crankyskirt:

ISBN 978-1-935950-05-9
Softcover 6″ x 9″, 240pp
Coming September 2012

What Are You Doing Here? investigates how black women musicians and fans navigate the metal, hardcore, and punk music genres that are regularly thought of as inclusive spaces and centered on a community spirit, but fail to block out the race and gender issues that exist in the outside world.

“We can neither reflectively choose our color identity nor downplay its social significance simply by willing it to be unimportant… but our color no more binds us to send a predetermined group message to our fellow human beings than our language binds us to convey predetermined thoughts.”—Amy Gutmann

“Sometimes I think nothing is simple but the feeling of pain.”—Lester Bangs

I’ll be the first to admit that, like any other book, What Are You Doing Here? is partly self-serving. I wanted to find other black women like me: metal, hardcore, and punk fans and musicians that were rabid about the music and culture and adamant about asserting their rightful place as black women within those scenes. I wanted to find other women who put aside the cultural baggage that dictates that we must listen to certain musical styles, and simply enjoy the music that influenced us, not just as black women, but as individuals who grew up in an era when, thanks to technology, a large variety of music is accessible and available to everyone. I found many black women and have shared their stories, but I also realize there is still a lot of work to be done.

Sweet! Looking forward to reading this.

janedoe225:

Where Are the Women at Occupy Wall Street? Everywhere—and They’re Not Going Away

The dozen women I spoke to for this story—most of them queer-identified and/or women of color—have witnessed varying amounts of offensive behavior, such as unwanted touching or use of casually misogynist language, within the movement.And they also differ as to the extent to which they think they can elbow the “isms” out of their space. But for the most part they share a defiant hope; just maybe, they say, for once, a mobilization for social change can get it right: maintain a broad base of support, connect the dots between different kinds of injustice and achieve staying power. Their fervent wish is that the movement’s careful attention to inclusive structure, including “safe space” caucuses and working groups and a commitment to anti-oppression training, means not that misogyny will vanish altogether but rather that diverse voices will remain a core part of the movement.

HarassMap - mapping sexual harassment in Egypt through SMS reporting.

1. Victims of harassment can send an anonymous report by SMS, phone, twitter, email or our website that tells us the location of the harassment, and a little about what happened if they like.
2. We’ll send back a response to inform victims of services already existing, like counseling, legal aid, and ECWR’s guide on how to make a police report.
3. The reports will be mapped on a public website where everyone can see the results in real time.
4. We’ll share the map with NGOs, media and the police and ask them to use the information to help them in their own work to stop harassment.
5. As we start to see “harassment zones” where there are many reports, we’ll make special outreach in those areas. Although we roughly know that harassment is everywhere, outreach solutions will not be equally effective. We need to know if the hotspot is a bus station, one-way street, or a public park, because sometimes the solution will be police patrolling, recommending a monitoring camera placement, or just talking to the men in the local shops next door.
6. We’ll also be providing as many services as we can, including a facebook page and website where women and men can share ideas about how to stop harassment, self-defence videos tailored for harassment, and an interactive forum to suggest ideas and volunteer.

Read more at Why do we want to start HarassMap?

Click here to head to HarassMap.org