le tigre, “new kicks” (this island, 2004)
new kicks
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Category Archives: english
who belongs
a band that’s breaking up, unfortunately:
gather, “who belongs” (beyond the ruins, 2006)
Despre 8 Martie ca zi de activism la nivel global
Stop the Clash: 90 seconds to change the world
From New York to Baghdad, Madrid to Beirut, talk is rising of a ‘clash of civilizations’ between the West and Islam — no end in sight to the catastrophe in Iraq, war brewing between the US and Iran, Lebanon torn apart again, and still no real Israeli-Palestinian talks. But we know this clash is not about religion or culture. The real cause is politics – the politics of divide-and-rule, on all sides.
This is not the world we want. But it’s the world we’ll end up with, unless we act now. It’s time for the peaceful majority – us – to make a stand. So watch our new ‘Stop the Clash’ video now for a fresh, empowering take on these conflicts, and a concrete first step we can all take today:
According to the UN among others, the Palestinian- Israeli conflict is the driving symbol of this “clash” between Islam and the West. But opinion polls show most people around the world agree that policy is the problem – big majorities everywhere want peace in the Middle East, as do most Israelis and Palestinians. If progress toward peace is made there, it will spread.
So let’s take the first step, and call for REAL Middle East peace talks now.
Tens of thousands of people have already signed the petition and supported an ad that ran on the front page of the Financial Times worldwide and in major Palestinian and Israeli newspapers.
Now we need to raise the pressure, ratcheting up to a major international day of action on June 5th – the 40th anniversary of the
1967 war that began the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. We want to hit every international summit and decision moment from now till then with the same demand. Can you help get us to 50,000 new voices for peace in the next 24 hours?
We agree on what matters most. We all oppose war, tyranny, terror and the killing of innocent civilians. We know these conflicts are caused not by some inevitable culture clash, but by bad politics. The ‘Stop the Clash’ video is a good way to remind friends, family and colleagues of the big picture of all we share – and signing the Real Talks petition is a step every one of us can take.
International Women’s Day 2007
– DON’T FORGET to: 
(sign up here)
– “8 martie – ziua femeilor militante” (2006) [ro]
“march 8th – day of women’s activism” (2006) [en]
– Global Women’s Strike 2007
Celebrating International Women’s Day around the world
INVEST IN CARING NOT KILLING! Women & girls do 2/3 of the world’s work, most of it unwaged. $1 trillion/year is spent on the military worldwide, more than half by the US. 10% of this would provide the essentials of life for all: water, sanitation, basic health, nutrition, literacy, and a minimum income.
The Global Women’s Strike network, with national co-ordinations in 11 countries and participating organisations in over 60 countries, is demanding the return of military budgets to the community, beginning with women the main carers of people and the planet. Women, and men who support our goals, take action together on 8 March, International Women’s Day, and throughout the year. In this way each grassroots struggle is backed by our collective power. …
– “Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls”
Is the theme for International Women’s Day 2007
Learn more about how United Nations celebrate IWD
In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating 8 March as International Women’s Day. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. For the United Nations, International Women’s Day has been observed on 8 March since 1975. The Day is traditionally marked with a message from the Secretary-General.
Why dedicate a day exclusively to the celebration of the world’s women?
In adopting its resolution on the observance of Women’s Day, the General Assembly cited two reasons: to recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security. For the women of the world, the Day’s symbolism has a wider meaning: It is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilize for meaningful change.
Read more about the International Women’s Day:
* History of International Women’s Day
* “Engendering the Global Agenda: The Story of Women and the United Nations”, a book by Hilkka Pietilä
* UN Cyberschool Bus page about International Women’s Day
Previous years and themes:
2006: Women in decision-making
2005: Gender Equality Beyond
2005: Building a More Secure Future
2004: Women and HIV/AIDS
2003: Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals
2002: Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunities
2001: Women and Peace: Women Managing Conflicts
2000: Women Uniting for Peace
1999: World Free of Violence Against Women
1998: Women and Human Rights
1997: Women at the Peace Table
1996: Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future
…
The Iroquois model for gender equity
“The Untold Story of The Iroquois Influence On Early Feminists”
by Sally Roesch Wagner
I had been haunted by a question to the past, a mystery of feminist history: How did the radical suffragists come to their vision, a vision not of Band-Aid reform but of a reconstituted world completely transformed?
For 20 years I had immersed myself in the writings of early United States women’s rights activists — Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) — yet I could not fathom how they dared to dream their revolutionary dream. Living under the ideological hegemony of nineteenth-century United States, they had no say in government, religion, economics, or social life (“the four-fold oppression” of their lives, Gage and Stanton called it.) Whatever made them think that human harmony — based on the perfect equality of all people, with women absolute sovereigns of their lives — was an achievable goal?
Surely these white women, living under conditions of virtual slavery, did not get their vision in a vacuum. Somehow they were able to see from point A, where they stood — corseted, ornamental, legally nonpersons — to point C, the “regenerated” world Gage predicted, in which all repressive institutions would be destroyed. What was point B in their lives, the earthly alternative that drove their feminist spirit — not a utopian pipe dream but a sensible, do-able paradigm?
Then I realized I had been skimming over the source of their inspiration without noticing it. My own unconscious white supremacy had kept me from recognizing what these prototypical feminists kept insisting in their writings: They caught a glimpse of the possibility of freedom because they knew women who lived liberated lives, women who had always possessed rights beyond their wildest imagination — Iroquois women.
The more evidence I uncovered of this indelible Native American influence on the vision of early United States feminists, the more certain I became that this story must be told.
A Vision of Everyday Decency [more]
—
Planting the future
“Wangari Maathai’s environmental activism in Kenya has earned her a Nobel peace prize – and a number of powerful enemies.” – article about Wangari Maathai, an amazing feminist environmentalist from Kenya!
Some other ecofeminists/feminist environmental activists:
Campaign for Abolition of all Misogynic Gender Based legislation in Iran
[See also: a feminist protest in Tehran violently repressed, June 2006]
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________
8 March Women Organization (Iranian-Afghanistan), International Association of Advanced Women, Women’s Committee of the Iranian Association in London
www.karzar-zanan.com, zan_dem_iran@hotmail.com
To all women who suffer from inequality
To all activists and organisations of the Iranian women’s Movement
In the last 26 years, Islamic legislation has deprived Iranian women of the most basic human rights. Forced veiling has reduced women to second class citizens. Honour killing is legal and women are condemned to hanging and death by stoning for “unchaste behaviour”.
Let us join forces and create a powerful united campaign to eradicate these unequal laws and Islamic punishments against women as soon as possible. Let us make our voice in opposition to these laws heard throughout the world. Let us create such a storm that no one would ever dare impose such retrograde laws on us.
If you are against death by stoning!
If you are against forced veiling!
If you are against prosecution and imprisonment of women!
If you are against lashing a woman’s body!
If you are against any form of patriarchy!
If you are against all the medieval laws of Iran’s Islamic Republic imposing inequality against women!
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Press release: Women against unjust laws organise march on International women’s day
Continue reading
Portugal Abortion Referendum Fails, Government Moves to Legalize
See also: pre-referendum, an open letter regarding the issue (Romanian)
February 12, 2007: After a referendum on Portugal’s strict abortion laws failed due to low voter turn-out, the country’s Socialist government has announced that it will work to legalize abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. Portuguese voters yesterday decisively voted to liberalize Portugal’s extremely strict abortion law, but the results were considered invalid because only 44 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot; for a referendum to be considered binding, at least half of the country’s eligible population must vote. Currently, Portuguese legislation allows for abortion only in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if a woman’s health or life is at risk. Women pregnant because of rape may be considered for an abortion until the 16th week.
Luis Marques Mendes, who heads the Social Democratic Party, remarked, “The will of the Portuguese must be respected,” the BBC reports, suggesting that opposition parties will not attempt to veto new legislation that would liberalize the country’s laws. Supporters of lifting the abortion ban cited over 23,000 illegal abortions performed yearly. Currently Portugal’s abortion practices are some of most restrictive in the European Union. … more
— from the Global Feminist Daily Newswire
and you’ll find yr place in the world, girl
the gossip, another best band ever:
standing in the way of control, 2005
- “listen up!” (lyrics)
- “fire with fire”
– listen –
it ain’t the end of the world girl,
you’ll find yr place in the world girl,
all you gotta do is stand up,
and fight fire with fire.
big or small,
it makes no difference,
what part of town,
or what shape yr in,
all you gotta do is stand up,
and fight fire with fire.oh oh oh,
you gotta run run,
we’re gonna find you,
oh oh oh,
you turn around,
we’re right behind you,
hey hey hey,
then they’ll see,
that the bigger we are,
the harder they fall.no it ain’t the end of the world girl,
you’ll find yr place in the world girl,
all you gotta do is stand up,
and fight fire with fire,
in the end no one is innocent,
big or small it makes no difference,
get up, stand out and hold yr head up higher.
- “don’t (make waves)” (lyrics)
home alive compilation ii: flying sidekick, 2001
- “i want it now”