LGBT Workplace Equality in Emerging Markets: How to Get There?
Thursday, July 5th
15:30pm 17:00pm
Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel
200 Westminster Bridge Road
City of London, SE1 7UT, United Kingdom
Click here to register for the summit and for more information.
Please join Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Third Wave Foundation, SparkNYC and SWAN for a screening event of The Invisible War on Friday, June 22nd in New York City.
Friday, June 22nd, 2012
Invisible War Screening in NYC
We will host a pre-screening happy hour as well as a post-screening discussion.
To join us for this film screening and discussion, please email mia@thirdwavefoundation.org.
Click here to order tickets @ $13.50 each
Pre-Screening Happy Hour
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Blue Owl
196 2nd Avenue, between 12th & 13th Streets
Film Screening
8:00 pm – 9:45 pm
AMC Village 7 Theater
66 3rd Avenue, between 11th & 12th Streets
Debrief Discussion
10:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Luzzo’s Restaurant
211 1st Avenue, between 12th & 13th Streets
From Oscar and Emmy nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (This Film Is Not Yet Rated; Twist of Faith) comes The Invisible War, a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of America’s most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. The film paints a startling picture of the extent of the problem-today, a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. The Department of Defense estimates there were a staggering 19,000 violent sex crimes in the military in 2010. The Invisible War exposes the epidemic, breaking open one of the most under-reported stories of our generation, to the nation and the world.
Dance, eat, drink… and support fierce LGBTQI activists around the world! Join Astraea on June 16th in Brooklyn for our annual Party with Pride. Hosted by the Astraea staff and held at the beautiful home of our Executive Director, Party with Pride is your chance get to know us and the communities that support our work.
Event Details
Saturday June 16th, 2012
7 pm9 pm $40+
Performance by
Imani Uzuri! & cocktails from WitchesBrew!
9 pm1 am $25+/- (Sliding scale, no one turned away)
Stay for a dance party with DJ Rimarkable and more!
Location:
325 E.16th St
Brooklyn NY 11226
Subway: Due to weekend service disruptions, the Brooklyn-bound Q train will not stop at Beverley. From Manhattan, take the Q train to Newkirk Plaza, then transfer to a Manhattan-bound Q to Beverley.
Visit the MTA Weekender website for subway service information.
Cant attend? RSVP to sponsor a ticket.
Click Here to RSVP and Purchase Your Ticket!
As you get ready for the party, listen to our Party with Pride Mixtape!
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Photo by Shawn Lee
Ecletic vocalist, composer and cultural worker Imani Uzuri is an innovative artist who creates and performs across various genres including concerts, recordings, experimental theater, performance art and sound installations. Uzuris work has been called stunning by New York Magazine and incorporates her interests in world culture, experimentation and sacred music. Her newly released album The Gypsy Diaries is garnering rave reviews from The Village Voice, The Root, All About Jazz and more as a vibrant lyrical and spiritual soundscape.
Writer, vocalist, instructor, drummer, producer and DJ, Mariaelena RiRi Garcia, aka DJ Rimarkable, earned the moniker, Rimarkable, after rocking international dance floors for more than a decade. She has shared the bill with such music icons as Meshell Ndegeocello, Les Nubians and Toshi Reagon to name a few. She is a member of the infamous all female-DJ squad, Ubiquita Worldwide Soundsystem and a producer/recording artist on legendary DJ/Scholar, Bobbito Garcia aka Kool Bob Love’s record label, Alala Recordings.
Astraea will be part of the Queer Women of Color Film Festival centerpiece screening and community conversation UNFENCED/SIN VALLA in San Francisco on June 10th, 2012 at 2pm.
UNFENCED/SIN VALLA
From quirky twists on teenage angst, to the love mothers have for their transgender children, these documentaries from Chile and Colombia show that our spirits can’t be contained. After the screening, join QWOCMAP, Bogotá-based sister organization Mujeres al Borde, and the Astraea Foundation for a conversation on LesBiTrans Feminism in Latin America.
Brief Nudity. Bilingual Screening & Films Subtitled in English
And be sure to check out the many other screenings and community conversations that are part of the Queer Women of Color Film Festival which runs from Friday, June 8th through Sunday June 10th.
Please join Astraea on May 27th for Letters To CeCe, an afternoon of letter-writing to support CeCe MacDonald as she awaits sentencing.
Please join Astraea on May 27th for Letters To CeCe, an afternoon of letter-writing to support CeCe MacDonald as she awaits sentencing. Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald is a young African American transgender woman who is charged with two counts of “second degree murder” after an incident that began when she was violently assaulted because of her gender and race.
Free CeCe street art in Minneapolis.
Instead of pleading her innocence at the beginning of her trial to a sentence of 40 years in prison, CeCe accepted a plea agreement on May 2nd to a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter to most likely serve a 41 month sentence. CeCes case is among many others that reveal the inequities within the prison industrial complex.
Astraea will attend Letters to CeCe at Radiator Gallery from 1pm to 3:30pm on Sunday, May 27th. Take part in supporting CeCe and learn how having a pen pal in prison can help make a difference. Letters to CeCe is co-sponsored by the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Pretty Queer, and Visual AIDS. Read more about CeCe’s case from Colorlines and Pretty Queer’s article about writing to someone in prison.
Reina Gossett of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project holds a sign in the LGBTQTSGNC May Day contingent in NYC.
Participants welcome to stay at Radiator Gallery for I am not alone in this way, a salon as part of DONT WORRY WHAT HAPPENS HAPPENS MOSTLY WITHOUT YOU. Curated by Kris Nuzzi, the exhibition explores the personal identities of artists Jeanie Choi, Camilo Godoy, Ted Kerr, James Richards, Aldrin Valdez and Sam Vernon, as they navigate through a world shaped by experiences of marginalization, silencing and difference. Whether speaking from their own life, recreating a historical memory or representing an underrepresented community, their work explores poetic and subtle ways to communicate issues of immigration, race, queerness and desire. Together they reveal the connections and differences between these loaded social issues and invite the viewer to share in their intimate experiences.
