Recipes for Systemic Change

In Studio: Recipes for Systemic Change — A book about Strategic Design from Sitra- Finnish Innovation Fund on Vimeo.

Download the book for free.

In African Women’s Soccer, Homophobia Remains an Obstacle [NYTimes]

Shortly before she was hired in 2009 as the first female coach of Nigeria’s powerful women’s national soccer team, Eucharia Uche said at a seminar that she was troubled by the presence of lesbians on the squad, calling it a "worrisome experience."

Over the past two years, as Nigeria progressed toward the Women’s World Cup, which begins Sunday in Germany, Uche said that she has used religion in an attempt to rid her team of homosexual behavior, which she termed a "dirty issue," and "spiritually, morally very wrong."

FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, states as part of its mission a desire to use the game in "overcoming social and cultural obstacles for women with the ultimate aim of improving women’s standing in society." But the story of Nigeria’s Super Falcons illustrates the cultural obstacles that remain for many African women who play soccer decades after more assertive efforts at inclusivity occurred in places like the United States, Germany, Norway, Sweden and more recently in Brazil.

Uche said she had never witnessed her own players participating in homosexual activity. Instead, she said that she had relied on rumors, speculation and news media accounts to form her belief that lesbian behavior had been common in the Nigerian team.

"When rumors are strong, you are bound to believe it is happening," Uche, 38, said in a telephone interview from Nigeria’s World Cup training camp in Saalfelden, Austria.

In March, Uche made similar remarks to The Daily Sun newspaper of Nigeria. The newspaper also quoted a former technical assistant for the country’s soccer federation, James Peters, saying that he had removed some players from Nigeria’s women’s team last year, "not because they were not good players, but because they were lesbians."

FULL ARTICLE

Alice Walker: Why I'm sailing to Gaza [CNN]

Editor's note: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker will join an international flotilla of boats sailing to Gaza to challenge Israel's blockade of the territory. Here, Walker, best known for her 1983 novel "The Color Purple," explains why she will be taking part. 

By Alice Walker 

Why am I going on the Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza? I ask myself this, even though the answer is: What else would I do? I am in my sixty-seventh year, having lived already a long and fruitful life, one with which I am content. 

It seems to me that during this period of eldering it is good to reap the harvest of one's understanding of what is important, and to share this, especially with the young. How are they to learn, otherwise? 

Our boat, The Audacity of Hope, will be carrying letters to the people of Gaza. Letters expressing solidarity and love. That is all its cargo will consist of. If the Israeli military attacks us, it will be as if they attacked the mailman. This should go down hilariously in the annals of history. But if they insist on attacking us, wounding us, even murdering us, as they did some of the activists in the last flotilla, Freedom Flotilla I, what is to be done? 

There is a scene in the movie "Gandhi" that is very moving to me: it is when the unarmed Indian protesters line up to confront the armed forces of the British Empire. The soldiers beat them unmercifully, but the Indians, their broken and dead lifted tenderly out of the fray, keep coming. 

Alongside this image of brave followers of Gandhi there is for me an awareness of paying off a debt to the Jewish civil rights activists who faced death to come to the side of black people in the South in our time of need. I am especially indebted to Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman who heard our calls for help - our government then as now glacially slow in providing protection to non-violent protestors-and came to stand with us. 

FULL ARTICLE

"Gay Girl in Damascus": Is She who She Says She Is?

via Facebook A digital poster that was distributed 
across the Web after the Amina 
was allegedly arrested in Syria.

via NPR

Sandra Bagaria forged an online relationship with the Syrian-American blogger who goes by "Gay Girl In Damascus." She never thought to ask if her name was really Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari or if like a lot of bloggers in countries with authoritarian regimes, it was an alias.

Her blog was so autobiographical, so genuine that it never occurred to her that Amina could be anyone but Amina. But the last few days have left her shellshocked.

First, because on Monday, a person claiming to be Amina's cousin posted a piece on Amina's blog that said she had been detained by the security forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But just as Amina's story got out, her authenticity began to crumble...

FULL ARTICLE

By the numbers: Gay marriage around the world [GA Voice]

By the Numbers is a series done by the GA Voice.

26

Countries — not including the United States — that recognize same-sex unions (through marriage, civil unions or other status).

53

Countries — again not including the United States — with anti-discrimination laws that include sexual orientation.

76

Countries that prosecute people based on sexual orientation.

7

Countries where being gay is punishable by death.

Mafalda

I'm not sure why I haven't talked about Mafalda before now... Little boys have Calvin and Hobbes. Little girls have Mafalda. Qino (Argentinian cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado) started drawing Mafalda in 1964 and the comic ran until 1973. The strip features a 6-year-old girl named Mafalda, who is deeply concerned about humanity and world peace and rebels against the current state of the world. She's cynical, honest and hilarious. The strip, as far as I know, was never translated to English except for two of the ten volumes. Trust me when I say this is for the best. A lot always gets lost in translation. You might as well brush up on your Spanish now. A little idioma always does one some good.

Happy International Women's Day!

...Which apparently a special day in International Women's Month. It's the 100th Anniversary(!); so make sure to check your area for events! For my fellow Atlanta womyn:

Date+time:	08 March 2011, 6.30 to 8.30 pm
Event:	TONY & JANINA'S AMERICAN WEDDING- FILM SCREENING-ATLANTA PREMIERE ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
About:	This film follows one Polish American woman's struggle through the red tape of the current U.S. immigration system. This film tells the universal untold human rights story of post 9/11, that every undocumented immigrant in America faces today and reframing the conversation for change.
Venue:	Plaza Theater 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave Atlanta, GA 30306 +1 (404) 873-1939, Atlanta, GA, 30306
Organisation:	Ruthless Films in association w/ Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO): Owned & operated by women, Ruthless Films focus on the struggles of working class women, whose lives have often been shaped by a lack of opportunity, but who are survivors.
Info:	Click here

Also, if you go to Google's Homepage, you can click on today's fancy banner and it will bring you to a list of places to which you can donate (I mean, if you're into that. I am when I have money). If you're looking for reading material to get you into the feminist mood, Autostraddle turned me onto this article by Eileen Myles: Being Female. It's good. Trust. And with that, I bid you a Happy International Women's Month! Today, may you feel loved.

Yansan: 100 Years of Womyn's Struggle, Ceremony, and Sword

Every week Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday from Fri., March 4 until Tue., March 29 @ Sellars Project Space, Denver, CO

“If someone asked me at the end of the day, ‘Ashara, what do you want to be?,’ I would say that I want to be a curator. I’d have the unmitigated gall to think I could curate a show. But it’s true: When I grow up, I want to own a gallery where I’d show works by African and African-American women.” So says “artivist” Ashara Ekundayo, who now spreads herself thin between Denver and the Bay Area, disseminating the word about community, cultural diversity and urban gardening wherever she goes. But even before she finishes growing up, Ekundayo, who founded Denver’s Cafe Nuba (among so many other things), has gotten to try her hand at curating with the new exhibit Yansan: 100 Years of Womyn’s Struggle, Ceremony and Sword, which opens today at Sellars Project Space, 4383 Tennyson Street, in celebration of the not-insignificant hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day. 

The title Yansan, chosen in tribute to the Yoruban female orisha (or deity) Oya, “who guards and organizes chaos, transition and change, and whose element in nature is the tornado,” Ekundayo explains, is meant to convey the idea of self-actualization for women in modern society. To further that theme, she’s chosen works by a conglomeration of women artists of color from Denver, the Bay Area and New York, including mixed-media Amana Johnson, outspoken photographer Kim Mayhorn, activist poster artist Favianna Rodriguez, local sculptor Li Hardison and others, all women who, she says, are “amazing griots and storytellers who embody the energy that is transcendence” — the spirit of Yansan. 

Attend a reception for Yansan from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight; tomorrow at noon, Ekundayo and some of the artists will join together for a free informal Talk Talk Talk panel. Yansan runs through March 29; for more information, visit www.sellarsprojectspace.com or call 720-475-1182.

Inspiration: Women are Heroes by JR [Winner of TED Prize 2011]

http://www.insideoutproject.net/

Tiny Brownie Points (and I mean TINY): Facebook

via The Daily Helmsman

by Erica Horton

Usually, when Facebook makes a major change to its site, the social media giant's 500 million users first complain and then adjust.

Recent changes to Facebook's relationship options may not be as noticeable as a change to profile layout, but they've left many members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community feeling appreciative and included.

Facebook recently added "in a civil union" and "in a domestic partnership" to its relationship status choices.

Full article

Egypt: Seeds of Change [Al-Jazeera]

"One of the key things to understand is that non-violent struggle is a form of warfare

[...] Violence contaminates your movement."

Facebook...

OkCupid Lovin Us Gays

It's true that in terms of queer women, OkCupid has accrued quite a following. This is also true for queer women of color (or maybe I just live in Atlanta). And now, Autostraddle just informed me there's more to be excited about:

1) Mad lesbos are knee-deep in OKC, meaning it's perfectly normal that I am too.

2) Us gays can now hide our profiles from the straights. I find this feature particularly wonderful for the ladies. I can't tell you how many straight dudes have viewed my profile. That's sketch... you know... being that it's a dating site and I don't date dudes.

Happy dating!

Gearing Up for 2011

Start doing things you love. Start doing things you love.

Don't Forget!

PUT THIS ON THE MAP is still raising funds to tour the country and start reteaching gender and sexuality. Teenagers speaking to their peers about empowering themselves will do more for our youth than the "It Gets Better" Project could ever hope for (though I do support "It Gets Better" and its mission). So if you have a dollar to spare, please send it their way!

PUT THIS ON THE {MAP} trailer from
PUT THIS ON THE MAP on Vimeo.

Fed up with a lack of queer visibility, twenty-six young people in Seattle’s eastside suburbs weave together this ground-breaking narrative of shifting identities and social change. PUT THIS ON THE {MAP} is the compelling documentary about a generation of young people reteaching gender and sexual identity. From getting beat-up in a schoolyard to being picked up as a runaway, youth profess expertise in an honest evaluation of their schools and families. An interview based documentary where the realities of social isolation and violence are woven together with optimistic portraits of fearlessness and liberation. In an open and honest exploration of education, family, and community, PUT THIS ON THE MAP moves an audience from self-reflection to action.

PUT THIS ON THE {MAP} is decisively instructive for improving schools and communities for queer/transgender young people.

These are women's shoes.

And that makes me (very) happy. Thank you, Pointer. Now, if only I could afford you...

I particularly appreciate the integrity of the interior of these shoes. And by integrity, I mean they're meant to be seen. Here, stalk them with me!

Zanele Muholi: A Visual History of Black Lesbians in post-Apartheid South Africa

Today, I ran across a post by theGAQ about Zanele Muholi, a South African lesbian artist. I haven't heard of her before but she definitely reminds me of an artist I first stumbled upon in Juxtapoz, Kehinde Wiley (and as GAQ points out as well). Wiley uses the old master painting style to paint portraits of black men. In "Faces and Phases," Muholi photographs black lesbians in black and white, which sometimes brings to mind early photography.

"In Faces and Phases, I continue to document and explore black lesbian identities through portraiture, where the participants are photographed in their various domiciles. One of our collective painful experiences as a community is the loss of friends and acquaintances through disease or hate crimes. Some of these participated in my visual projects. What is left behind now is the individuals' portraits that works as a site of memory for us, as a trace of 'who and what existed' in a particular space at this particular moment when our black lesbian and South African histories intersect."

You can read her artist's statement here.

{THIS}

When I saw this video, my heart exploded. It exploded! And my soul ached. This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in the queer/trans community in a long time. And it's made me realize how severely disconnected from youth I am right now. I mentioned before that the "It Gets Better" project is great! But not enough. Not immediate enough. Not tangible enough. And that bullying is NOT the underlying issue. Queer/trans youth are finally getting together and speaking to US, not just to the people and institutions that are the problem, about what they need. They need this...

Reteaching Gender and Sexuality from Sid Jordan on Vimeo.

[*Squeal* to the "We will not be silent" shirt.]

ALSO! Put This on the Map is raising funds to tour the country and to start RETEACHING! Their goal is $10,000. So far they've reached $770. Every little bit counts. It would only take 10,000 of us at $1 each to reach this goal. So if you can, please lend a helping hand... or you know... dollar. 

The National Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Suicide Hotline:  

1-866-4-U-TREVOR

National Novel Writing Month

Hello world,

Did you know that November is National Novel Writing Month? Me neither. It even has a website, and it's cooler than it sounds. National Novel Writing Month is a novel writing personal challenge. The premise: Put all those fears of writing your own novel aside and get that shit done in 30 days. The challenge: Write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30 (Don't worry. Pep talks are provided). How it works: You create an account, sign up with a region (it's international!), and get to writing! Some regions even offer places to go write in... like an independent bookstore or local library. What better way to spend un-/underemployment than writing under a stressful time constraint and meeting other masochists?

Obviously (and regretably), I am too late in bringing this information to you (I know... bad blogging). And it's not like a week's worth of catch-up is all that appealing (it sounds like a nightmare, acually). But you can always write a script with them in April and there's also next November! Log this into your Google calendars and get to brainstorming, nerds! All the cool homogays are doing it. 

Lovingly,

Lady