My pal Jamie organized this event & my pal Nate Ashley will be playing there. If you live in or near Portland please join us at Plan B (1305 SE 8th St ) on April 24th. Women in the Congo get raped every day by "soldiers" with various items including wood chucks and bayonets which are not only psychologically damaging but can be damaging to reproductive health and can even result in death. The point of the assaults to to destroy these women and the Congolese government won't create a better justice system for perpetrators & worse some of the worst rapes are done by government troops.
So be a part of the healing and come to the benefit next Thursday starting at 8pm until 2am. Thank you for reading! Also if you belong to an area business & would like to donate a raffle prize, contact Jamie at delia.sailed@gmail.com.
What a speech Barack Obama gave last week on this Nation's racism and building a more perfect union. I was in awe, impressed and felt for a moment damn proud to be an American- whatever that means. If this man doesn't make it into office, I know this- his speech made our country better. It permanently changed us for the better. He didn't just say words but provided enough inspiration for us all to look into each others hearts and begin to heal. I know most of you have already seen it, but here it is, because we need these words, this energy, more than I can articulate.
And here is a compilation of Fox Sleeze News reporting on Mr. Obama. Despite claims that our future president gets all the praise in terms of reporting, I think this video gives a clearer picture of what's really going on for Mr. Obama in the mainstream press.
On to a totally different topic. Have y'all heard of obstetric fistula? I hadn't until yesterday. Dear god what a horrible horrible condition. Here's a little bit on it from the United Nations:
The smell of leaking urine or feces, or both, is constant and humiliating, often driving loved ones away. Left untreated, fistula can lead to chronic medical problems, including ulcerations, kidney disease, and nerve damage in the legs.
How does this happen you ask? Dr. Mark Linden says: obstetric fistula occurs due to prolonged pressure of the child’s head against a part of soft tissue between the mother’s pelvis. The soft tissue becomes necrotic (dies) from the lack of blood supply and breaks down.
And here's the deal. It's preventable, fixable and is happening to mainly most African countries, India and surrounding countries. $300 is all it takes to repair a mother's fistula with surgery and post op care. To make a needed donation go here! To learn more about this devastating illness click here. If you consider yourself a feminist I challenge you to pay attention to this issue for our sisters in the "developing" world. Here's a story on this nightmare. PBS will be airing a documentary called A Walk to Beautiful in May. View the trailer here.
Sending good thoughts to all you lovely QWOC readers! ~F
If your reading this post you may have already noticed one change. The brand spankin' newly designed by moi header is my favorite thus far. It's bright, pretty, natural and of course... pink. Plus it's bigger & bolder, which I think aptly represents my nature these days. Anywho I hope y'all enjoy this new header as I think it will be up through summer. The credit for the photo goes to Ian Britton from the website FreeFoto.com.
The other change is on a completely different level. As my regular readers may know, there is a tag I've used for posts that discuss my personal life moments of weirdness or whatever. The tag used was "Life Bitches." After much thought I've decided to take the b-word out of my vocabulary. I don't like the way that word is used to describe women. And it seems to often be used to describe women who are comfortable with power. Overuse of power is as we all know, can happen to anyone regardless of gender & I'm sick of seeing women called the b-word when their being jerks just because they happen to be female jerks. It's derogatory & I no longer wish to participate in such prejudiced language, even if it's being used in jest or for things that don't have to do with women per se.
I'll keep that old tag as it has been used because that was where I was at and like rings of a tree, this blog is a witness to my changes & growth. From here on out though I'll use the tag "That's Life" to describe those bizarre moments in life. Peace! ~F
My pal Jamie organized this event & my pal Nate Ashley will be playing there. If you live in or near Portland please join us at Plan B (1305 SE 8th St ) on April 24th. Women in the Congo get raped every day by "soldiers" with various items including wood chucks and bayonets which are not only psychologically damaging but can be damaging to reproductive health and can even result in death. The point of the assaults to to destroy these women and the Congolese government won't create a better justice system for perpetrators & worse some of the worst rapes are done by government troops.
