Healing Through Creativity Calls for Artists, Performers & Presenters
Healing Through Creativity has begun accepting submissions from artists, performers, and presenters for their week-long October art festival.
From Healing Through Creativity:
Trauma Survivors and Supporters of Survivors of Trauma are invited to share art, music, writing,
poetry and other creative forms at the Healing Through Creativity Festival.When: October 17-24 2009
Where: Heart of Virginia Foundation Center for Integrated Arts
Grandin Gardens, 1731 Grandin Rd,
Roanoke, VirginiaThe experience helps trauma survivors and promotes community understanding
Healing Through Creativity accepts artwork in various forms, such as writing, poetry, painting, crafts, music, drama, among others. They also hold many different workshops and have many different speakers.
I absolutely love what Healing Through Creativity does for survivors, as well as supports of survivors. Many survivors, especially those who have went through abuse and trauma at a young age, grow up not knowing how to effectively deal with their emotions and/or anger. A great deal of different emotions run rampant through the minds of survivors and many people go on to isolate themselves, become hermits, and trust no one; at least that is what has become of me due to my own abuse and trauma endured at a young age. I began writing poetry when I was in the eighth grade and the reason why I started is because I had no other outlet for everything that I was feeling inside of me. I have always had explosive anger and I have always had trouble expressing myself and my emotions outside of writing. Writing has been the saving grace in my life. It has been what has gotten me through some of the worst and some of the hardest years of my life and it means so much that there are people who are working to not only support artists, but to also give them a space to share their work.
If you are interested in submitting your work to be shown at Healing Through Creativity view the entry guidelines and submit your work through their website.
The Feminist Majority Foundation Works to Expose Crisis Pregnancy Centers
This Spring, the Feminist Majority Foundation has worked to expose fake clinics, which are known publicly as “crisis pregnancy centers.” The campaign has two goals: to warn women, especially students, about the fake clinics in their communities and to let the government know that deception on the public dime has got to stop.
I used to live in a large city whose downtown area is an entire college campus. Because I grew up and lived in this city next door to a college campus, I have seen the billboards these clinics put up specifically to lure students to their facilities–Billboards that read “Scared and pregnant? We can help, call us now for a free pregnancy test!” and then end with a 1-800 number. While these clinics may offer free pregnancy tests, going to their facility will cost you quite a bit.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers are known to report false negatives in order to make a woman wait until it is too late to have an abortion. They use scare tactics and blatant lies about abortion procedures and “health risks.” They are known to shame women who have premarital sex and counsel against birth control. While they may paint a pretty picture for themselves on billboards, fliers, and newspaper ads, the work they do is deceiving and very harmful to women. They mislead women into going to their clinic, thinking that they are able to discuss their real, viable options, and instead are counseled about how horrible their life choices have been and how they need to give birth and thereafter, remain abstinent so they won’t have to give birth again. Basically, if you are looking to speak with someone who will give you the same counseling as a person at a crisis pregnancy center, you’re better off going to church because those are the same ideologies that will be past to you if you enter one thinking you are actually going to be able to speak to someone in a nonjudgmental space.
These clinics are hurting women and while it is so widely known that they are deceiving those they claim to want to help, these clinics continue to receive federal funding across the country which needs to stop immediately.
Here is a great video of young women and men discussing their findings about Crisis Pregnancy Centers. To say the least, their findings echo what many feminists, womanists, and humanists have been warning for years. This video also shows Kathy Spillar and Eleanor Smeal of the Feminist Majority Foundation calling for these clinics to be de-funded.
Our Reality: A Look at Crisis Pregnancy Centers from RH Reality Check on Vimeo.
The New Christian Attempt to Convert–”It’s Not a Cult”
A few days ago, the boyfriend and I were heading into a store. As we got out of the car, the moment the boyfriend closed the car door, a woman appeared in front of him as if out of nowhere and yes, it was super creepy. And as if that was not creepy enough, she was carrying pamphlets.
Now the difference between me and the boyfriend is that while he isn’t religious and has no belief in a higher power, heaven, hell, or the like (but still refuses to call himself an atheist), he is still very cordial with people who attempt to convert him. I on the other hand, have made up my mind about my religious views and have settled on a clique in which I can identify with (that being atheism), and through the years of people coming up to me in attempts to convert me, I have had enough and admittedly am rude from the beginning of the conversation. The reason for my anger towards religious fanatics who refuse to accept that there are people who do not believe in the same deities as they do is because these people have to know that they are not the first people to ever try to convert me. Christians and Catholics alike pride themselves on their attempts to convert as many people as possible to their “side” and I have really just had enough of it. The first time I had been propositioned to change my religious beliefs was in a mall in my hometown while hanging out with my friends when I was in the ninth grade and I am willing to bet that I would have been propositioned sooner, had I ever left my house. Seven years later and I have really had enough of it, having been propositioned in that same mall several other times, in my place of employment twice, and on miscellaneous streets, parking lots, and so on, all of which while minding my own damn business.
So when this lady held out a pamphlet that she assumed my boyfriend would merely take, thank her for, walk away, and move on with his life, he let out this weird groan/word vomit slew of ‘uhhh’s’ which he described as the sound that he makes when there are just way too many thoughts going on in his head for him to be able to form a coherent sentence in, um, English. Upon hearing this weird groan/word vomit slew of ‘uhhh’s’ the woman then proceeded to tell him to take the pamphlet, that it was full of “good stories” and closed the deal with “It’s Christian, it’s not a cult or anything.” (!!!)
Very unlike the boyfriend, I have no problem telling these people that they will not spark the interest of either of us; that we are both pretty logical folks and that hey, we think, feel, and believe differently than they do. And I bet that if she did not use the line “it’s Christian, it’s not a cult or anything,” that I would have informed this woman of exactly those sentiments in an eloquent manner, but since she brought up the whole cult thing, I had a bit of a mindfuck myself and could not contain the anger I had inside at the mention of her trying to lead someone to believe that religion is not a cult.
And so I told her that why yes, Christianity is in fact a cult. I also informed her that we were non-believers and to put that shit away.
This experience has shown me yet again that religious people firmly and sincerely believe that they are better than all other people on this Earth and they believe that they are surely better than non-theists. This frame of mind that the religious right has, that they are owed something, whether it be your attention and your conversion to their belief system or the respect to let them down gently is completely deluded. There is no way to let these people down gently. They do not take no for an answer; they are very much like a business person on crack; they believe that they are entitled to your attention so they can rack up a number of converts to feel good about themselves or the fact that they need confirmation in their own religious beliefs.
I have never in my life told someone that they should be an atheist. I simply accept that I have my own point of view and I have my own personal beliefs. I am a human being with a life, morals, and principles and I happen to not believe in a higher power and I’m okay with that–I suggest the religious right become comfortable with themselves as well.
Warning: Anti-Choicers Hijack the Internet
I know I haven’t been blogging very much this past week, which is due to the fact that I’ve been working pretty much every chance I get and I have also been experiencing flareups with a medical condition that I have that has caused me to sleep more than 15 hours every day, which I will address in an upcoming post. So because I haven’t been around that often, that also means that I have not had the chance to moderate comments and I swear the anti-choice population waits until Menstrual Poetry has not been updated in a few days and then go on the attack, leaving mindless, vile, and vicious comments on any and all posts addressing reproductive rights and more specifically, my last post about Dr. LeRoy Carhart to begin performing late-term abortions in Kansas to fill the shoes of the late Dr. Tiller due to Dr. Tiller’s family decided to keep the doors of the his clinic closed.
I received a comment on that post (now deleted) about Dr. LeRoy Carhart, informing me to visit LeRoyCarhart.com (I’m not linking this on purpose.) Knowing full well I would most likely not be pleased with what I was about to see, I typed the web address in anyway and confirming my suspicions, I was redirected to thewaytoheaven.com (again, I am not linking this on purpose.)
The Way to Heaven is a site that looks very much like it was made with ‘how to make a scam website to sell products like penile enhancements, weight loss products, and the like’ and of course, includes the quote “Jesus is the only way to Heaven! John 14:6″ Because I love dissecting religious jargon I read the ‘About’ section and wanted to highlight one little portion of the text:
“I felt that the Lord Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit, gave me the desire to win souls through a variety of ministries; through tract distribution, street witnessing and through the Internet.”
So here’s the breakdown: Jesus seeks out the uber religious folks and only those who he knows are truly devoted to him and then tells them that they must do whatever possible to convert others to the cause and in the exact words used above, “win souls” also known as brainwashing “through a variety of ministries” also known as any place you can, and “street witnessing” also known as harassment because as someone who has been stopped on the street, in malls, backed into a corner in my place of employment, and so on, I can tell you that when you politely tell these people that you’re not interested in joining them on whatever religious crusade they are trying to get you to join, they refuse to take no for an answer and just keep badgering you until you either tell them what they want to hear so they will leave you alone or until you get very angry and tell them to go fuck themselves, which they then have the nerve to get mad at you about because “you don’t have to be disrespectful/angry/whatever.”
Lastly in the highlighted text above, Jesus is also telling these people that they must take their action the internet and they have taken action in forms that I’m willing to bet their higher power wouldn’t be so proud of… like buying the web addresses of people they dislike for political and religious reasons and redirecting the addresses to religious propaganda websites.
Chances are that if someone is looking for information on Dr. LeRoy Carhart and try to go to LeRoyCarhart.com for information, they’re probably not looking for “the way to heaven.”
But just this one instance of the religious right buying up the web address of a reproductive health provider is not the end of the story. Out of curiosity, I went to georgetiller.com and again had my suspicions confirmed when I was redirected to Operation Rescue’s website.
I find it quite ironic how the original founder of Operation Rescue, Randall Terry felt the need to come out and explicitly state that the anti-choice movement is not responsible for the domestic terrorism and assassination of Dr. George Tiller, along with other horrendously biased and untrue statements that are most likely the reason why Operation Rescue’s website contains an entire section stating that Randall Terry does not speak for Operation Rescue. However, the statements made by Terry and the information currently being displayed on Operation Rescue’s website are not too far off since Operation Rescue currently has a picture of Dr. LeRoy Carhart’s reproductive health care clinic which is obviously a way to support domestic terrorists who take the lives of reproductive health care providers into their own hands.
I for one will not believe the anti-choicers when they state that they are in no way responsible for domestic terrorism, vandalism, murder, and other malicious practices because they are still trying to control anything they can get their hands on, including the web addresses of reproductive health care providers alive and murdered by their own coercion in order to attempt to spread their lies and blatant, dripping hate.
Dr. LeRoy Carhart Steps In to Fill Void After Dr. George Tiller’s Death and Clinic Closing
News that The Women’s Health Care Services clinic, the clinic that Dr. George Tiller ended up giving his life for, will remain closed broke a few days ago, and while I have not published the news and my opinion on the topic, not a day has gone by where I have not thought about it. Cara over at Feministe shares my exact sentiments on the issue.
We can’t blame Dr. Tiller’s family for their decision to keep the doors of the clinic closed and we wouldn’t have been able to blame Dr. Tiller if he had decided to close the doors of the clinic after the several acts of domestic terrorism that had been carried out against the clinic as well as to him throughout the years; even after having his clinic bombed, his roof tampered with before a horrible storm, droves of protesters in front of his clinic daily, being shot in both of his arms, death threats, and finally, murder, Dr. Tiller’s life was stolen from him, his family, his friends, his patients, and everyone who ever cared for him because he believed in saving women’s lives and putting those lives before the not-yet life of a fetus. He was assassinated because he firmly believed and worked for reproductive freedom, so no, we could never blame him if he had made the decision to close his clinic’s doors at any point in his career.
The people who are to blame are anti-choicers. The people who stalked Dr. Tiller and continue to stalk other abortion providers, using scare tactics, lies, and violence to attempt to stop reproductive health service providers from doing their jobs; from doing what they believe is right; from helping the lives of countless women every single day; from doing something that the law protects them under. The people who are to blame for Dr. Tiller’s murder, his clinic closing, and sending waves of fear, disgust, and anger throughout the world are those who claim to be “pro-life,” “against violence,” and working with those same women who they are hurting in the process of their war on reproductive health in mind.
Which brings me to another point… People who advocate for reproductive rights are not going out to protests or anti-choice organization buildings where we know a large group of anti-choicers meet and opening fire on those meeting to plan their next move on reproductive rights. We are not going to churches and insisting that every pregnant woman immediately run to her nearest reproductive health care clinic and get an abortion. We are not forcing our beliefs on you, we are simply advocating for choice which we then respect women and their intelligence enough to be able to make that choice on her own.
When news of Dr. Tiller’s clinic closing, founder of the original Operation Rescue group, Randall Terry, had this to say:
Randall Terry, the founder of the original Operation Rescue group, responded to news that Tiller’s clinic would remain closed with, “Good riddance.” He said history would remember Tiller’s clinic as it remembers Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps.
“What set him apart is that he killed late-term babies,” Terry said. “If his replacement was going to continue to kill late-term children, the protests would continue, the investigations would continue, the indictments would continue.”
Current Operation Rescue president Troy Newman, who had condemned Tiller’s killing as vigilantism, called the announcement “a bittersweet moment.”
When Randall Terry insisted that the anti-choice movement had nothing to do with the assassination of Dr. Tiller he was obviously lying; well, we pro-choice folks already knew he was lying, but he just contradicted himself publicly by saying that if someone hadn’t killed Dr. Tiller he would still be working to promote and support trumped up charges be cast against him for his work and he would still be working to promote and support domestic terrorism. Nice going, asshole!
So where do we go from here?
Well, for women in Kansas who had feared that they too would be forced to travel around the country looking for a doctor who would help save their life when threatened by the fetus they are carrying as well as women from around the country who have to travel to Kansas, reproductive rights will not just go away, as anti-choicers had hoped.
It was announced Wednesday that Dr. LeRoy Carhart, a Nebraska doctor, will begin performing third-term abortions in Kansas to fill the shoes of late Dr. Tiller.
A Nebraska doctor said Wednesday that he will perform third-term abortions in Kansas after the slaying of abortion provider George Tiller, but would not say whether he will open a new facility or offer the procedure at an existing practice.
Dr. LeRoy Carhart declined to discuss his plans in detail during a telephone interview with The Associated Press, but insisted “there will be a place in Kansas for the later second- and the medically indicated third-trimester patients very soon.”
“I just think that until everything is in place, it’s something that doesn’t need to be talked about” in detail, Carhart said a day after Tiller’s family announced his Wichita clinic was permanently shutting its doors.
Tiller’s clinic was one of the only facilities in the country that performed third-trimester abortions. Carhart has run his own clinic in Bellevue, Neb., since 1985, but had performed late-term abortions at Tiller’s clinic because of Nebraska’s more restrictive abortion laws.
It is understandable why Dr. Carhart will not release information on if he will be opening a new clinic or where his place of business will be located due to obvious reasons (but if you’re still lost, it’s probably because he doesn’t want to murdered–Just a thought!) Dr. Carhart has been an abortion provider since 1985 and since Dr. Tiller’s death, he has seen an increase in patients at his own clinic; seeing an obvious need for his services is what we can assume prompted his decision to offer his services to women in Kansas.
We know for sure that the act of performing a legal medical service to grown women sparks violence and even murder within the “pro-life” movement, so we must be sure to keep Dr. LeRoy Carhart in our thoughts as he continues to stand up for the reproductive health of women everywhere.
Scott Roeder and Terrorism Buzzword Hypocrisy
Scott Roeder, the man convicted of assassinating Dr. George Tiller for political and religious reasons, thus making his crime an act of domestic terrorism, and he a domestic terrorist, released a statement to the Associated Press on June 7, saying:
“I know there are many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal.”
So to get this straight, A terrorist has publicly stated that additional acts of terrorism are scheduled to be perpetrated against American people. The silence from the right is deafening. As Keith Olbermann pointed out yesterday, why are the right not demanding that swift action be taken against this convicted terrorist? Why are we, as a government and as a people, not treating Roeder like the terrorist he is?
Because as Jesse Ventura pointed out not too long ago while on his book tour to all of the FOX News channel programming, we only waterboard Muslims.
Tiller’s family attorney, Dan Monnat stated:
“I am hopeful that state and federal authorities, including Homeland Security, will give Mr. Roeder and his information a deserving response.”
But will we see the government take action against Roeder? Will we see them do their jobs? I’m going to remain unhopeful because the government has yet to come forward and call the actions perpetrated by Roeder an act of terrorism. They have yet to come forward and call Roeder a terrorist, although by definition, he is.
As Keith Olbermann also pointed out on The Countdown last night, if Scott Roeder had an Islamic name then the American government would have already come out and called this what it is–Terrorism. You cannot pick and choose what cases your American Government-created buzzword applies. It must be understood that American people are capable of committing terrorist acts and that in these cases, it is what we call domestic terrorism.
So why is it that the government remains silent? That they remain complacent? Because we are still fighting the war on reproductive rights and services and as long as the war on reproductive rights remains eminent, we will continue to be forced to settle for less than the action the government would take in any other circumstance.
Keith Olbermann on How FOX News Incited the Assassinated of Dr. George Tiller
Keith Olbermann always seems to hit the nail on the head. I’m a little late in posting this, but I just saw it and had to share.
Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, I have stated that anti-choice organizations and anti-choice media outlets are indeed to blame for the murder of Dr. Tiller and no matter how many times these organizations, media outlets, spokespeople, and news commentators make public statements to the contrary, we have seen them in action and we have seen the damage they have caused.
We have seen them repeatedly distorting facts for their own personal and political agendas. We have seen them provoke people who disagree with them on their shows in order to show anger and thus exploit those people for their own benefit to drive home the mangled, half-truth version of the story they are reporting on. We have seen them use scare tactics to incite fear into those who may have an objective point of view on whatever they are reporting about and we have seen them search for legitimacy when their viewpoints are questioned.
As Keith Olbermann states in the video below, we must separate television from terrorism.
h/t Muckmakers
For The National Review Sotomayor Is The Wise Latina Buddhist
Okay, this latest image sent my WTF meter right off. Seriously, how much longer are white men going to display their ignorance and hatred to promote their undeserved privilege? It started with Sotomayor the piñata because apparently the fact that she is Puerto Rican and not Mexican is irrelevant. Now we have Sotomayor the Buddhist. When it comes to creating WOC as “other” any social construction will do, as our cultures and religions clearly have no individualized identity.
Sotomayor is Catholic and Puerto Rican, how hard is it to recognize these two basic facts? Not only is this image offensive to WOC, it is offensive to all Buddhists because their religion is being reduced once again to the “all knowing Asian” stereotype that whiteness loves to lean on. You will note that even though people around the globe practice Buddhism, this caricature has slanted eyes so that the viewer is sure to recognize that the artist (and I use that term loosely) is reifying that mysticism and or enlightenment are the preserve of those “brainy yellow people.” Buddhists certainly don’t move through the world, holding down jobs and interacting with others; no they are far to busy contemplating the nothingness of being in mountain ranges with hard to pronounce names.
With this latest graphic the assaults on Sotomayor have truly reached the level of idiotic, sexist and racist. In appealing to the irrational fear of white men that they are being supplanted, these artists have succeeded in creating a monolithic “other”. It does not matter what ones achievements, education, or political position is if your body represents that of an “other”. It panics these men of privilege that a Latina woman of humble beginnings could possibly have a different perspective or a line of thought that is more comprehensive due to a different life experience.
The very normalization of whiteness is what allows these kinds of images to exist. These cartoons scream DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT…without acknowledging that the issue is not really difference but the value that has been applied to difference. As Sotomayor goes through the confirmation process we will probably see more attacks of this nature. Though whiteness is under no great attack from invading Puerto Rican women seeking to rule, the idea that one could possibly sit on what has been commonly a throne to white men is threatening because it suggests that white men do not have a monopoly on intelligence.
Cross Posted from Womanist Musings
I Never Liked that Vase Anyway
Every month I look forward to reading the ‘Boo Ya It’s Period Time’ posts over at Womanist Musings. They always fill me with an overwhelmingly sense of pride in my femininity. They remind me of why I am a vagina-loving, menstruation-loving feminist. They remind me of how beautiful yet complex our bodies are. Most of all, they remind me of what I wish I could feel like approximately four days before my period begins.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a body-loving, vagina-loving, menstruation-loving feminist. During menstruation, I feel, as cliche as it might sound, more connected to my world. I use reusable menstrual pads from Lunapads in part because of the environmental impact (did you know that the average woman will use approximately 11,000 tampons or pads in their lifetime?) and also in part because I enjoy washing my pads in my bathtub, by hand. My “problem” has nothing to do with menstruation, itself; in fact, menstruation is my relief, the end of this little condition called PMDD (or Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.)
Now many different websites will give you a list of medical jargon and numerous different symptoms of this disorder, but the best way to explain it, for me at least, is that it is depression mixed with the deepest anger you have ever experienced in your life for any reason, times at the very least, by 500. But in case you’re one of those text book definition folks, you can read about it here.
There are many people who will start screaming ’sexism’ when a male mentions his girlfriend, wife, friends, whatever, having PMS, and I am also one of these people. To have PMS and to be asked by a male if you have PMS because you’re acting a little hot-headed are two completely different things.
Throughout my life I have had a terrible anger problem, due to the fact that I am a survivor of childhood trauma and multiple cases of sexual assault. Through all of the years I have been menstruating, I had chalked my explosive temper up to that anger problem; however, merely an anger problem does not involve physical aches and pains, lightning fast mood swings, and admittedly, making a huge deal out of something that really wasn’t that big of a deal to begin with, whether in my relationship, work life, or personal life. Through the past year, year and a half, I have been researching these symptoms and speaking with a close friend of mine who has repeatedly told me about her own personal problems with these exact symptoms–And how as soon as the first drop of menstrual blood oozes, all of these symptoms are gone; vanished and gone until the next month.
And that is the reason why the vase that had been sitting on my desk for the past two years or so, is now in about 50 or so pieces, in the trash. It is June 5th and in approximately 3 to 4 days, that first drop of menstrual blood will ooze, which is the reason why a vase is broken when a book was thrown at it, knocking over a coffee cup and spilling the entire cup of liquid all over my desk and onto my office chair. And while yes, in hindsight a vase is broken and my chair is soaked, forcing me to hijack the boyfriend’s chair and hope he doesn’t wake up so I am chair-less, it felt damn good to do at the time and for the time being, my anger has subsided.
While I may be inclined to follow suit with Womanist Musings and write a Boo Ya It’s Period Time post, when I will most definitely be ecstatic to break out the pads and finally feel at ease, for right now, I’m in hell and it fucking sucks.
Sotomayor Racism Watch: Piñata Cartoon Edition
It took no time at all for racist and sexist cartoons to hit the internet. This horrendous and disgusting cartoon went up on The Oklahoman on June 2nd, the day after the first cartoon published on the website mocking the overly exaggerated words the GOP had mindlessly flung around as a herd of barbaric frat boys.
Showing Sotomayor as a piñata while elephants line up to hit her as President Obama facilitates (of course, wearing a sombraro because sombraros and piñatas are the only ways to present Latino culture) is not funny. No matter which way you look at it, depicting racism, sexism, and violence against women is never funny, under any circumstances whatsoever.
As Renee over at Womanist Musings put it:
If the racism where not enough the incitement of violence is certainly the coup de grace. In a country in which women suffer violence at the hands of men on a daily basis to have them line up to take their “best shot” at her is not innocent political commentary.
If you are horrified about not just an established, professional woman being portrayed in such a manner, but any woman, do not hesitate to contact The Oklahoman. If they are perfectly fine with publishing discriminatory filth, they need to hear from us.
You can email them at yourviews@oklahoman.com or write to them at the following address:
Your Views
The Oklahoman
P.O. Box 25125
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
But you are not able to simply tell them your views, you need to follow some guidelines:
1. Letters of 250 words or less.
2. A full name and complete postal address, including zip code, must accompany your letter. (This is needed for verification. Your address won’t be published.)
3. “Name withheld” letters are not accepted. Nor are letters signed only with initials or a first initial and last name.
4. E-mailed letters cannot be sent as attachments.
5. Authors are limited to one letter every 28-42 days, depending on volume.
6. When referring to a news story or previous letter published in Your Views, cite the headline or letter writer’s name and the date of publication.
h/t Womanist Musings
Get Social
Flickr
Out Campaign
The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.
