After the Allied Media Conference is over, I'll be driving back from Detroit to Portland, stopping for more Bitch fundraising/outreach/discussions along the way. As before, I'm hoping to organize a fundraiser (a house party, dance party, music show, tap dance off, whatever) and a Feminism In/Action discussion in each city.
I knew I was close to home when I started hearing corn crop fungicide commercials on the radio.
I got into Minnesota a day early, because I took a wrong turn leaving Chicago and by the time I called the folks I was supposed to meet up with, they laughed (kindly) and told me to keep heading West, as it would've taken another two hours of backtracking to get there.
Clearly I'm not one of those people who can keep my blog up-to-the-minute, but I want to mention two more things about my visit to Detroit, even though I'm actually two states beyond at this point.
Before I left town, I had lunch with some staff members of Labor Notes, an incredible and radical organization/magazine that provides a forum for union activists to honestly examine problems within the labor movement (i.e., not just ever-weakening labor laws and employer offensives, but problems like weak unions and union leaders not doing their job). Similar to Bitch, they're a nonprofit organization that publishes a magazine. They also publish pamphlets and books (including one of my favorites, The Troublemakers Handbook: How to fight back where you work and win) and organize a bi-annual Labor Notes conference. I highly encourage everyone to read what happened at their most recent conference in April. There's some f'd-up stuff going on in union organizing these days.
Ok, folks – here's my heart on the line: I organized my entire trip around Mother's Day so that I could combine the organization I love plus my mom and grandma, who – as much as they support and love me – really don't "get" what my work is all about.
So please, Twin Cities friends, come – and bring anyone special you want to appreciate – and let's celebrate Mother's Day with gratitude for the amazing people that allowed us to live the lives we have today.
If nothing else, do it for my grandma! She's 91 and she's incredible.
I'm coming to the Midwest in May to do some fundraising/outreach! I'm really excited (hence my use of the exclamation point); it'll be my first trip back to my roots on behalf of this organization I love so dearly. It's like chocolate and peanut butter together.
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