The stories in this film are drawn from the most engaging moments of a film trilogy by award-winning documentary filmmaker, Dorothy Fadiman. It demonstrates the power of community organizing and highlights the many faces of activism in support of women’s rights and liberation. The Politics of Choice brings alive the history of the struggle for women’s reproductive rights in the U.S. Intimate interviews reveal the passion of people who moved abortion from the danger of the back alleys to a safe, legal choice.

Film (27 minutes) with discussion to follow. Co-sponsored by Students for Choice in commemoration of the 36th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the U.S.

The crime of stalking has become an issue of interest locally, as well as nationally, in the last several years. Women across the nation are working in their communities to halt this form of intimate gender violence by establishing coordinated community responses to enhance a victim-centered approach, as well as to improve the legal system’s response to victims. Learn about early strategies that initiated local awareness and change, coupled with statewide initiatives devoted to developing protocols to address the needs of victims and enhance safety.

Presenters:
Deirdre Keys has fifteen years experience working directly with victims of domestic violence and stalking. She developed the “State of Minnesota Stalking Response Protocol” in 2007 through her work with Cornerstone. Keys recently joined the Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project to expand the Protocol and provide training statewide. She will be serving as an expert witness in criminal court proceedings and as a faculty member with the Stalking Resource Center at two national trainings this year.

Lee LaDue is the Assistant Director and Coordinator of the Gender Violence Prevention Program at the St. Cloud State University Women’s Center, with over 20 years of experience in the field of violence prevention. She is a licensed Social Worker and holds a master’s degree in Human Relations. LaDue currently serves on the State Victim Assistance Academy Planning Board, and has been a member of the Stearns County Family Violence/Sexual Assault Council for over 10 years.

In commemoration of National Stalking Awareness Month

Listen/Download: Addressing the Problem of Stalking (mp3)

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To commemorate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the Women’s Center is offering a unique evening session of Women on Wednesday featuring the film, Boxers, along with a discussion by documentary filmmaker, Joanna Kohler.

Seven Women, One Team: An all-female amateur boxing team are putting in their mouth guards and changing the face of boxing. As they train to compete in the world's largest international boxing tournament, they find friendship and teamwork, but also have to face issues of violence, fear, and competition.

At a time when women are told not to fight, these boxers step into the ring ready to face more than just some crosses and uppercuts -- they must also confront questions of inner strength, personal drive, and societal prejudice.

Training six days a week is a team that includes a schoolteacher, a social worker, and a special education assistant, all focused on going to a tournament where women are scarce, and the chance of success isn't a given. One boxer's family emergency and another boxer's recognition of the sport's physical dangers, threaten to break the team's cohesion, and force them to take a deeper look at pain, power, and risk.

BOXERS is the test of seven women forging their own story about the love of boxing, one round at a time.

Presenter and Filmaker: Joanna Kohler has been directing and producing social documentaries since 1998. A self-identified activist, her films have covered topics from exploitation within youth services in Minneapolis, activist work in Israel- Palestine, to female amateur boxing. Kohler graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Documentary. She has studied Public Affairs at the graduate level, completed facilitation training with the Institute for Cultural Affairs, and been trained with the New Mexico Media Literacy Project. Her documentaries include Witness (1999), Moving in a Mirror (2004), Boxers (2007) and Minnesota Motorcycle Stories (2009).

This Women on Wednesday session follows the previous evening’s screening of the documentary film about an all-women amateur boxing team in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today’s event will include film clips, plus a presentation by filmmaker Joanna Kohler and a member of the boxing team, Rebecca Gilgen, about the purpose, the passion and the people featured in Boxers. This presentation demonstrates an important and non-traditional story of leadership and organizing to support women’s empowerment and equal opportunity.

A statement from Filmmaker and Presenter Joanna Kohler...
"BOXERS film project is a chance for me to explore images of women both physically strong and self-reflective. What brought me to this project was the opportunity for the women in this film to have their journey documented and filmed through the eyes of another female athlete. Each of their stories and personalities are unique. It was the universal story about finding relationships through the struggle for equal access that I felt was a story that should be told.

We are currently in a climate where even Title IX (an amendment for women's equal access, 1972) is being challenged again. The 2008 Olympic Committee decided once again to not allow women's boxing into the Olympics, citing similar arguments made previously against adding women's sports to the Olympics. This project is an opportunity for these women to tell a story specific to boxing, but containing lessons that are universal. These women boxers are giving everyone a chance to remember what it means to take a risk for something you believe in."

In commemoration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Listen/Download: Boxers (mp3)

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Women are often the nurturers and caretakers of the world, however, we often forget about taking care of ourselves in the process. Remaining passionate about women’s issues and social justice can be easier than retaining the energy to make it happen. Women relax, de-stress, and re-energize in various ways, including empowerment strategies, recreation time and exercise, and other health-related activities. Our panel of knowledgeable women will share their professional and personal self-care experiences so that we can all begin incorporating positive ways to take care of ourselves in order to sustain healthy, meaningful and engaged lives.

Presenters:
Marie Fisher is a Community Counseling graduate student and Women’s Center graduate assistant at St. Cloud State University. She is an advisor for Women’s Action for Liberation and Leadership, a feminist activist student organization, and Vice President of the Community Counseling Graduate Student Association (CCGSA). Fisher has also volunteered at the Central MN Sexual Assault Center for the past 3 years.

Icephine Johnson is a Nurse Practitioner at SCSU Health Services. She is certified as both an Adult and Gynecological/Reproductive Health Nurse Practitioner and has over 27 years of experience in a variety of settings, including a large urban hospital in St. Louis, Missouri; the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center and the State of Minnesota. Johnson is one of the pioneers in the Nurse Practitioner profession who graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a graduate of Webster University in Webster Grove, Missouri with a degree in Nursing.

Heather Smith is an Elementary Education major at St. Cloud State University. She is employed by Outdoor Endeavors at the rock climbing wall, and is currently co-leading the Women That Rock program, a unique program that offers women-only climb time every other Thursday evening. Her leisure pursuits include camping, rock climbing and downhill skiing.

Listen/Download: Self-Care for Activists (mp3)

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Women have always been in the forefront of making change but, often, their leadership has not been recognized for the contributions they have made. It is important to note that feminism has been one way that this lack of acknowledgment has been brought to the attention of society.

This session will use different stories to show how we can impact change in our communities by changing the status quo of “unwritten rules” that causes women’s work and leadership to go unnoticed. It is hoped that young women will be inspired, as well as empowered, to take on the status quo in prudent and creative ways in order to bring about change.

Presenter:
Dr. Patience Togo is an Assistant Professor at St. Cloud State University in the Social Work Department. She holds BSW and MSW degrees from Carleton University in Canada, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include violence against women, anti-racist/anti-oppression pedagogy, multicultural education, community organizing, and parenting practices among African immigrants and refugees.

Listen/Download: Telling Stories to Create Change (mp3)

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An estimated 11 million people in the U.S suffer from eating disorders, with an additional $40 billion spent annually on dieting and diet-related products. The selling of women’s empowerment through beauty and fashion products causes huge complications for girls and women in terms of realistic, healthy and multi-faceted representations of real women in all forms of media. Our presenters will explore these images and their impact from a feminist perspective, discuss characteristics associated with eating disorders, and provide information about treatment options. In addition, this session will highlight the importance of women taking an active role to combat these issues, including suggestions for activism.

Presenters:
Dr. Beth Berila is the Director of the Women’s Studies Program at St. Cloud State University. Her areas of teaching and research include Feminist Theory, Gender and Women’s Studies, LGBT studies, popular culture, environmental justice, and community-based arts. Dr. Berila’s current work focuses on yoga, feminist embodiment, and strategies for empowerment.

Dr. Jayne Lokken has been a licensed psychologist at St. Cloud State University’s Counseling and Psychological Services for the past eight years. Prior to her position at St. Cloud State University, Dr. Lokken worked as a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for five years.

*2009 National Eating Disorders Awareness Week theme

In commemoration of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

A major challenge to feminists in the current era of globalization is to raise global awareness of women’s lives by connecting the local to the global. Transnational feminism works across cultures and unites women’s struggles from many parts of the world, and also inspires us to use those connections as a basis for activism and as an essential tool for bringing about social change. With its mission of restoring hope and dignity to women and children in Africa, NGATHA International, a MN nonprofit organization, has mobilized the community to action by organizing fundraising activities for orphans in Kenya affected by HIV/AIDS. This session will reference personal stories and documented footage highlighting the initiatives and projects of NGATHA International in rural Kenya that have connected the (local) St. Cloud Community and the (global) rural community in Kenya.

Presenters:
Dr. Mumbi Mwangi is a professor in the Women’s Studies Program at St Cloud State University. Dr. Mwangi received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in education from Kenyatta University, Kenya, and later obtained her Ph.D in Education with a minor in Women's Studies from Iowa State University. Dr. Mwangi is also the President and CEO of NGATHA International, a not-for-profit organization she founded in 2005. The organization, whose vision is to restore hope and dignity to women and children in Africa, is a 501(c)(3) registered NGO in the State of Minnesota.

Mrs. Florence Wairimu Mbugua is a business executive and the Managing Director of Farmers Industry Ltd in Kenya. Her business employs and provides means of livelihood to rural women in Kenya. Mrs. Mbugua is a community leader and a member of the board of directors and Treasurer of NGATHA International, Kenya.

Perpetual Wambui Mwangi is an Administrative Assistant at Kenyatta University, (Parklands Campus) Nairobi , Kenya. Mwangi also works in the advertising industry and has been featured in advertising media such as television and radio commercials, bill board advertising and newspaper advertising. She is the Program Coordinator for NGATHA International, in charge of the HIV/Aids Orphanage in rural Kenya.

Adris Brown is a graduate student at St. Cloud State University in the department of Economics specializing in Public and Non Profit Institutional Management. Brown is also a board member of NGATHA International (USA), in charge of fundraising and marketing initiatives.

Listen/Download: Grassroots Organizing for Global Change (mp3)

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During the summer of 2008, our presenter lived with and listened to Rwandan women who had experienced and lived through the 1994 Rwanda Genocide that left 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead in a 100 days. She will discuss how Rwandan women courageously expose their wounds and scarred lives to allow us to see how they draw strength from broken places in order to make peace, and promote reconciliation. Her research reveals that women’s national and community-based organizing has charted new ways for peace in Rwanda. For us in the U.S., we have an opportunity to learn from the Rwandan experience in ways that, perhaps, will allow us to improve interactions in our own communities through organizing. Join us to learn what Rwandan women are doing to transform their communities from ‘broken places’ to peaceful spaces.

Presenter:
Dr. Eddah Mutua-Kombo is an assistant professor of communication studies at St. Cloud State University. She holds a doctorate from the University of Wales, U.K, Master’s degree from City University London, and BA from University of Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Mutua-Kombo teaches in the area of intercultural communication. Her research interests include peace communication initiatives in post-conflict societies, theory and practice of service-learning pedagogy in promoting interracial relations, and African communication education and research.

Dr. Mutua-Kombo’s current research on post-genocide Rwanda examines how Rwandan women dare to create theory from places of pain and struggle. She uses women’s narratives, testimonies and naming of their lives in post-genocide Rwanda to show how women are constructing a new narrative that disrupts the dominant narrative referred to as ‘genocide ideology’ that the 1994 genocide perpetrators used to instill a hate campaign among Rwandans. Paying attention to women’s words and actions allows us to learn about new ways to chart theoretical structures about peace, reconciliation, and urgency of women’s organizing for change.

Listen/Download: Women (re)construct a new narrative in post-genocide Rwanda (mp3)

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With so many concerns at an all time high for girls, including poor body image, negative media images, lack of confidence, chemical abuse, multiple societal oppressions, and exploitive and violent relationships, girls need pro-active assistance and guidance. Today’s presentation will outline the resources available in our community to help girls build the confidence, competence, and the skills they need to thrive in today’s society.

Presenters:
Geri Bechtold is the Director of KIDSTOP Operations. KIDSTOP is a program offered by the Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota and is a schoolage child care program for K-6, located at 12 schools in the St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and Sartell districts. For 34 years, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota have provided hope and opportunity to tens of thousands of young people. Their programs and services promote and enhance the development of girls and boys by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.

Amanda Toppe is a 2007 graduate of St. Cloud State University with a double major in Spanish and Social Work and a minor in Human Relations. She was an intern with the Girls Scouts Outreach program, Girl Growth, during her last semester of college and has worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters as their Recruitment Coordinator since December of 2007. This background, along with her experience as a Big Sister to a 15-year-old, has confirmed for her how important it is to empower girls and young women and give them the tools they need to be successful.

Listen/Download: Community Leadership to Empower Today’s Girls (mp3)

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The glass ceiling is still very visible in the art world, as demonstrated by women’s struggle for gallery space, in addition to a general devaluing of women’s art for not conforming to mainstream forms. However, female artists are challenging traditional notions of art through artistic expressions that redefine, bend and explore gender in ways that can be seen as activist. These creative expressions highlight women’s lived realities and women’s leadership in envisioning a better world.

Presenter:
Tina Blondell was born in Salzburg in 1953 and grew up in Austria, France and Italy. Her Austrian mother and American father blessed her with cultural diversity and a childhood filled with the arts. Blondell, who is fluent in German, Italian and English, was immersed in the great museums of Europe from the age of five. In 1971, after completing her education in Italy, she moved to the United States settling first in Washington, D.C. and then on to New Mexico to raise her family. Blondell moved to Minneapolis in 1996, where she currently resides. She is a passionate figurative painter, with her work exploring themes of creation, spirituality and power. Previous works include the Temptation Series, a 14-piece work featuring the hands of 12 influential women, and The Cradle of Civilization. Blondell’s current work focuses on the human experience in America, using oil paints, with many of the paintings striving to dispel negative stereotypes.

Listen/Download: Activism in the World of Art (mp3)

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For more than a hundred years, community organizations all around the country have been pivotal in leading local initiatives that challenge the problem of racism. Many are aware of the powerful history of the NAACP to organize communities to fight against racism, but not knowledgeable about innovative projects such as Create CommUNITY or the role of the United Way. Join our panelists for a discussion of local efforts and outcomes in the on-going struggle for racial justice.

Presenters:
Noreen Dunnells has served as the Chief Professional Officer for United Way of Central Minnesota since February of 1999. In her role, she works closely with the Board of Directors to set policy and direction for the organization and 15 full time staff to carry out the mission of the organization: to improve people’s lives by mobilizing the caring power of central Minnesota. In 2003, Dunnells served as President of United Ways of Minnesota and, during 2004-06, she was a member of the Governors Workforce Development Council. She is serving her third term with the Stearns-Benton Workforce Council and is currently Chair of Create CommUNITY, a community anti-racism initiative focused on creating racial harmony and a welcoming community for all central Minnesotans.

Adrece Thighman Nabe is a graduate of St. Cloud State University with a degree in Public Administration from the department of Political Science, as well as a Master’s of Science degree in the Social Responsibility Program, College of Education. Currently, she is the Associate Director for Outreach in the office of Admissions at St. Cloud State University, where she has been employed for the past six years. Prior to working in Admissions, Thighman-Nabe worked at the Women’s Center/Central MN Sexual Assault Center as a Communities of Color Outreach Coordinator. She teaches as adjunct faculty at St. Cloud State University and is involved with numerous committees and efforts, including the local NAACP chapter, to dismantle racism and promote women’s rights.

Listen/Download: Challenging Racism in Our Community (mp3)

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With a focus on Earth Day, 2009, our presenter will talk about the future with the new government administration directives on energy, the environment and saving the planet. Having just received a Mother Earth Award from the Women’s Environmental Institute, she will highlight how environmental justice fits in to the big picture and how it can be used to address the environmental deprivation occurring across the country, especially in urban neighborhoods.

Presenter:
Annie Young is a locally and nationally recognized orator who motivates listeners about environmental justice, social change, sustainable development, urban ecology issues, community-building stories and real-life experiences. Over 35 years experience in grassroots organizing and social change efforts have helped her form the basis of the messages she shares with her audiences. Her experiences help community members, leaders and elected officials to discuss practical solutions in facing complex issues within our communities.

Listen/Download: Environmental activism (mp3)

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It's been said over and over again that not everyone is cut out for taking to the streets to promote social change. Although we support visible, old-fashioned protest marches, we acknowledge and value multiple strategies for encouraging improvements in our communities and women's lives. Toward this end, we complete our series by highlighting the work of a woman who is exhibiting feminist leadership in creative ways. Her varied community work demonstrates that there are many ways to live our ideals and passions. Over the past three years, our presenter, a self-identified "reformed pro-lifer," has volunteered as a clinic escort at the Midwest Health Center for Women through rain, snow or shine. "It's not a political issue for me; it is about taking care of people." She has also directed her energy to create a safe and supportive environment for women skaters through the co-ownership and co-founding of the North Star Roller Girls, a roller derby league in Minneapolis. Her experiences will surely broaden our thinking about women's leadership and community organizing.

Presenter:
Tara Jenson is a thirty-something urban dweller living in Minneapolis and working as a Unix system administrator for Wells Fargo. Her extracurricular interests tend towards activities that allow for creating and fostering meaningful connections with her fellow humans. For the past three years, Jenson has been volunteering on a weekly basis at Midwest Health Center for Women in Minneapolis as a patient escort. She is also a co-founder, current board member and skater for the North Star Roller Girls - a women-owned and operated roller derby league in Minneapolis.

Listen/Download: Outside The Box (mp3)

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