Whenever I come across an easy opportunity to make a difference in the lives of women around the world, Amplify is my first stop. The online blogging community represents a powerful force in the dissemination of awareness about global health concerns, and can play an equally significant role in the current of funding toward supporting people in developing countries, promoting universal health systems, and encouraging health programs.


Girl2Woman, a project of Pathfinder International, launched an initiative yesterday called 200 Thousand for 200 Million. According to their website, their goal is to achieve 200,000 video shares of the videos on their website by International Women’s Day (this coming Monday, March 8) “to raise critical awareness about the more than 200 million women around the world who lack access to modern contraceptives.” For each time the video is “shared,” a generous donor will contribute $1 to Pathfinder International programs.

Pathfinder International, a non-profit organization that seeks to  “ensure that people everywhere have the right and opportunity to live a healthy life,” has provided reproductive health care to men and women in over 120 countries worldwide. Its programs stem from the belief that women’s reproductive health care affects every aspect of their lives; the ability to make reproductive choices, the knowledge and resources to protect oneself against sexually transmitted infections, and the support to actively engage in family planning, lead to higher education levels, larger earning potentials, and a greater abundance of opportunities. On a larger scale, women’s empowerment and self-possession raise developing countries’ economic profiles, as women achieve more in the classroom and, eventually, in the workforce.

Pathfinder International develops local partnerships and engages with communities in developing countries to effect positive change for reproductive health care in its many forms: providing family planning services, birth control access, prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, AIDS response, maternal and newborn care, abortion services, delaying childbearing, and promoting safe sex. The long term benefits of ensuring universal reproductive rights and investing in sexual and reproductive health could alleviate poverty, empower women, and save lives.

As a college student, I often struggle to reconcile my desire to contribute to important efforts like Pathfinder International’s project, and my lack of a steady income. I frequently receive emails from the different organizations that I belong to asking me to contribute to their cause, and a feeling of heavy guilt settles over me as I press “delete” on my keyboard. The Girl2Woman project presents an ideal way to involve youth and educate others regarding the fundamental need for global reproductive health care access. Two hundred thousand views is a lot to accomplish in a week, but this video is well worth the effort. Take advantage of this opportunity to make a difference from your computer screen, and not your credit card: please share this video as much as you can, and let’s push Girl2Woman to 200 Thousand for 200 Million! 

I just want to make sure everyone on the East Coast knows about Momma's Hip Hop Kitchen - happening this Saturday!

Here is the word from its cofounders.  For those who don't know,  co-founder Kathleen is a longtime member of the Young Women of Color Leadership Council at Advocates for Youth!

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Momma’s Hip Hop Kitchen, Volume 3: "Back to Our Roots"

Join us Saturday, March 6th, for what's sure to be an amazing event!!!

Momma’s Hip Hop Kitchen (MHHK) is a concert, platform and showcase of socially conscious female artists focused creating awareness on the impact of Environmental Injustices and Educational Inequalities on women of color.
MHHK Volume 3, Back to Our Roots, will be honoring International Women’s Month by bringing together educators, students, environmentalists, djs, emcees, b-girls, poets, visual artists, dancers, healers, pastors, organizers and activists to collectively express our solidarity with women’s rights!

We hope that you can join us at this free and family-friendly event. Local organizations and businesses focused on these and/or related issues are encouraged to participate by tabling or simply attending.

When and Where: Saturday, March 6th, 2010 @ the Hostos Center for Arts and Culture 450 Grand Concourse (at 149th St.) Bronx, NY (Main Theater)

Time: 2-5pm

This event is FREE and open to all ages.

For more information about the event, please visit our website @ http://www.mhhk.org or email hiphopkitchen@gmail.com. Organizations interested in tabling can register here. >Cookin' up a storm!
-Kathleen and Lah

Recently, MTV launched their new season of “16 and Pregnant.” Usually, I avoid MTV, but I like this show. I wrote about their first season last July. I have seen two episodes so far, featuring Nikkole from Michigan and Jenelle from North Carolina. The thing that stood out to me the most was the same for both episodes- the boyfriends, Josh and Andy. Aside from being on track to be exceptionally poor fathers, they were both emotionally abusive boyfriends. They were selfish, demanding, disrespectful, rude, irresponsible boys who called their girlfriends names. They broke promises, cheated with another girl, and threatened physical violence. They wanted the girls to spend time with them instead of their friends. (Note: Some examples apply to both boys, some to just one, but I believe both were capable of all examples.)

The mothers of both girls wanted their daughters to have nothing to do with these guys. Both daughters, however, felt differently, and that was so sad to me, even more so than their poor decisions to not use condoms. They kept forgiving these guys for being complete jackasses, or kept ignoring or overlooking or “rationalizing” their reprehensible behavior. I can understand that they wanted to make an effort to work things out because these men (boys, really) are the fathers of their (super adorable) children. But, as their friends said again and again, “Do you really want to raise your baby with someone who treats you like that?”

I agree that children benefit when they’re raised by two parents, but at a certain point, having one parent is better than having an abusive second parent. Judging only from what I saw in each of the hour-long episodes, Nikkole and Janelle (and their sons) are better off without these guys. I understand that letting go of a bad guy is easier said than done, but if these young moms want to teach their sons how to respect themselves and how to treat the person you’re in a relationship with, they’re going to have to find the strength to get rid of these guys. If they want to show their children what a healthy relationship looks like and feels like, they’re going to have to end these unhealthy ones.

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We weren't on the agenda, but we made our plea for sex education to the Parma School Board and Administration Monday night! I could explain how it went, but take a look for yourself:


Danny (aka me)

and


Jelena Loncar, a fellow Parma Student.

This meeting was an amazing stepping stone for our future efforts in Parma. We got the meeting we asked for, and so much more:

Coverage on the story by awesome columnist Connie Schultz (who happens to be married to Senator Sherrod Brown):
www.cleveland.com/schultz/index.ssf/2010/02/teens_make_a_request_for_real.html

WCPN, 90.3:
www.wcpn.org/WCPN/news/29778/

After nineteen months, it is our turn to be heard! Look forward to updates!

Here is a intro video of the History of House/Ball Room Scene at Creating Change 2010. This was one of the most informative sessions I attended. It gave an amazing background on how House/Ball Room culture began, as well as why it was started. This session was informative and interactive as well as put to rest any rumors that Madonna was the creator of Voguing!!

Hey everyone,

Here is a small video of what it looked like during the opening session at Creating Change 2010.

 

Well Hello Everyone,

So this post is much over due but none the less here it is for you all!!

So from Feb 2-7 I had the great opportunity to travel to Creating Change 2010 with some amazing Youth Resource Peers. Below is my over all assessment of the conference:

The overall experience of Creating Change 2010 was a good one. I not only was able to interact with some amazing people on the national level but also the chance to interact with some amazing young people. These young people were not only doing LBGT work but other social justice projects that will make for a better future. I attended some well put together workshops. Although I may not have gotten a ton of new information from some of the workshops I attended, I was able to refresh my information in those areas of interest. I had some very meaningful conversations with members from Center for American Progress, Service members Legal Defense Network as well as students from UC-Santa Barbara, Southwestern University in Texas as well as students from Louisville University in Kentucky. The energy from over 2,000 attendees was monumental and inspiring. From the opening plenary hosted by Kate Clinton (aka Lady HAHA) to the State of The Movement Address by ED of NGLTF Rea Carey to the ending brunch with Vogue Evolution everything seemed to run flawlessly. The staff of the Task Force was very welcoming and was there with answers to just about every question, concern or issue attendees had. If I had to rate this conference on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being poor and 10 being over exceeds expectations I would give CC 2010 an 8. I feel the space should have had mobile testing for people as well as more food for us. Other than that it was a great conference and I look forward to going next  year.

This conference had to have been one of the best OVERALL conferences I've attended in my time as a progressive youth. I look forward to other conference were I get to share my thoughts and feelings to you all. If you would like to know more about my experience at CC10 please let me know.

All the Best,
W. 

Hey folks, I just wanted to pass along this opportunity!

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My name is Stacy Buchanan, Project Marketing Coordinator for The WGBH Lab (lab.wgbh.org).  I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself, and a new project that we have started that I’m hoping will be of interest to the youth that participate in your program.

Quick background on us:  The WGBH Lab is a space for filmmakers and media makers of all kinds, to connect, interact, watch, create, and collaborate on work. Our most successful outlet is our Open Call series (http://lab.wgbh.org/open-call), in which where we partner with an influential team, create a compelling theme, invite media makers to submit completed video shorts in relation to this theme, and choose potentials for future PBS broadcasts.

In our latest Open Call, we’ve partnered up with MASTERPIECE Classic, and have launched The Video Diary Project (http://www.thewgbhlab.org/masterpiece), inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank. We’re asking young media makers (ages 13 and up), to submit video diaries telling us about their lives – specifically areas where certain aspects of intolerance may be involved. How have they overcome being bullied or disrespected for the way they look, think, or for what they believe in – that kind of stuff.  Portions of the diaries submitted may be selected for broadcast on MASTERPIECE Classic’s PBS airing of The Diary of Anne Frank on April 11th, 2010.  

Do you think that you could help us spread the word on this event to your teen participants? Amplify is such a great resource and outlet for teens – we would love to hear their stories.  We have a hard deadline of getting video diaries in by March 8th, in order to be considered for broadcast.  Video diaries will also be accepted until the end of May for a separate PBS broadcast component.   In the meantime, please visit us at: http://www.thewgbhlab.org/masterpiece to learn more about the project (and us), and I do hope to hear from you soon!

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest and supposedly most powerful LGBT organization in the U.S.  Shouldn't HRC be leading the fight to actually repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - instead of trying to protect President Obama from grassroots pressure? 

This weeks, leading progressive blogs and LGBT bloggers joined forces to "blogswarm" HRC and hold the organization accountable through grassroots pressure from across the country. 

And we need to your help:

OUR MESSAGE TO HRC IS SIMPLE:

Publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.

1) That means the President needs to state publicly that he wants Congress to repeal DADT this year; and

2) The President needs to take the lead in working with Congress to make sure the repeal happens.

Also, if you're a member or donor to HRC, tell them, and ask to speak to Members Services.

HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723

HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org

Via AmericaBlog

But why target HRC?  HRC boasts about it's political muscle in Washington, DC, and its leaders constantly talk about how important it is for them to maintain a tight relationship with the White House.   Well it's time to call in those chips.  The moment for DADT repeal has arrived - and we expect HRC to fight with everything they've got.

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Greetings from your (favorite) Peer Educator!

I wanted to share about an upcoming adventure I will be taking in a few weeks. I have joined up with Soulforce for the 2010 Equality Ride (www.soulforce.org/equalityride), where I will join with 24 other LGBT activists to create dialogue with religious college and universities throughout the country. We travel to schools that specifically have policies against homosexuality and try to engage students and administrators in conversation about what the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality. 

I will be blogging here throughout my journey so you can see what I have been up to and what I am planning on doing for the next two months. Right now I'm calling on all of you to help me out with the ride. There are two key things that you can do:

1. Visit my rider page to support me! www.soulforce.org/lindsay_vanclief

2. If you know anyone at any of the schools we are visiting or people who live in the area and want to help out LET ME KNOW! This ride is a joint effort of supporters, riders, students and community members. The more support we have the more sucsess we can have with the schools.

March 5th Valley Forge Christian College Phoenixville, PA
March 9th Houghton College Houghton, NY
March 11th Knoxville, TN for affirming community visit
March 15th Oakwood University Huntsville, AL
March 17th Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, NC
March 18th Campbell University Lillington, NC
March 22nd Bethune Cookman University Daytona Beach, FL
March 25th Morehouse College Atlanta, GA
March 29th Belhaven University Jackson, MS
March 31st Mississippi College Clinton, MS
April 6th Baylor University Waco, TX
April 8th Hardin Simmons University Abilene, TX
April 9th Abilene Christian University Abilene, TX
April 14th Southwest Baptist University Bolivar, MO
April 16th Bethel College Mishawaka, IN
April 21st Union College Lincoln, NE
April 23rd Malone University Canton, OH

In the past, the Equality Ride has changed college policies, started Queer Straight Alliances, connected LGBT students with affirming communities and shown people that you can be religious and queer they do not have to be separate things. Nor do they need to conflict in anyones life.  

Thanks for being awesome and feel free to email me with any thoughts/questions/concerns or supportive information you may have!