outreach

Bitch in Salt Lake City

Debbie Rasmussen — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:35:51 -0400

Back to the most recent Bitch fundraising trip...

I'd never been to Salt Lake City before, so I was excited to check it out. After a long drive in from Denver, I was even more excited to be greeted by a plate of vegan cookies, freshly-baked by our host, Courtney Maguire (thanks, Courtney!). Courtney is one of the folks involved with the Female Empwerment Movement (FEM), a new(ish) feminist group created in response to the high rates of sexual violence in Salt Lake. FEM also helped organize and get the word out of the evening's events, and I'm grateful.

I'm also grateful to Angela Brown, Meghann Griggs, and the rest of the folks at SLUG magazine,who responded almost immediately to our call for assistance in helping
put together the discussion and fundraiser in Salt Lake. SLUG was founded in 1989 and remains Utah's oldest alternative paper.

Belated but big love to Lincoln

Debbie Rasmussen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:57:22 -0400

Did you know that Lincoln, Nebraska, was a hotbed of radical lesbian-feminism in the 1970s?

I didn't until I had the pleasure of visiting there recently. And awesomely enough, the vibe is still there. I had one of the most memorable nights I've had in a long time back at the very end of June, on the latest Bitch fundraising trip.

Coming to Salt Lake City tonight

Debbie Rasmussen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:49:57 -0400

There's a discussion first, then a fundraiser following. Please come if you can!

Heading to Lincoln on Monday!

Debbie Rasmussen — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:27:34 -0400

The fundraiser will be happening after the Feminism In/Action discussion. Please come to both if you can!

Lincoln Feminism In/Action discusion coming up!

Debbie Rasmussen — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:50:00 -0400

Please come out and spread the word! More details are here.

More traveling through the Midwest/West—come out, please?

Debbie Rasmussen — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:21:51 -0400

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.

Hey Madison folks, please come out!

Debbie Rasmussen — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:39:40 -0400

I love that my co-workers think of cows when they think of Wisconsin (thanks, Jess and Briar, for the awesome flyer!).

Also, please come to Room of One's Own Feminist Bookstore, 307 W. Johnson, on Wednesday (May 14) from 6:00-8:00PM for a participatory discussion about Feminism In/Action: What is your feminism for and why does it matter?

Back in the homeland

Debbie Rasmussen — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:48:55 -0400

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.

Trying to keep up

Debbie Rasmussen — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:27:37 -0400

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.

Chicks (not girls) in Detroit

Debbie Rasmussen — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:26:06 -0400

Saturday night in Detroit was a night of animals. I wanted to share some photos because I imagine many people don't think of farms when they think of Detroit. So. First I visited some chicks at the TrumbullPlex, where Sunday's discussion was to take place (more on that later).

Alice the cat lives upstairs from the chicks.