Kind light /Բարի լույս*to you, dear neighbors, artists, collaborators, community partners, co-conspirators, supporters of arts in Skid Row and of doodles without borders,
*the morning greeting in Armenian translates as “kind light” (բարի լույս [baree looys])
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March is celebrated by many as Women’s History Month. International Women’s Day falls on March 8th. Celebrating women and femmes in Skid Row neighborhood–both ancestors and those with us–makes me think of the importance of connecting visibility and representation with collective organizing, support, and celebration as essential.
Makes me think of…
…Jen (Sharkie) noting that “women’s rights are human rights” to myself and another smartass, both of us socialized as men, as we were discussing women’s rights at Studio526 a few years back :),
…the unambiguously socialist roots of March 8th, International Women’s Day, from women textile workers’ strike in mid-19th century in New York, to women workers led by feminist Alexandra Kollontai marching and striking in Petrograd, Russia on Feb 23, 1917 (March 8 new style) in what played a pivotal role in abdication of the Czar,
…March 31st of this year, when both Transgender Day of Visibility and Cesar Chavez Day are celebrated, and of Chella, who is an incredible Black trans activist and lead vocalist of the awesome punk band You Guys Suck Like Real Hard, Shut the Fuck Up, Thanks (Y.G.S.L.R.H.S.T.F.U.T) band, and her song reminder to us–taking new ownership of a socialist activist tradition that spans Mother Jones and IWW–to mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living!
Also many thanks to Eiko, Kaoko, Vicki, Silkiie, and Pearl among others, the women who are majority of Doodles Without Borders regulars and are key to the pro-community atmosphere of our weekly arts table!
UPCOMING in and near SKID ROW, Feb/March 2023
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
Thursday, March 16, 10:30-12pm, Creative Writing / Writers’ Workshop for Skid Row writers, first monthly meeting (3rd Thursdays) hosted by Ivy @ Skid Row History Museum (250 S. Broadway). If you are interested, please reply to let us know.
Fri, March 17th, 7pm – MOVIE NIGHT “Who We Are: Racism in America” @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway); Movie Nights are every 1st and 3rd Friday of the months
March 24, 25, and 31, 4:30-6pm: Basketball 3×3 March Madness @ General Jeff (Gladys) Park. More info here.
Sat, March 25th, 6pm: “Soften Yourself” Ticketed Concert by Street Symphony @ Skid Row Museum. To purchase tix and for more info: https://www.streetsymphony.org/events/
Friday, March 31th, 5-7:30pm – OPEN MIC with Hayk and Guest Co-Host Silkiie @ Skid Row History Museum (250 S. Broadway) – every last Friday of the month
ONGOING
Thur-Sat, 2-5pm:Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation – exhibit by community curator Charles Porter, who makes connections between Africa, Black diasporan heritage, his own family history in New Jersey’s Porterville, and Skid Row neighborhood. On exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway) through July 2023.
SAVE THE DATE
1) IN L.A. REGION: Friday, April 14, 5:30-8:30pm, Moving Pieces by Painted Brain, designed with a mindset that acknowledges mental health and its intersection with art, music, and community participation. More about the event and to RSVP click here
2) IN SKID ROW: Sunday, April 16, 2pm, Urban Voices Project will be doing their annual COFFEEHOUSE live performances @ Inner City Arts.
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doodles without borders (dwb)
dwb “How dare you!” community arts table at General Jeff ( formerly Gladys) Park, Thursdays, 3-4:30pm. We will NOT be there on Thur, March 23, returning on March 30th!
At doodles without borders art is the glue to collectively strengthen community, make local, diasporan, and global connections, and disassemble white supremacy, capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy.
dwb ONLINE UPDATES
1) Doodles without Borders (dwb) is now on Instagram and Facebook.
Online presence is not dwb’s strong suit, so please have low expectations 🙂
2) There is also now a monthly dwb Skid Row Community & Arts Calendar. I’ll be adding events I see, and if you do community strengthening work in Skid Row and know of an event/meeting that should be on there, please share.
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SUPPORT Community Arts Depot
A shameless plug asking for your support of Community Arts Depot, a sister project addressing the vital need for artwork storage and access focused on Skid Row neighborhood members and residents.
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Quote of the month:
When a reporter asked Fannie Lou Hamer, a Black SNCC orgaziner, if she was seeking equality with the white man she peered at him imperiously. “No,” she said. “What would I look like fighting for equality with the white man? I don’t want to go down that low. I want the true democracy that’ll raise me and that white man up . . . raise America up.”
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You can see the full dwb newsletter #15 here.
Community Artivism 