Friday Announcements: Latoya on Race and Sexuality; Blazing the Indigenous Feminist Trail with Jessica Yee; Blogging While Brown Conference; Open Internet Reporting Fellowships

Race and Sexuality: A Discussion with Latoya Peterson (DC)

Tuesday, March 23 2010
Time: 7 pm to 9 pm
Location: Georgetown University, White Gravenor 201A.
Co-Sponsored by: The LGBTQ Resource Center, Lecture Fund, GU Women of Color, GUMBO, SCU

This event is free and open to the public. Latoya will discuss the similarities, challenges, and parallels between organizing around race and organizing around sexuality and gender identity.

From Land Sovereignty to Reproductive Justice Freedom Fighting: Blazing the Indigenous Feminist Trail (Toronto)

March 25, 7-9pm / 252 Bloor St. W, Rm 2-212, Toronto Canada / Free, wheelchair accessible

Moderated by Jessica Yee!

“Indigenous Feminism” has been taken up as more than just a “theory” by Indigenous academics and activists throughout Turtle Island and beyond. But still many people reject the term. What does “Indigenous Feminism” constitute? Is it just about women? Isn’t feminism a “white-woman’s” thing? Isn’t land really the only issue?

A powerhouse evening featuring two incredible women who have shaped and continue to blaze the Indigenous feminist trail, and who will never be defined solely by one theory.

Featuring:

Andrea Smith, co-founder of Incite! Women of Color Against Violence and the Boarding School Healing Project

Lee Maracle, award-winning poet, novelist, performance storyteller, scriptwriter, actor, and writer in residence at First Nations House at University of Toronto

Moderated by Jessica Yee, founder and executive director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network

Introduced by Eileen Antone, OISE Professor and Director of Aboriginal Studies and the Centre for Aboriginal Initiatives, University of Toronto

Featuring an opening performance by the Red Slam Collective

Presented by the Centre for Women’s Studies in Education (CWSE)
Co-sponsored by the Indigenous Education Network and the Native Youth Sexual Health Network

E-mail cwse@utoronto.ca for more information

‘Blogging While Brown’ to be held June 18-19 in Washington, DC

Bloggers of Color set to gather for largest conference ever
‘Blogging While Brown’ to be held June 18-19 in Washington, DC

Washington, DC — At a time when many social media conferences are struggling with issues of diversity and inclusion among their speakers and attendees, the Blogging While Brown Conference continues to provide one of the largest lineups of Black social media experts and serves as one of the largest gatherings of Black bloggers each year. Since its launch in 2008 Blogging While Brown has grown to become the premier blogging conference dedicated to collaboration, education, and innovation among bloggers of color.

Blogging While Brown 2010 will be held in Washington, DC, June 18-19, 2010 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Despite challenging economic times the conference has grown exponentially and this year’s conference promises to be the largest ever.

African Americans are embracing their roles as independent digital media content creators and are emerging as a burgeoning class of media owners.

“Blogging While Brown is a must-go to conference if you are looking for the next Black leaders in American culture. If you’re a blogger who happens to be African American, this is the place to go to connect with and learn from those who have succeeded in the blogosphere,” said Cheryl Contee of Fission Strategy and co-founder of the blog, Jack and Jill Politics. Contee is a member of the Blogging While Brown Advisory Committee.

“For sponsors and media influentials, this is where the action is – look no further to find the next generation of influentials who already have strong, vital audiences who have flocked to build active, motivated communities online,” Contee says.

Conference organizers predict that this year’s conference will be the largest ever. “If the initial response to our Call for Ideas is any indication, this year’s conference will be our largest ever,” said Gina McCauley, the founder of the Blogging While Brown Conference.

This year the conference is once again expanding by adding a Blogging Day of Service. Conference organizers will be offering a FREE Beginning Blogger Boot Camp aimed at non-bloggers in the local Washington, DC community. The Boot Camp will be held Friday, June 18 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Public Library.

“It’s our gift to our host community and a tangible manifestation of our goal to live in a world where everyone can blog,” McCauley said.

Conference activities will kick off Friday morning with our pre-conference Beginning Blogger Boot Camp. Conference registration check-in begins Friday afternoon followed by our Friday night social event. Saturday will be a day filled with workshops, panels, case studies, and a town hall meeting.

For more information and to register visit www.bloggingwhilebrown.com.

To view the Blogging While Brown 2010 Media Kit click here.

Open Internet Reporting Fellowships

Sponsored by the G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism in partnership with New America Media

Applications Due: April 2, 2010, 5 PM PDT

The G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism and New America Media are calling for journalists working in ethnic and community media to apply for the Open Internet Reporting Fellowship. The fellows will produce a story, or a series of stories, documenting and explaining the threats to an open Internet and the impact on the communities served by fellows’ respective outlets.

Each fellow will submit a proposal outlining an in-depth or investigative story or series of stories she or he intends to pursue, as well as a signed agreement by his or her publisher/producer to run the story or stories in their ethnic/community media outlet.

Fellows will receive assistance as needed with research, reporting and producing their stories.

NAM will disseminate stories produced by the fellows to ethnic and mainstream media partners and nonprofit collaborators through NAM’s news wire. The G.W. Williams Center will also distribute the stories through independent media as well as its nonprofit partners.

All stories must be edited and approved by project editors before publication/broadcast and must be completed by June 30, 2010.

Fellows will receive a $500 stipend once the story or series has been published or aired.

For an application form contact Linda Jue, director and executive editor, G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism: 415/321-1733 or nvijdirector@gmail.com