Help Teddy Tour Help Survivors

August 31, 2008, category

I have written about the amazing work Teddy Tour does and the amount of childhood sexual assault survivors they help here before. Teddy Tour gives childhood sexual assault survivors some much-needed freedom and support by letting them fill out some info about their abuse, attach their info to a teddy bear or other stuffed animal and picturing it for their website giving other survivors and supporters of survivors the chance to read about their experiences and lets the survivor’s voice be heard and not simply forgotten. After the teddy is pictured for the website it is then sold to raise funds for survivor’s counseling and group work. All proceeds that are raised by Teddy Tour go straight to helping survivors of childhood sexual assault.

Teddy Tours ensures that the voices of so many survivors do not go unheard; every survivor deserves the right to tell their story and get their experiences off of their chests and the work Teddy Tour does to make this possible is amazing. I have filled out a tag for myself and my very own teddy in the Teddy Tour population that will be sold for proceeds to help other survivors and if you are also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, feel free to ensure that your voice does not go unheard and fill out your very own tag. Please note that all identifying information is kept secret and that your privacy is important.

So with all of the hard work Teddy Tour puts in for survivors they are asking for a little help along the way from survivors and supporters of survivors who wish to see that no voice goes unheard. Teddy Tour is in need of new teddies and asks that if you find yourself in a position of being able to donate a teddy or two to them, your donation would be lovingly received.

If you would like to donate a teddy or two, (sewn, knitted or crocheted) please send them to:
Teddy Tour, 30 James St, North Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia.

If you can’t donate a teddy but still want to help Teddy Tour out, they are also accepting donations of $5 which you can send here.

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CodePink Protester Attacked at DNC

August 30, 2008, category

politics, random acts of activism, sexism, violence against women

I saw this early yesterday morning and am still angry (well, angry doesn’t really cover it; it’s more like seething) disgusted and thoroughly sickened by this.

A few days ago at the Democratic National Convention, a CodePink protester was the victim of obscene police brutality as she was shoved to the ground with a baton of a police officer with excessive force while the police officer yelled “back it up, bitch.” While talking to reporters about how she (and other protesters) were treated during the protest, the cop then went over to her, grabbed her by the arm and violently pulled her away from the reporters.

The CodePink protester, Alicia Forrest, 24, of Los Angeles, was arrested on charges of “interference.” But what is this interference they speak of? Forrest had allegedly witnessed the arrest of an unidentified man in the street near the Denver Civic Center Park when she and others nearby asked police why the man was being arrested. So one man gets arrested for obviously nothing, since officers were being asked why the man was being arrested and because of this they also get arrested. Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me!

Forrest was transferred to the Denver City Jail where bond was posted for $580 bail and was held for the night. After getting out of jail, Forrest said this:

“I was standing up for my free speech rights, showing support for a fellow activist,” Forrest said. “If anything, this showed me how powerful standing up for your beliefs can be, and how necessary it is for the truth to get out even in the face of resistance.”

CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans called watching the video footage distressing.

“Here we are CODEPINK activists, here to deliver the message of peace, and how ironic that we would witness the exact violence we oppose,” Evans said. “How is it that a Denver cop would be afraid of a peace activist with a pink crown on her head? What have we become?”

The video of the violence against Forrest and her arrest are below, but I wouldn’t recommend going to the YouTube page to read the comments–They are full of sexism and misogyny and very triggering.

Who else thinks it’s kind of ironic that I was listening to the song What’s Going On when I was reading about this and again when I started writing it?

Picket lines and picket signs
Don’t punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
What’s going on

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Help Support Locks of Love with Social Media

August 21, 2008, category

music, random acts of activism

Heavy As Hell, a social media site for music of the rock, metal, punk, industrial and goth variety was relaunched at the beginning of this month. Not only is this good news for all music lovers, bloggers and followers everywhere, but it is also good news for Locks of Love.

Locks of Love helps financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love suffer from a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. Locks of Love provides hairpieces to children to help to restore their self-esteem and confidence, which can of course be hard because children their own age are most of the time a child’s worst critics. By receiving a prostheses from Locks of Love these children are rejuvenated, feeling like just another normal child free to live their lives free of ridicule and feelings of insecurity.

Mark Carras, founder of Heavy As Hell has designed a challenge for the members of the Heavy As Hell community and also for people who may have never heard of the social media site in hopes of inspiring other music lovers to jump on board and help out a great cause. Because this challenge launched in the very beginning of August and has yet to take off as much as we would like to see, Mark has extended the challenge. First of all, here is the original challenge video:

Changes in the challenge since then include getting 250 on topic stories on the front page of Heavy As Hell by the end of this month, which gives us 9 more days! If 250 on topic music stories get on the front page of Heavy As Hell by August 31, we will then have until September 30 to reach 1000 stories gracing the front page of the site. As soon as 250 stories are made popular, the wife of Mark Carras, The Queen of Cheese will be donating one foot of her hair to Locks of Love and the popularity ticker will keep on ticking until 1000 stories are reached, where Mark Carras will shave his head and donate $1000 to Locks of Love to sponsor a child. We’re talking cumulative here, so reaching 1000 stories is made even easier by the counter on popular stories not being restarted to reach 1000.

I have personally donated hair to Locks of Love–Over 11 inches of it and love what Locks of Love are doing for children who frankly would benefit from your hair more than you. It’s a worthwhile cause and I know I will be donating to them again, I’m already in the process of growing my hair out again. But if you don’t have the means (or patience) to donate to them yourself, the least you could do is support someone else who wants to do a good deed and Mark Carras is presenting a fun opportunity to get everyone on board.

So if you’re a music lover or even if you’re not particularly interested in the type of music Heavy As Hell covers, but have some interesting music industry news, go over to Heavy As Hell, sign up, submit your story and also vote up some others and help support Locks of Love. Mark Carras really wants to shave his head so let’s help him do it.

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Day of Blogs Was a Whopping Success!

July 29, 2008, category

random acts of activism

I always end up missing some amazing news when I pull a disappearing act and this time was yet another one of those cases.

RAINN Day of Blogs took place on July 26th to the 27th to raise money for RAINN.

If you don’t know anything about RAINN, it is the rape, abuse, and Incest National Network, the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization and also one of America’s 100 best charities. The work RAINN does is absolutely amazing. They operate the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1.800.656.HOPE) which puts survivors and victims of sexual assault and abuse in touch with trained volunteers spanning over 1,100 local rape treatment hotlines. Since the hotline opened in 1994, RAINN has helped over 1 million people and counting. They also recently launched an online hotline, for those people who feel more comfortable opening up and talking about what is bothering them online, rather than on the phone. Their website gives survivors and friends and families of survivors information and statistics on sexual assault and healing, information on how to reach out and get help through local crisis centers near to you, how to support RAINN and also information on how to get involved yourself with sexual assault awareness and prevention.

RAINN has helped, like I said, a million people and counting and the reason why so many people support RAINN and their efforts to help survivors go on to lead fulfilling lives is because of how RAINN helps people. As a woman who has called RAINN myself when needing someone to talk to about my personal life experiences or just someone to help keep my mind off the bad stuff, just by calling RAINN, I was put in contact with my local Women’s Resource Center and it is through them that I began to heal and become a survivor, rather than a victim. It’s no wonder why RAINN has such astounding support; it’s because they care about people and want to make the world a better place.

The Day of Blogs was an amazing effort to raise money for RAINN needed to run their 24/7 hotline and online hotline, as well as to educate the public about sexual assault and prevention. Like I said, the work they do is amazing and bloggers helped spread the word about RAINN and the work they do and about sexual assault awareness through a one day blogathon! Blogging every half hour for 24 hours, these bloggers helped raise over $11,000 for RAINN, which is kick ass!

One blog in particular that I just finished reading through was the Day of Blogs by Cara over at The Curvature who raised $444 for RAINN with 17 contributors. As a devout reader of her website, I expected brilliance reading her 24 hours of posting and was not let down in the least, so I am urging everyone out there who missed The Day of Blogs, like me, to head on over to Cara’s Day of Blogs and realize why sexual assault prevention and awareness is much needed today. You rock, Cara!

If you’re a bit disheartened that you missed Day of Blogs and wish to donate to RAINN to help their efforts, you can do so right on their website.

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The Hopeful Haven Project

July 4, 2008, category

random acts of activism

Grace Centers of Hope women's shelter When you think of homeless shelters, most people’s first thoughts leap to movies and what they’ve seen showcased on their television screens–Bland, cold, run down. Sadly, what people have seen for so many years on movies and television shows aren’t far from the truth in the least.

Terry Grahl visited a homeless shelter for women dealing with drug addictions and domestic violence, Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac, MI. The women who live at Grace Centers of Hope have already had some very traumatic and life-shattering experiences and this shelter provides these women with shelter for them and their children for up to one year. Because of the experiences these women have already had, shelters such as Grace Centers of Hope and so many others across the country are there to lend these women a hand, to assure these women that their lives are not over and to relieve these women of their pasts and teach them to look forward towards a hopeful and promising future. While the mission of these shelters is amazing, the interior most often resembles the emotional deterioration of the women themselves; which is exactly what Terry Grahl thought when she visited Grace Centers of Hope.

As soon as Terry had seen the prison-like beds that these women slept in, the walls and carpets that looked as if they were part of an abandoned building that fell prey to a handful of high school kids wanting a place to party, she knew she had found a project to dedicate her time and talent to. Terry believed that these women deserved so much more, especially considering that Grace Centers of Hope is the “in between” place for these women to start to get on their own two feet and start to make sense of their lives. How were they to make sense of their lives while living in a space that lacked to inspire.

Luckily, not only Terry felt this way, but so did the women who ran this shelter as well as the people who had donated money to be used to revamp the center as well as those who had donated various items such as ceiling fans, air conditioners, washers and dryers, baby cribs, curtains, beauty products, homemade art and so much more. The community surrounding Grace Centers of Hope came together with Terry, the women who run this shelter and the women who find themselves in a shelter that once reminded them of how lost they were, but can now remind them to always have hope, to not look upon themselves as victims and to provide the best life they possibly can to their own children. The women of Grace Centers of Hope can now feel inspired, motivated and hopeful and their surroundings can now uplift them and hopefully, they will never feel the sorrow, loneliness, or feel victimized in any way for the rest of their lives.

To see what Terry and the women of Grace Centers of Hope and the people of Pontiac, MI did to transform this space for the women who live there, click the images below and you can also visit Terry’s website, Terry’s Enchanted Cottage, where she has dedicated a page to The Hopeful Haven Project.

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

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Share the Love

July 4, 2008, category

health, random acts of activism

The Sharing the Love Blog Award, created by Memoirs of a Mommy Blog was started in honor of the organ donor who saved her son’s life. The award is meant to spread the word about how important organ donation is, and it really is.

I was given this award by The BoBo Files, whom I’ve guest posted for and that is simply all I am saying about him and his website, since he described me simply as a past feminist guest blogger and his web designer.

The rules to this award are to share the award with people whose blogs you love and those who receive it must link to this post, which is where the blog award started.

Thanks to The BoBo Files for giving me this award and I’m going to pass it along to Hops, the messiah of good humanity and to Ally, one of the most supportive and kind people I know.

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Pro-Lifers Say No to Habitat for Humanity

June 17, 2008, category

anti-choice, random acts of activism

Habitat for Humanity We all know that “pro-lifers” want to destroy everything relating to reproductive health care and limit the types of reproductive health care women seek and are given. We also know that pro-lifers hate hate hate Planned Parenthood because they are “baby killers” (even though not all Planned Parenthood clinics perform abortions) and they distribute that evil poison-in-pill form known as birth control! Another widely known fact is that pro-lifers also do not give a damn about life after a person is born; no, they’re more interested in what goes on in the womb and they only care that that fetus gets out of the womb so they have more people in the world to fight with about reproductive health care and more people to tell off about how wrong they are when it comes to personal freedom and choice.

Yeah, the people actually alive and breathing on Earth right now really aren’t a concern to them, which can obviously be proven since they recently got a project for Habitat for Humanity shut down.

“An anti-abortion group has broken up a deal between Planned Parenthood and Habitat for Humanity by blasting out 10,000 e-mails to Habitat supporters.

Planned Parenthood is building a 23,000-square-foot regional headquarters on Central Avenue, and planned to sell Habitat the land next door for a token $10 to build three below-market-cost houses. The deal benefited Planned Parenthood because the city required the clinic to put up buildings as a buffer between its parking lot and Cohen Way.

“We could have put up any building we wanted,” said Barbara Zdravecky, president of Planned Parenthood. “We wanted to donate the land so Habitat could build more attainable housing.”

The email blast to 10,000 Habitat supporters started with James Sedlak, vice president of the American Life League, (Wow, a man, what a surprise…) who said it showed a cozy relationship between Habitat and Planned Parenthood. This “cozy relationship” was then compared to pushing pornography onto children, among other things.

The bottom line is that Planned Parenthood is a fabulous place, a great resource to women and whom have helped several women, including myself so I am speaking from first hand, personal experience here. The clinic needed builds to put up as a buffer against this type of ridiculousness and instead of selling the land for an enormous price to someone else, they decided to practically give it to Habitat for Humanity because they are in the same field–The field of helping people.

These groups, while they hide behind their cloaks of “We want to help people!” actually wind up hurting more and more people and this time, they targeted Habitat for Humanity because they feel as if accepting a space to build and to help other people, that means that they have a cozy relationship with Planned Parenthood. It is because of the hatred that these people have against something they do not understand that Habitat will not be able to build in a space that was donated to them and will not be able to help the people who need it.

Go here to contact Habitat for Humanity and let them know that they shouldn’t be bullied by people who want to stop them from helping low income families.

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Recent Reproductive Rights Triumphs

May 22, 2008, category

random acts of activism, reproductive rights

There has been a lot of news on reproductive rights lately and sadly, I have not covered any of it. So here is all of the happy reproductive rights news I missed!

Plan B Canada has approved emergency contraception pill, Plan B, for over-the-counter sale. Emergency contraception sale in Canada was available over-the-counter in 2005, but only partially, as it was only available to women who had a medical consultation with a pharmacist.

If you’re curious as to what the status of emergency contraception sale in the US is, EC is available over-the-counter, however, women have had a hard time trying to actually obtain the pill due to pharmacists who should go and find a job that they can actually do, instead of punishing women because of their personal morals. Other things women have had to put up with trying to get Plan B are scare tactics, age limitations and conscience clause laws.

In other news:

- The UK has ruled 332 to 190 that they will not lower the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. A ruling trying to lower the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 22 weeks was opposed 304 votes to 233. Yay, UK!

- A law that would essentially criminalize all second trimester abortions in Virginia was struck down by a federal appeals court panel.

In a 2-to-1 decision, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the law was more restrictive than the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which the United States Supreme Court upheld last year in Gonzales v. Carhart.

…”Unlike the federal act,” Judge Michael wrote, “the Virginia act subjects all doctors who perform” the more common procedure “to potential criminal liability, thereby imposing an unconstitutional burden on a woman’s right to choose.”

And lastly, here’s some reproductive rights activism via Feministing.

Susan Wicklund, an abortion provider living in Montana has recently written a memoir about her life as an abortion provider entitled This Common Secret. (Also note: I need this book!)

Dr. Wicklund is currently trying to open a new clinic in Montana where there are very few reproductive rights resources for women. However, like most of these cases, pressure from the anti-choice population is hindering her from being able to open the new clinic and building owners will not lease to her due to the pressure the anti-choicers are putting on them. So, to help Dr. Wicklund, a PayPal account has been opened in her name so she can most likely build a new building and open the new clinic.

If you would like to donate, please send an email to supportsuewicklund@gmail.com and ask for information on how to donate.

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Bloggers Unite: Same-Sex Marriage

May 15, 2008, category

LGBT, random acts of activism

Bloggers Unite When the person you want to spend the rest of your life with ends up in the hospital in the intensive care unit and you are told that you are not allowed to see them because you aren’t “family” is unacceptable.

When the person you want to spend the rest of your life with gets in an accident and is killed and you are not made aware of this except for when their family tells you because you aren’t “family” is unacceptable.

When the person you shared your life with is gone and you are not consulted when planning their viewing, funeral, etc. because you aren’t “family” is unacceptable.

Not only are the three examples above unacceptable, they are also a direct violation of human rights.

Same-sex marriage has had a triumph recently. Today, as if it were planned for Bloggers Unite for Human Rights Day, California’s highest court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is unconstitutional.

This historic victory makes not only myself, but all human rights activists out there insanely happy. It is amazing that the country’s biggest state has opened their eyes and decided not to continue along with many other states out there who don’t believe that same-sex marriage should be legal and make marriage a universal right for everyone.

While same-sex marriage has had a triumph, this coming November opponents of marriage equality are pushing to get a constitutional amendment on California’s November ballot to ban same-sex marriage. If you would like to stand up for marriage equality, please consider signing this petition and pledge to vote no on any constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in California.

While this issue is one of many in the insanely large category of human rights, take a look over at the Bloggers Unite community and read what other bloggers are saying about human rights that mean the most of them–And if you have also participated in this day, go plug your post!

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Bloggers Unite for Human Rights 2008

May 12, 2008, category

random acts of activism

Bloggers Unite for Human Rights is taking place on May 15! This “blogging event” is being sponsored by Blog Catalog and they are urging all the bloggers out there to blog about human rights and draw attention to the challenges and successes of human rights issues.

For those of you out there (much like myself) who are thinking “This is a great event! However, human rights is a very broad topic, so what am I supposed to be blogging about?” Well, they have a few suggestions. Topics for Bloggers Unite may consist of the wrongful imprisonment of journalists covering assemblies, governments that ignore the plight of citizens (*ahem* Sound familiar?) and censorship of the Internet.

No matter what you write about, what is important is that on one day, thousands of bloggers will unite and share their unified support of human rights everywhere.

In order to participate, sign up for Bloggers Unite on their website, add one of their badges to your website’s sidebar and on May 15, share your human rights post with the Bloggers Unite community on Blog Catalog.

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