New Wave Young Boston Feminist

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Marie chats with Rayshauna Gray, New Wave Organizer. It is a group that incorporates the myriad perspectives of our members to build a radically-welcoming feminist community.

This isn't our grandmothers' Feminism - we draw on the great progress of previous generations while forging ahead and creating our own path.

As a diverse group of Feminists, Womanists, Gender Studies students, professionals, and other folks with an interest in gender equality, we welcome ALL voices, Queer or straight, cis or trans, all genders and all backgrounds.http://www.meetup.com/bostonfeminists/about/

Remember Haiti: One Year Earthquake Memorial

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;REMEMBER HAITI

January 12, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of the massive earthquake that buried millions. In spite of pouring support from all the over the world, change has been painfully slow.

Renaissance Project Hope for Haiti

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Gina & Danielle chat with Marie about the upcoming fundraiser to support the Renaissance Project. ;

Media Denial in a Digital World

I recently read Teach Media Literacy, a special report published in The Atlantic Magazine (June 2010) about the urgency to teach media literacy in public schools. Given this digital generation is more immersed in media, it seems to be a no brainer to integrate this subject in the school curriculum. Integration of media education is key as teachers’ plates are already full with standardized testing, core subjects teaching and administrative duties. It is unrealistic to expect that media literacy will get a fair share in daily classroom instructions. On the other hand, media literacy is as important as learning mathematics and English. Although I’ve always been interested in media and popular culture as a teenager, I formally learned media literacy in college because I was concerned about the excess of ads in print and on television that were targeted at teenagers, particularly girls. The closest class to media literacy was journalism class even then you will not learn about news analysis. It’s not enough to simply learn to analyze the news and know its source. Media literacy goes beyond analysis and criticism. It is a powerful tool that can address a range of issues and topics through critical lens.
In comparison a decade ago, we have more than enough research highlighting the relevance of media and recommending teaching media to students. In addition, there are plenty of educators, practitioners and specialists who have been promoting and teaching media education in various settings. In preparation to enter the classroom, teachers are trained in specific subjects while learning about educational theories, research and other relevant topics. How many teacher education programs in this country make it a requirement for teachers in training to be media literate or critical thinkers? Perhaps, some teachers have now taken an elective course offered at their college or a professional development seminar. Beyond that, media literacy is not viewed or treated as an important area of teaching. In most programs, the emphasis is on teacher performance; classroom management and ensuring students can pass whatever standardized testing mechanism their district has in place. I’m aware that teachers are often blamed for what’s not working in our education system but not integrating media literacy should start with teacher programs (Jared’s article did not make this claim). Furthermore, media education has to be mandatory and prioritized as a core subject nationally. It is not guaranteed that individual school and state will voluntary choose to integrate media literacy in the curriculum.
In today’s educational climate, the purpose of education remains as ancient as some of the textbooks the students are still reading when the masses have transitioned to a digital lifestyle. Clearly, there is a disconnect between the wired world of students and that of school administrators and educators. As usual, we’ll play catch up when we realize another country is taking the lead in this area and we’re in lowest percentile. We’re now a nation at risk of media denial.

For those who are interested in media education, reach out to those who are at the forefront of this movement. NAMLE is a great resource and will lead you to more.

Omorosa: Reality TV’s Ultimate Opportunistic Vixen

As if we didn’t have enough reality shows about looking for love and lust on television, Donald J. Trump has now become a matchmaker on television. Omorosa became somewhat of a celebrity after her stint on the first season of The Apprentice. She was vilified on the show for being an outspoken and angry Black woman who couldn’t get along with most of her colleagues. According to pubic opinion, her worst offense was sabotaging one of the contestants, an African American male contestant the grand prize. If you’re a fan, you know the story well. After the show, she seemed to embrace her profile as the reality TV vixen and was casted on several other shows.
This June, she premiered her own reality show with Donald Trump as her matchmaker. The show is aired on TVOne, which is a network with a large African American audience. Instead of the possibility of being fired, she has the power to vote off one of the “Bachelors” vying for her approval. The format of the show is similar to “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelette” except on this show as the Lady O, she has many advisors from spiritual to culinary. Guest appearances have included a pastor, former apprentice contestants, a chef and her mother. The show is entertaining and filled with challenges for contestants to win dates with her.
From her introduction on The Apprentice and Ultimate Merger, viewers learn that Omorosa is well educated and has achieved a great deal as an Entrepreneur and profession in the political arena. She worked in the White House during Clinton’s first term. In spite of her public persona as a bad girl or a woman the public loves to hate, she has the resume to make a living without resorting to making out on television with strangers under the charade of finding a man. This show has been produced on the heel of her failed marriage with a man she raved about on The Apprentice.
Omorosa is not the first person to become hook on the reality TV bug after her first experience. She even documented her plastic surgery splurges on television as a mother-daughter bonding extravaganza. Trump’s involvement as one of Executive Producers is one of the many surprises of The Ultimate Merger. On the other hand, we have to give Omorosa credit for forging a relationship with Trump that may exceed the longevity of The Apprentice. She is the only contestant from the show to launch her own show with Trump’s financing and stamp of approval. The only other Apprentice winner with a reality show is co-starring with his wife on the E! Channel. For a contestant who did not win the top job on the show, she seems to have stretched her 15 minutes of fame to one that keeps her in the black (no pun intended) and in the public eyes.
I’m not a fan of reality shows with a focus of finding a man or woman or swapping wives for entertainment. Many reality show contestants often claim to be motivated by their families, children, wanting to empower others and make a better life for themselves. From those shows, I now know that people come on reality shows for three primary reasons: fame, money and self-promotion. Anything else that is gained through a show whether love, friendship, career, travel, house or even an STI are secondary perks. In the case of the STI and other non-fatal bacteria, it’s an unfortunate by product of exposing yourself to the elements in the search for the ONE.
I’m not an expert on reality shows and I won’t attempt to provide a critical analysis on their effect on the public and their viewers. What I know from the few that I’ve watched, including The Ultimate Merger is that they capitalize on the worst aspects of people’s lives and accentuate negative stereotypes. That being said, it is possible to find a few dignified moments or discover a person who stomps public perceptions or stereotypes. Can you think of few examples when you witness something positive during a reality show? Next time you’re watching your favorite show or while channel surfing and you bump into a new one that you just can’t stop watching, see if you can a glimmer of human decency in one of the revolving characters. But then again, if you’re looking for what’s good in our society, reality shows should be the last place for you to look.

Emily Beattie: Dancer/Artist & SWAN DAY Curator

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I had the pleasure to interview Emily Beattie about this years SWAN DAY. Emily is a passionate dancer, choreographer, teacher and curator of SWAN DAY.  Emily Beattie has choreographed one dozen dances since her arrival on the Boston dance scene in 2003. Her training began in classical ballet with Avery Ballet in Fredericksburg, Virginia. After studying the works and techniques of Humphrey-Weidman, Martha Graham, and Jose Limon she received a Bachelors of Fine Arts cum laude in Modern Dance from the Boston Conservatory. 

 

Emily Beattie has held faculty positions at Brown University, Boston Ballet's Taking outreach program, The Boston Symphony Orchestra's Days in the Arts Summer Enrichment, Salem State University, and Longy School of Music.

 

Beattie's teaching philosophy encourages questions, experimentation, and creativity while keeping technique in the foreground.Teaching children, teens, adults, students over 55 years old and non-english speakers has developed her well rounded classroom experience. Her process of learning as she shares her passion for dance remains overt.

For more information about SWAN DAY and Emilys upcoming performances, check out her website.

Simmons School of Management

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An interactive panel on entrepreneurship.

SWAN DAY: Emily Beatty

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Emily Beattie, a Cambridge-based choreographer and dancer, organizes and curates SWAN DAY Massachusetts.  On March 28th@7pm, SWAN Day will present: The Fearless Creation Collaborative. The innovative contributions of women to the art scene of Cambridge will be celebrated at this one day event at the Middlesex Lounge. This Cambridge night spot will be spontaneously transformed into a installation performance space by art in the making. Come celebrate the creativity of these women!

This event is part of a new international celebration of women artists called SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now Day). SWAN Day is an annual event taking place on the last Saturday of Women's History Month (March). Boston's present role in the Northeast region as an artistic hub and historic role as the wellspring of gender equality in all aspects, makes it a natural and dynamic site for a SWAN Day Festival. In one incredible working day, the general public is welcome to witness the unique performance process of slamming several art forms together by local artists working with dance, installation, music, and text. This savvy take on a conventional performance illustrates the power that women in creative careers can conjure. 

For more information, go to http://www.swandayma.com

LEI WANG: Dream to become first Chinese Asian American Woman to Climb MT. Everest 2010

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I had the opportunity to interview Lei Wang about her dream to become the first Chinese woman, as well as the first Asian-American woman, to climb the highest mountain on every continent and to ski to both the North and South Poles. To date, there are only 9 people in the world that have finished both the Seven Summits and the Two Poles .She hopes to become the 10th.

To support and learn more about Lei, go to http://www.leisventures.com

VALENTINE’S DAY The Movie

This movie is packed with big name stars and celebrities from Julia Roberts to Jamie Foxx. What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? What has this movie taught us about love, romance and relationships? This special day has become one of the most commercial celebrations in the world. I will save you from rehashing the history of Saint Valentine and other social clichés about the holiday. Here’s a spoiler if you’re a Grey’s Anatomy fan, Dr. Mcdreamy is playing a married Doctor dating Jennifer Gardner’s character (she thinks dating). Dr. Mcsteamy is also in the movie playing a hot athlete. In a nutshell, Valentine’ Day documents the predictable stories of various couples and singles, young and old. Some couple make celebrating Valentine’s Day an art form by making breakfast, sending flowers, buying chocolate, texting love messages and shipping adorable bears. This is also the perfect day for young virgins to lose their virginity or at least attempt to. George Lopez puts it well when he says, “love doesn’t exist unless you acknowledge it in front of other people.” If you can’t shout it, show it, flaunt it or write it in 140 characters to the world, you have nothing.
Flowers are the biggest symbols of love on Valentine’s Day. Nothing says “I Love you” like a giant white bear with a red heart. Ashton Kutcher eloquently advises a friend that, “on Valentine’s Day, you don’t think, you just do.” I disagree. When it comes to love and romance, you have “to do” all the time not once a year when everyone feels pressured to. Like in any love movie, there are a lot of complaints, confusions, lies, frustrations and unfulfilled expectations. After 800 years of fairy tales, we’re still trying to figure it out and confusing never-ending love with the messy reality of life. Reality bites, even on Valentine’s Day. No amount of candy and flowers can fill the void that most people are experiencing every day. Valentine’s Day seems to magnify the level of loneliness and unhappiness beyond human comprehension. As one character bitterly discovered, “The truth makes everything else looks like a lie.” Valentine’s Day brings out the best and worst in relationships. One of the funniest scenes in the movie is when Jennifer Gardner destroyed the heart shaped piñata at the “I Hate Valentine Party” held at the best Indian restaurant in Los Angeles. There are more heartfelt moments in the movie but you have to watch it to find them yourself. Hate it or love it, the magical power of Valentine’s Day lives on.

Immersion Emersion: Artist Luanne E Witkowski

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Luanne Witkowski is Communication Design Studio Manager at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and on the faculty of the Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program at the University of Massachusetts/Boston.

Luanne has exhibited solo and with groups, been included in juried and invitational exhibitions throughout New England including the Wedlock Project: Engagement at Space 242 (Sept.09); United South End Artists' Open Studios, Boston; Hutson Gallery, Provincetown; Provincetown Art Association and Museum; Boston Public Library; Artcetera, Boston; Massachusetts College of Art and Design; Mission Hill Artists Collective, and many local N.E. fundraising auctions. Her works are in collections throughout the United States and internationally.

Witkowski works intuitively in alternative mixed media (clay, resin) to create abstract paintings on panels that are based in and extracted from landscape and experience. Strongly influenced by the natural landscapes of the shore and woodlands of Cape Cod and Maine, Luanne has 'researched' and 'collected data' through plein aire painting and environmental installations to create references, which she then translates in the studio into these painted works. Additionally, video and photographic documentation and imagery of her references are manipulated to produce 'moving/living' video montage paintings: electronic "wallpaper".

Please visit www.lewstudio.com for more information.

YogaHope

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Founder Sue Jones is the featured guest.

Meet the CEO & President of the Mass Life Sciences Center: Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister

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The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, created by the Massachusetts legislature in June 2006. The MLSC is closely affiliated with the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development but is not subject to its direct supervision or control. The MLSC was established to promote the life sciences within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is tasked with investing in life sciences research and economic development. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions growing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community.

Meet the CEO & President of the Mass Life Science Center: Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister

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The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, created by the Massachusetts legislature in June 2006. The MLSC is closely affiliated with the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development but is not subject to its direct supervision or control.

Author Veronica De La Croix Discusses New Book

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Author Veronica De La Croix discusses her new book: Presenting My Hero in His Memoire. Join her on December 3rd at Harvard University, Ticknor Hall (12 Quincy St.) from 7:00-9:00 pm.

Pink and Black Campaign Empowers Women: Augusta williams

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Augusta Williams, a Pink & Black campaign embassador and 22-year breast cancer survivor is featured on the show.

Promise to me + Pink & Black Campaigns

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Promise to me and Pink & Black campaigns are featured. Guests include:
Debra Burnham-Director of Education, Anne Rivers-Corporate Marketing
Augusta Williams, a Pink and Black Campaign Embassador and 22-year breast cancer survivor.

Everyone gets a mansion and free ice cream in the Invention of Lying

In The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais, the always funny and quirky comedian grapples with the instant benefits and results of lying. This movie has a few actors I never expected to see from Tina Fey to Edward Norton and a serious actress who has appeared on Law & Order as a tough District Attorney to. I can’t help but see a hint of Maid of Honor as Gervais and Jennifer Gardner play the odd romantic couple. If you could do anything, what would it be? Such a vague question yet profound since we’re in the pursuit of truth while lying to get what we want. Five minutes into the movie after the main character goes on a date with Jennifer Gardner and told him all her shallow yet truthful thoughts, I questioned my motivation for renting this film. I’m already bored out of my mind and wondered how will this humorless movie ends. To find out I have to keep watching and suspend my constant judgments and high expectations of something surprising to happen. Mark is ea nobody writer who starts capturing everyone’s attention with his ability to tell spellbinding stories that makes the world a happy place. I can use this dose of happy pill in the form of an touching sugary story right about now.
His first action with his newfound ability to lie is to get money and help his suicidal neighbor feel good about life. He then builds the courage to ask his last date to go out again because he’s different now. He can get just about anything he wants including a woman who does not find him attractive. Furthermore, he lied his way back to his old job at Lecture Films where he was fired for the most unsuccessful screenplays. He pitched a new story with the same title that was previously rejected by his boss. What would I do with that kind of lying power? Well, getting an old job at a company where I was not wanted would not be on my wish list. At this point, what Mark knows is how to tell lies that make people happy and make them feel good. One of our obsessions is what happens after we die and Mark seems to have stumbled on the manifesto of life beyond. He shares his tips with his curious followers while holding the pages inside a Pizza Hut box. Needless to say Mark becomes rich with the best film ever and building a life with his best friends and his very own mansion. Being rich and famous does not change how his dream woman sees him: a fat man with snub nose. In other words, he’s a loser in the body of a good guy. She’s looking for a strong genetic match to reproduce with and Mark does not fit her DNA profile requirement. Which would you choose? Your ideal genetic partner or being with the person who makes you happy just being around? Is it possible to get everything you thought you wanted yet live a miserable unfulfilling life? We live in a world where we claim to value happiness over beauty and money. On the other hand, we spend endless amount of time and resources to be perceived ageless, flawless, rich and beautiful. Instead of chasing a Man in the Sky ideological fable, how about looking in the mirror and around you to discover and rediscover what matters as you go through the cycle of life.

National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP Boston)

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Lisa Yasner is the featured guest from NAAAP Boston. NAAAP

AIDS Action Committee & Fashio Fusion

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Keith Orr from Aids Action Committee is featured on the show.