California NOW

The Shift Movie Looks So Inspiring!

How inspiring is this? (Thanks for sending this to me Lindsey!)

Love Is Respect Video Contest

The Love Is Respect campaign is awesome! The video contest entries are great. This vid didn't win, but it get's my vote!

One Day of the Iraq War Could Pay For...

Close Gauntanamo: Wear Orange Friday

Brought to you by our friends at ACLU:

Tomorrow, Jan. 11, will mark six years since the first prisoners arrived at Guantánamo Bay.  That’s six years since Guantánamo began serving as an international embarrassment and six years that it has been damaging our country’s reputation in the world.

    In San Francisco, a silent candlelight vigil to close Guantánamo will be held on Jan. 11 at 4 p.m.  Demonstrators will march from the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco to Justin Herman Plaza. Visit the ACLU for more information.

    In Fresno, a demonstration will be held on Jan. 11 from 11:15 a.m. - 1 p.m. in front of the new Federal Building at 2500 Tulare Street in downtown Fresno. Organizers include the Fresno Area Chapter of the ACLU-NC, Peace Fresno, Fresno W.I.L.P.F., and The National Network In Action. Please RSVP.

We ask you to stand in solidarity with human rights advocates across the country on Friday, Jan. 11, by wearing orange.  The ACLU is calling on people of conscience to wear orange because torture is immoral, illegal, and un-American.  We will wear orange because we believe in human rights. 

Sign the petition to close Guantanamo Bay!

Dorky Video, Good Safety Tip

Halliburton Gang Rape

Why am I not surprised when I read that a 20 year old working for Halliburton was drugged and gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR co-workers in Baghdad,  then held in a shipping container injured and bleeding, without food or water for at least 24 hours and warned to keep her mouth shut or lose her job.

After hearing similar threats, Jamie Leigh Jones had to persuade a sympathetic guard to loan her a cell phone to call her father who then called their congressman, who contacted the state department who sent US Agents from the Embassy in Bagdad to rescue her from her own American employer!

For the last two years, she's been asking the US government to hold the perpetrators accountable, but the men who raped her may never be brought to justice because Halliburton and other contractors in Iraq aren't subject to US or Iraqi laws.

MoveOn.org is calling on Congress to investigate Jamie's case, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law so this can't happen again. Sign the petition NOW!

Donate to Jamie Leigh's Foundation.

New ACLU Report Details Pervasive Racial Discrimination in America

The American Civil Liberties Union has just released a comprehensive analysis of the pervasive systemic and structural racism in America. The report, Race & Ethnicity in America: Turning a Blind Eye to Injustice, is a response to the U.S. report to the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released earlier this year. The U.S. report, which the ACLU called a “whitewash,” swept under the rug the dramatic effects of widespread racial and ethnic discrimination in this country.

In California, the report presents research about the persistence of racial inequity and evidence of institutionalized discrimination in California’s educational and criminal justice systems, and in the treatment of immigrants.

Iranian Feminists & Activists Receive Email Death Threats

Adn Kronos International reported today that dozens of feminists, human rights activists, student leaders and journalists in Iran have received an email death threat in the last few days.

The emails state that they have been targeted for their alleged anti-Islamic activities and are told they are included on a list with those who deny their faith. Most of the recipients are women.

An anonymous recipient stated to the press "It is the common impression that the growth of the feminist movement in Iran and the strong presence of women in civil society annoys someone, and perhaps many, who want to stop us by intimidation."

Code Pink Activists Arrested at Gunpoint in Pakistan!

On December 4th, Medea Benjamin and Tighe Barry of Code Pink, were arrested at gun point in Pakistan during their visit to support pro-democracy activists. Upon leaving a student rally at the Lahore Press Club with a group of journalists, their car was pulled off the road. Armed policemen lept out of cars and off motorcycles and surrounded their car, guns drawn. They forced the driver and journalists out, beat passers-by looking at the scene, hijacked the car with Medea and Tighe inside, and raced recklessly through the crowded streets of Lahore to the police station.   

Medea and Tighe were never charged with anything but they were forced to leave the country on the next flight. Their brutal arrest and deportation was just a glimpse at what activists in Pakistan go through as they struggle to bring democracy to their country.

Call the Pakistan Desk at the State Department: 202-647-9823. Tell them you condemn the brutal treatment of Pakistani civil society and CODEPINK activists. Code Pink asks you demand that the US government suspend any financial aid until the rule of law is restored. You can also sign the petition.

I <3 Consensual Sex

Oh yeah. Definitely. Absolutely. I really, really do. Yesssssssss…..I just love consensual sex.

California NOW in partnership with chapters across the state are launching the I <3 Consensual Sex campaign, hosting I <3 Consensual Sex Day in April 2008 during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Most people don’t want to talk about rape, but lots of people want to talk about Consensual Sex. This campaign will open up communication about consent, asking and teaching people what consent is and how to ask for exactly what you want.

Both Minneapolis NOW (who created this fabulous campaign. Thank you!) and NOW at SDSU have had outstanding success with the campaign. Hundreds of students at SDSU wore I <3 Consensual Sex t-shirts raising consciousness and controversy. Many people really didn’t know the definition of ‘consent’, which probably accounts for some crazy percentage of the date rapes that happen at college parties, so we are also considering legislation that would require campuses to teach the definition of consent.

Want to join the campaign? Want to create your own I <3 Consensual Sex Day? Want a fabulous I <3 Consensual Sex t-shirt, sticker, button? We want you involved, so just let us know. I want something too…I want to know, what is your definition of consent?