Audio and Slides: From the Front Lines -- A Case Study of HIV-Positive Women Making National Policy Change

In a conference call, Ms. Foundation President and CEO Sara K. Gould, Ms. Foundation staff and National Women and AIDS Collective (NWAC) leaders representing California, Texas, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. addressed how NWAC has grown and made a difference and explored its next steps and how others can get involved. The slides and an audio recording from the session are now available.

NWAC Funder Call Presentation

Listen with the player below, or download the mp3 file.

Outrageous Act: Honor the Women in Your Family and Daily Life

Yvette Thierry, National Ally, of Ms. Foundation grantee Safe Streets, Strong Communities in New Orleans calls us to honor the women who came before us and to celebrate their legacies of strength, honor, endurance, unconditional love, and wisdom.

Consider honoring your mother with a gift to the Ms. Foundation. Make your honor gift online now.

“Heart Beat Soul Sister Artist Warrior's" Climbing PoeTree

Alixa and Naima, the self-described “Heart Beat Soul Sister Artist Warrior duo ‘Climbing PoeTree’,” tell how they toured 10,000 miles cross-country in a school bus converted to run on vegetable diesel and how they found a female mechanic to support the Hurricane Season tour.

Limited Time New York Area Opportunity
Ms. Foundation grantee Climbing PoeTree will be performing the New York City premiere of Hurricane Season on Friday May 1, 2009 at 7:30 pm at the Riverside Theater in Harlem. Advance tickets can be purchased online or by telephone from the box office: 212-870-6784.

The Riverside Theater
Located within The Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Ave at
120th Street [Directions].

Fair Pay for All

Vicky Cintra, Organizing Coordinator, of Ms. Foundation grantee Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA) on asking the pastor of Howard Industries CEO Billy Howard whether he teaches his flock about paying workers fairly. In August 2008, Howard Industries was the location of the largest workplace immigration raid in U.S. history and the company still owes back pay to over 200 workers.

Read more on the Ms. Foundation blog about MIRA’s call for a moratorium on raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Read coverage of MIRA's ongoing advocacy to secure workers' wages.

Outrageous Act: Wield a Hammer & Make a Living Wage

Julie Kuklinski, with the Women in Construction Program of the Moore Community House, a Ms. Foundation grantee in Biloxi, Mississippi, challenges women to commit an outrageous act by putting on a tool belt and making just as much money as men. In this economy and with all the talk about prioritizing "...shovel-ready jobs," it's more important than ever that women know they, too, can wield a hammer and make a living wage.

Divine Caroline Readers:
- More About Outrageous Acts
- More Examples of Outrageous Acts
- How to Submit Your Act
- See Gloria Steinem on Outrageous Acts [video]

Outrageous Act: Join a Mobile Action Network for Immigration Reform

The Center for Community Change (CCC) has issued a call for supporters in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform and the effort to create a path to citizenship for undocumented Americans. Connect to the movement and support the May 1 marches for reform.

To get updates and action alerts direct to your mobile
phone: Text JUSTICE or [JUSTICIA en espÃnol] to 69866

America won’t work for any of us until it works for all of us. For more information about the struggle for immigrant justice see the CCC’s Fair Immigration Reform Movement.

"Beyond Chris and Rihanna": Chicago Youth Condemn Media Coverage of Domestic Violence

A short while back, two youth from Chicago-based Females United for Action (FUFA), a Ms. Foundation grantee, wrote a statement condemning the media for perpetuating the false idea that domestic violence survivors--like Rihanna--deserve to be blamed for their abuse. While many, including the New York Times, were wondering why a plethora of teenage girls seemed to be siding with Chris Brown, her alleged abuser, FUFA's response was right on point: young people internalize media coverage of this and other domestic violence incidents that shift responsibility from perpetrator to survivor.

Read "Beyond Chris and Rihanna" by Alex Pates (age 15) and Ansheera Ace Hilliard (age 17), also published online by the Chicago Tribune.

Listen to FUFA Organizer Manju Rajendran on Chicago Public Radio as she discusses the media's distortion of the Chris Brown-Rihanna story and calls on journalists to profile young women and genderqueer youth of color who are courageous, resilient, and powerful organizers against violence.

FUFA is a group of young women and genderqueer youth that uses media-justice work and other organizing tactics to speak out against gender-based violence. Last year, the Ms. Foundation for Women honored Yunuen Rodriguez of FUFA with the Marie C. Wilson Young Woman's Leadership Award. Watch a video that profiles Yunuen's inspiring commitment to youth-led social change.

Learn more about FUFA , an initiative of Women and Girls Collective Action Network.