Monday, May 20th, from 7-8:30pm, at the Gay Community Center of Richmond (1407 Sherwood Avenue, Richmond VA), SONG (Southerners on New Ground) and the Virginia Anti-Violence Project are holding a discussion event titled “Sharing Our Stories: Violence within and against LGBTQ Communities of Color.”
Only LGBTQ people of color may attend.
RSVP through the title link.
From GayRVA :
“A local LGBTQ group has received a federal grant to investigate violence affecting sexual minorities in the Richmond Area. The federal grant was given to the Virginia Anti-Violence Program by the Office of Violence Against Women. Southerners on New Ground (SONG), has partnered with The Virginia Anti-Violence Program (VAVP) to identify and engage LGBTQ youth (age 14-20) in conversations about violence and healthy relationships in the hope of understanding and fighting the problem.
The numbers behind violence affecting sexual minority youth reflect a dire need for further investigation. In a community study conducted by the Equality Virginia Education Fund and the Virginia Anti-Violence Project (VAVP), 26% of those asked experienced sexual violence as an adult while 36% experienced sexual violence as a young person. 41% of the respondents had been in an abusive relationship at some time in their life. Salem Acuña, Field organizer for SONG, believes that the lack of discourse on the issue within the community has led to misconceptions about the problem. “the LGBT Movement and community has a difficult time acknowledging and confronting the reality that LGBTQ people are also targets and survivors of intimate-partner violence,” said Acuña. The VAVP, along with SONG, is working towards “breaking down this myth”.
While traditional different-sex relationships have often been the subject of study, this look into same-sex relationships and the violence experiences by partners, is a new and important field. The study hopes to go through several steps to gain a broader understanding of the issues faced, and then use the results to develop narrow questions and topics for focus groups.
According to Jackie Rene, community advocate of VAVP, the survey is the first step to forming the questions for the focus groups. Once this information is gathered, Rene and VAVP hope to understand “where, how, and what kind of information people are receiving about sexual violence and what kinds of information people need.”
In the same study mentioned above, less than 5 out of 59 sexual and/or domestic violence agencies had “knowingly served any LGBTQ people in the twelve months preceding the interviews.” The researchers concluded that “nearly everyone interviewed requested educational materials and training opportunities on addressing violence in LGBTQ communities and expressed interest in participating in a statewide effort to improve and increase services to LGBTQ survivors of violence.”
LGBTQ youth is only one of three groups that the organizations are working on through the grant. LGBTQ people of color, and LGBTQ elders will also be addressed. SONG will be conducting the focus groups for LGBTQ people of color in addressing issues of violence, relationships, sexuality, and race. As far as the scope of the project, “right now it’s only regional”, says Maria Altonen, VAVP Program Coordinator, but “our intention is to, with further funding, spread it statewide.”
“Overall, I think this project is really critical in helping us build healthy, vibrant, and strong LGBTQ communities in the Richmond area”, said Acuña. The VAVP and SONG have begun outreach into the LGBTQ community by bringing their survey to ROSMY, Godfrey’s college night, Virginia Commonwealth University, and putting it online.
Saturday, April 20th, from 3-6pm, SONG (Southerners on New Ground) and RRFP Bowl-a-thon Team GSEXXXY are holding a party to benefit the Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project. There will be grits-wrestling (for clarification, see event page), Southeastern American food and music, and a keg of beer.
Suggested donation of $5-7, all proceeds to the RRFP. Merchandise from Team GSEXXXY will be sold, including their new screenprinted underwear and other garments.
This venue is in a back yard, which is wheelchair accessible. The house is not, as there are several steps at the front and back doors. The only available restrooms are up a flight of stairs.
Tomorrow, Thursday February 14th, from 5:30-8pm, at the University of Richmond (626 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219), Southerners on New Ground (SONG) will hold a Valentine’s Day event. From the event description:
“This will be a chance for SONG members, member-leaders, the broader LGBTQ community, and our allies to come together to build relationships and share our love for one another while celebrating our movements and our visions for justice and liberation for all people.
We will be making Valentine cards that speak to our love for social justice and movement-building. We will use our handwritten valentine cards to create a “clothesline” with our collective vision of love for our people and our social justice movements. From this, we hope that the clothesline will be displayed in Richmond community spaces as a way to reflect on our love and passion throughout the year.”
There will be food and drink served. See the link to RSVP and for directions.
This Thursday, November 8th, Queer Action, OMSA, the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Department, and Southerners on New Ground will host a talk by internationally acclaimed theorist, scholar, and activist Suzanne Pharr and locally and regionally famous activist Cathy Woodson at VCU’s Commons Theater from 4-5:30 p.m. to dialogue about the role of race, class, gender, and sexuality (and the intersections thereof) in the election, and what it might mean to those of us living in the South. Event description is below:Race, The Election, and Regenerating Our Democracy
4:00 to 5:30 PMTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH
Virginia Commonwealth University
Commons Theatre
Richmond, VA
Tired of the race-baiting in our democracy? The dishonesty and meanness? We can re-generate our democracy, with a just place for all. Join Southerners On New Ground, with co-founder Suzanne Pharr and local community organizer Cathy Woodson, for a post-election conversation about some of the most important issues the candidates didn’t tackle this election year. Together we will look at how we can better understand the resentment that has been mobilized against women, people of color, and LGBTQ people and how we can move past these attacks on our people to build the kind of communities we need to survive and thrive. For more information contact Liz Canfield at ercanfield@vcu.edu.
If you’d like to read some of Pharr’s work, there are a few articles available on her website at: http://suzannepharr.org/books-2/
now that you’ve voted, keep the momentum forward. come to this post-election convo i made this poster for.
This Thursday November 8th, from 6:30-8:30pm, at the home of Liz Canfield (618 South Pine Street) Southerners on New Ground will be hosting an informal evening with Suzanne Pharr, co-founder of SONG. Food and alcohol will be served, suggested donation of $25 per person.
RSVP through the title link.
On Thursday November 8th, from 4:00-5:30pm, at the VCU Monroe Park Student Commons Theatre (907 Flloyd Avenue), Southerners on New Ground is holding a discussion on the election. From their event page:
“Tired of the race-baiting in our democracy? The dishonesty and meanness? We can re-generate our democracy, with a just place for all. Join Southerners On New Ground, with co-founder Suzanne Pharr and local community organizer Cathy Woodson, for a post-election conversation about some of the most important issues the candidates didn’t tackle this election year. Together we will look at how we can better understand the resentment that has been mobilized against women, people of color, and LGBTQ people and how we can move past these attacks on our people to build the kind of communities we need to survive and thrive. For more information contact Salem Acuña at 804-933-9945 or salem@southernersonnewground.org.”
RSVP through the title link.
On Friday October 19th, from 6-8pm at the Gay Community Center of Richmond, Southerners on New Ground will host the School of the Americas Watch on the last stop of their Building Upon Our Victories! SOAW Fall Southeast Tour 2012. Popular-education style forum.
RSVP through the title link.
