Nightshade Pgh – Issue #1: Declaration

Nightshade is a collective of womyn and queer folks devoted to ensuring a safer community for women/POC/queer/trans folk in Oakland. Queers bash back! 

We are planning on putting our first zine out at the end of the month! The theme for the first issue is DECLARATION. So you can submit any type of art, writing, poetry, etc. which fits the theme and the groups ideologies. Create something beautiful about a topic you think the world needs to draw attention to.

DEADLINE: May 16th

Submit by emailing nightshadepitt@gmail.com

In Our Hands – Issue #2:
Breaking the Silence

Trigger warning: Sexual assault, violence, rape, abuse

In Our Hands—a survivor-centered community accountability reading, discussion, action and support group—is seeking submissions for the next issue of our zine. Our goal with this zine is to offer insight to other survivors on how to manage their own experiences and create an accountability process that is useful and empowering to them. We aim to dismantle Rape Culture by examining each piece of its extremely complex structure. One of the first steps in this process is to identify violent, abusive, and oppressive behaviors. We are looking for stories from survivors of sexual violence, abuse, and/or oppression about your experience and struggles with “breaking the silence.”

Some issues we would like this zine to address are:

• The process of identifying and recognizing what happened or is happening, and finding language to come forward about it;
  
• The problematic yet common occurrence of violence and re-traumatization that comes with survivor disclosure;
  
• The difficulty of dealing with other people’s emotions upon disclosure (such as coping with the emotional reactions of friends, family, intimate partners, as well as strangers, enemies, and allies of your perpetrator(s)); Conflicting emotions or confusing memory details.
• How did/do you reconcile those internal conflicts.

This zine is also aimed at supporters and allies of Survivors. We would like to hear from Survivors about:

• What types of support have you experienced that were helpful or harmful?
• What do you wish you had throughout your process of coming forward, holding accountability, and personal healing?

You may choose to address these questions directly, in essay form, or through other forms of creativity, such as poetry or visual art. We ask that written submissions please be limited to 2,000 words or less. Creative forms should be 2 pages or less, at 5.5×8.5″/page.

Please e-mail your submissions to in.our.hands.pgh@gmail.com.

To submit anonymously via email, you may use:https://anonymousemail.me/
<https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fanonymousemail.me%2F&h=VAQFY9VaOAQHJEExz6b2kceaPxoyHSm_G-5tNrTKQ42-jow&enc=AZMi2dP-qgv42EiYzFZ3Q1pb3_bfLXIaqHbGNNVtC3tzCCcOto7qSLMQcBlpBhP5uYhPrxSGwIq-3t5dS5Q0-k2LipYEbDFPKV47-v8H9UOzlvcSNwtDVoB7yQCFVDyvHfOhUqEJTabIbZZR0PgnUDayDoTG1jMcGzEeeGA_a7gOxE9akhRP6HebN_H5qoYry_Y&s=1>
(make sure to write “anonymous” or a pen name in the section titled “name”).

You can also mail a hard copy or digital file to:
In Our Hands
C/O The Big Idea Bookstore
4812 Liberty Ave.
Pittsburgh PA 15224

The deadline for submission is June 1, 2016.

Link to first zine:
http://in-our-hands-pgh.tumblr.com/zine

Originally posted to Three Rivers Rising Tide

Disruption comes in advance of major rally outside ALEC Spring Task Force Summit

PITTSBURGH—Two dozen Pittsburghers stormed into the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) Spring Task Force Summit meeting on Thursday evening, disrupting the lobbying group’s Board of Directors Dinner.  While ALEC’s Summit is taking place at the Omni-William Penn, the dinner was held a few blocks away at Heinz Hall.

Hoisting yellow umbrellas with anti-ALEC slogans, a common prop from the 2014 pro-democracy mobilization in Hong Kong, participants rolled out ‘crime scene’ tape and shouted, “This is a crime scene! ALEC is killing us! With private prisons and attacks on workers fueled by greed and hunger for power ALEC is killing us!

During the 2014 “Umbrella Revolution” in Hong Kong, yellow umbrellas became a global symbol of popular resistance as pro-democracy demonstrators used the umbrellas to protect themselves from pepper spray and police violence. “During the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, protesters used yellow umbrellas to shield themselves from tear gas. Here in Pittsburgh we’re using yellow umbrellas to shield Pittsburgh from ALEC’s harmful and undemocratic policies,” said Emily Simons, an event organizer.  The umbrellas used at the ALEC meeting were covered with anti-ALEC slogans like “ALEC OUT of Black Communities,”“STOP Stealing Jobs and Union Busting,” and “Corporate Corruption Poisons Democracy.”

Demonstrators cited ALEC’s role in drafting legislation that hurts workers, people of color, the environment and public education.  “We’re rising up for workers, Black lives, the environment and quality education,” said organizer Julia Johnson. “We’re here to take back our corrupt government and take control of our community,” Johnson continued.

The corporate lobbyists and politicians gathered for the dinner were shocked and frustrated at the disruption. Some took photos while others hurled insults at demonstrators.  After several minutes the demonstrators left the hall.

Hundreds are expected to attend a permitted rally against ALEC in Mellon Square, outside of the William Penn at 12 noon on Friday, May 6^th.  More information on Friday’s rally is available online at https://www.facebook.com/events/214842928893443/.

video footage