CWLU Herstory Blog

Poet, essayist and activist Adrienne Rich will appear in Northeastern Illinois University's (NEIU) Presidential Lecture Series. Since receiving the Yale Younger Poets Award in 1951 at the age of 21, Adrienne Rich has not stopped writing in her distinct voice, with strength and conviction.This event is free and open to the public

Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, Northeastern Illinois University
5500 N. Saint Louis Ave in Chicago
(Use campus entrance located at 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.) Free parking in Lot F
Thursday, April 24 at 8 p.m

Anyone who has ever had a conversation with a know-it-all knows how flustering and frustrating that can be. But somehow, the know-it-all man comes equipped his own special brand of arrogance and aggravation.

In her blog post entitled "Men Explain Things to Me" over at AlterNet , Rebecca Solnit relates her experiences with men who hold forth with great authority on subjects that they know nothing about.

Rebecca Solnit writes with an irony so wry that you don't know whether to laugh or cry, or as the old blues song counsels, laugh...just to keep from crying. But she takes it deeper than a few anecdotes about everyday sexism.

Every woman knows what I'm talking about. It's the presumption that makes it hard, at times, for any woman in any field; that keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men's unsupported overconfidence. -- from Men Explain Things to Me

She then goes on to show how this silencing of women's voices and women's perceptions has had catastrophic effects on human society.

Her thoughts provoked a large number of reader responses including a lot of angry rebuttals from angry men. Predictably, the women who disagreed with some of her points provided more nuanced and more thoughtful disagreements.

Labor singer Anne Feeney's new cd "Dump the Bosses off Your Back" is now available at CDBaby and Anne assures us that its her best cd yet. For those of you unfamiliar with Anne Feeney's music, you are in for a real treat. If you don't believe me, head on over to her website and listen to some of her MP3's. Anne Feeney is “the best labor singer in North America,” according to Utah Phillips. Based in her hometown Pittsburgh, PA, Anne is on the road more than 200 days a year, singing in union halls, on picket lines, at rallies, riots, folk clubs, festivals, conferences, conventions and colleges.

She is a Kerrville New Folk winner, and her songwriting has garnered praise from folk legends like Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Anne’s anthem, “Have You Been to Jail for Justice?” is featured in several films, and is featured on two recordings by Peter, Paul and Mary. (and it's being sung in paddywagons everywhere!)

Anne Feeney also leads tours of Ireland and if your idea of an Irish vacation is everything that the West of Ireland has to offer, she still has some spots open for the summer of 2008. Visit her Irish Tour page for details.

When did feminism become the "F" word in todays modern world? Film maker Therese Schecter tries to answer that question in her movie, 'I was a Teenage Feminist". Armed with interviews and music by Ani DiFranco, Gina Young, Moxie Starpark and Helen Reddy, the film has earned great reviews from Bitch Magazine, Yahoo Movies, Educational Media Review and our good friend Paula Kamen.

To view the entire film online, please visit Free Speech TV. For more info on how to purchase the film or to arrange a showing, please visit Trixie Films.

You can watch a preview clip below:

The Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls is a place where 8-18 year olds come from all over the country to learn Rock DIY-style--forming bands, writing songs and building community, and “Girls Rock !” is the movie about their journey.

Film makers Arne Johnson and Shane King have put together a story that focuses on 4 girls at the camp learning how to be the people they really are as they make a whole lot of joyful noise.

The film opens in Chicago at the Music Box Theater at 3733 North Southport.