My upcoming weekend trip to Austin for Chaos in Tejas* couldn't be all pleasure ... well, sure it could have been, but I thought I'd just make the MOST of my time away from home minus the family ...
So I contacted the nice folks at Monkeywrench Books & they were more than welcoming to my asking to come there to do a book reading event.
If you too will be raging at Chaos or if you live in Austin, come on down!
Saturday, May 17
3 pm
Monkeywrench Books
110 E. North Loop Blvd.
Austin, Texas 78751
*3 nights of the most exciting punk bands and friends coming from all over the map. Can you say Los Crudos reunion show?!?!?!!?? I've had flutterbies in me tummy for weeks!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mother's Day
In 1870, social activist Julia Ward Howe authored the "Mother's Day Proclamation" and in 1872, organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace, a sort of Mother's Day intended as a call to unite women against war. This is the kind of Mother's day I think to celebrate. Not the one I see advertised today hawking $39.99 vases of pesticide sprayed roses.
More than anything today, I wanted to participate in Mother's Day at a speak out or other political action, like the one in New York City - A Mother's Day action against police violence where 50 mothers wearing bloodstained shirts held a vigil and press conference outside of Governor David Patterson's Manhattan office calling on the Governor to STOP THE BLOODSHED AT THE HANDS OF NYPD and also also calling for an end to the NYPD abuse of mothers who fight to get justice for their children.
But where I live, there was nothing but the 34th annual Mother's Day symphony held at the zoo and special Mother's Day brunches to be eaten at select restaurants.
I was happy when fellow rad mama Vikki Law asked if I'd read over and give feedback on the essay she is working on concerning "how the first battered women's shelters in the U.S. had a more radical feminist analysis about the reasons for battering and how capitalism and patriarchy needed to be dismantled and encouraged women to think in broader terms about these issues. And how the first shelters were in individual activists' homes because, at the time, there WASN'T a safe place for the average American abused wife/girlfriend to turn to and there wasn't any institution dealing with the issue."
When I'd finished and sent it back, I thanked Vikki for giving it to me to give feedback on. She made my Mother's Day! Really. Doing this editorial work for her made me feel worthwhile in my political urges to contribute in some way.
Now it's time to give my own mama a call...
More than anything today, I wanted to participate in Mother's Day at a speak out or other political action, like the one in New York City - A Mother's Day action against police violence where 50 mothers wearing bloodstained shirts held a vigil and press conference outside of Governor David Patterson's Manhattan office calling on the Governor to STOP THE BLOODSHED AT THE HANDS OF NYPD and also also calling for an end to the NYPD abuse of mothers who fight to get justice for their children.
But where I live, there was nothing but the 34th annual Mother's Day symphony held at the zoo and special Mother's Day brunches to be eaten at select restaurants.
I was happy when fellow rad mama Vikki Law asked if I'd read over and give feedback on the essay she is working on concerning "how the first battered women's shelters in the U.S. had a more radical feminist analysis about the reasons for battering and how capitalism and patriarchy needed to be dismantled and encouraged women to think in broader terms about these issues. And how the first shelters were in individual activists' homes because, at the time, there WASN'T a safe place for the average American abused wife/girlfriend to turn to and there wasn't any institution dealing with the issue."
When I'd finished and sent it back, I thanked Vikki for giving it to me to give feedback on. She made my Mother's Day! Really. Doing this editorial work for her made me feel worthwhile in my political urges to contribute in some way.
Now it's time to give my own mama a call...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
