Wednesday, December 31, 2008

:D

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone's new year turns out to be wonderful!

Love,
Sarah

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Upcoming Panel Event

Hey everyone. Hope this weekend wasn't too stressful and I hope everyone gets time to relax soon!

Here's the info from our NOW ladies on an upcoming panel event about sex trafficking that we'd like people to take a look at:

We just found out about a panel on the issue of sex trafficking (a longtime NOW-NYU social-justice interest) that's being held on Saturday, December 13 from 2-4pm at the Brooklyn Museum (2/3 train to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum).

It's made even MORE exciting because not only is Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. magazine and the writer to bring the practice of female genital mutilation into U.S., if not Western, consciousness, RUNNING the panel, but our former event partner Rachel Lloyds, founder of GEMS (Girls Educational & Mentoring Services), is on the panel. GEMS is a great organization that aims to help house, rehabilitate and educate girls who have been victims of domestic sex trafficking in New York City (and state).

Here's the event info from the website (http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar/index.php?show=day&month=12&day=13&year=2008)
Talks and Tours: Panel Discussion: "Sex Trafficking and the New Abolitionists"
2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor
Acclaimed activist Gloria Steinem leads a panel discussing the fight against human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and violence against women and girls. Joining her will be Taina Bien-Aime, Executive Director of Equality Now; Dorchen Leidholdt, Director of the Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services at Sanctuary for Families; and Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director of GEMS.
Suggested donation: Students (with ID) $4

We'd love to see you there for a discussion on this very important issue, one often missing from social discourse in the U.S.!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Dec. 3, 2008 Meeting

Hey everyone.

Now that finals are coming up I know that everyone is stressed out and busy busy busy. However, we had a good meeting with yummy Mexican food this week and I hope to see you next week for our last meeting of the semester! :( I am definitely sad about that because I love seeing everyone on Wednesdays. What will I do on Wednesday nights to make up for the whole in my heart? ...... Anywho......

We'll be having a special guest stopping by next week. All I will say is that it is someone special from the National NOW. We plan to do a sort of pot-luck dinner type deal for food. Feel free to bring what you can and if you can't, no biggie! Use some of those swipes if you don't have any $$$. :D

We are also planning to do regular volunteering next semester (I believe about once a month) where all of us go to Planned Parenthood and escort women into the center (so they don't get harassed by protesters, etc.). We had to fill out a volunteer application at the meeting. If you weren't able to make it, you can fill one out online and hand it to Julie next week or I'm sure she'll have some to fill out at our next meeting. We want to get the ball rolling on this so we have something already in place when we come back.

We also have a drafted petition for the women's center that many of us liked that we will be sending around over winter break to get comments on so that we can also get started when we come back in the spring. We will be petitioning (i.e. getting friends' and professors' signatures), doing outreach to other clubs, and drafting a longer demand letter to the administration.

Take Back NYU! is having an event (that you can find on facebook) this coming week in the library called "Study Breakdown." E-mail Julie or search for it on facebook for more information.

At the meeting we discussed possible plans for next semester. We have a few things we'd like to do but, again, this is a club for our members so if anyone would like to bring some ideas or has anything they want to discuss next semester, feel free to contact us or bring it! We would love to see you next week and, if not next week due to finals hell, at least at the beginning of next semester. We look forward to working with everyone next semester on Womyn's Herstory Month, Black History month, and volunteering! Bring ideas! Bring books! Bring yourselves! Our first meeting next semester will be January 28.

Have a good finals week and good luck to everyone!
Love,
Sarah