Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 23, at the Prior Lake Public Library, located at 16210 Eagle Creek Avenue South. A general business meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. and all MN Valley NOW members are welcome to attend. Please note that this is on Wednesday, instead of our usual 4th Thursday of the month.

At 7:30 p.m., the public is welcome to attend a free screening of “Until the Violence Stops”. “Until the Violence Stops” chronicles how Eve Ensler’s hit Off-Broadway solo show The Vagina Monologues grew into V-Day, an international movement to stop violence against women and girls. “Until the Violence Stops” features emotionally charged interviews and readings by everyday and celebrity women (including Rosie Perez, Selma Hayek, Rosario Dawson, and Jane Fonda), all of whom courageously reveal their intimate experiences and bond together to break the silence that surrounds abuse. “Until the Violence Stops” has been described as “extraordinarily empowering” and “heartbreakingly funny” and is a moving celebration of community awareness that leaves us with the hope that change can happen.

MN Valley NOW has partnered with The Chameleon Theatre Circle to bring V-Day to Prior Lake on February 14 and 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church. Proceeds from this event will go to the Southern Valley Alliance for Battered Women.

Join us on January 23 to learn more about this historic event.

For more information, please visit our V-Day Prior Lake web site at www.vdaypriorlake.org or email info@vdaypriorlake.org.

From womenwinning, Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund.

Date…February 7, 2008
Time….5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Place..The Varsity Theatre in Dinkytown, 1308 4th Street SE

Why?
Wine, Cheese & Choice is a fun and informative evening designed to bring friends and colleagues together around the issues of choice and the importance of women running for elected office.

This year, we are pleased to welcome State Senator Mee Moua and Dr. Carrie Ann Terell as our evening’s speakers.

Unlike other events — that give you talking heads for an hour at a time — the speakers for Wine, Cheese & Choice will engage the audience in a dialogue about choice, politics and the necessity of women running for office.

Tickets are only $25, which includes appetizers and your first glass of wine.

So, don’t miss this important evening. And, invite your friends!

Register here.

Our official V-Day site: http://vdaypriorlake.org/

Bebo: http://www.bebo.com/vdaypriorlake

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6469428067 

MySpace: http://myspace.com/vdaypriorlake

www.vdaypriorlake.org

Mark your calendar for the 16th year of NARAL’s premier event. And this year, NARAL is taking the event out of the house and into a working artist studio in a converted warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis!

Join NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota for a unique evening in Northeast Minneapolis. While enjoying the creative ambiance of this artistic space, you will be treated to a delectable selection of tapas, local music, a tour of Brant Kingman’s artwork, and an eclectic silent auction.

This event takes place on Thursday, October 4, 2007, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at Kingman Studios, 1901 Grand Street NE, Minneapolis, MN, 55418. For more information and to register for the event, go to https://secure.prochoiceminnesota.org/s03getinvolved/ticketshtsa.shtml.

November 15-16: Minnesota Women’s Consortium Conference: Women’s Dreams, 1977 - 2037. SAVE the DATE and SEND YOUR CLIPS!

The Consortium is planning a television show to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the National Women’s Meeting in Houston, Texas, in 1977. Please mark your calendar and start sewing your sparkly gown to wear to the premier of the event, set for Thursday evening, November 15. You can wear your jeans to the conference the next day, November 16. Member organizations that have video footage or exceptional photos of women or girls in action - please send (ideally as CDs or DVDs) to Bonnie Watkins, MWC, 550 Rice Street, St Paul 55103. The pieces selected will be part of a montage showing where we have been in the past 30 years, and where we are heading for a better future. As always the Consortium wants to promote your organization and your cause - but we need your help to make that happen.

For additional information go to the Consortium’s website at www.mnwomen.org.

Check out the videos on our right sidebar from the Feminist Antipornography Conference: Pornography & Pop Culture - Rethinking Theory, Reframing Activism held at Wheelock College in Boston on March 24, 2007.

Thanks to MN Valley NOW’s Media Watch Activist, Micki Lechner Riehle, for bringing these videos to our attention.

Here are direct links to the videos on YouTube and our pod at VodPod:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22feminist+antipornography%22

http://mnvalleynow.vodpod.com/

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop worldwide violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

MN Valley NOW has partnered with The Chameleon Theatre Circle for performances of The Vagina Monologues in February 2008 as part of V-Day 2008. This will be the 10th anniversary of V-Day.

The Vagina Monologues is a collection of monologues read by a number of different actresses. A recurring theme throughout the production is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment and individuality. The Vagina Monologues is performed annually around the world to bring attention to V-Day in thousands of cities and colleges. The performances generally benefit rape crisis centers and similar resource centers for women.

The Chameleon Theatre Circle will hold auditions on Saturday, September 8 and on Monday, September 10 at the Arts at River Ridge at 109 River Ridge Circle in Burnsville, Minnesota (formerly known as the Minnesota River School of Fine Arts). Each candidate will have three minutes to perform a monologue. Auditions will be by appointment only. Please e-mail andi@seetheatre.org or call 952-937-5645 to set up your audition time.

Please note that these positions are unpaid and will require rehearsal commitments that will be several hours in length 2 to 3 times a week for the six weeks prior to performances.

Twin Cities NOW is planning a rally in response to Attorney Earl Gray’s comments to the Star Tribune regarding his client’s, Dominic Jones, charges of sexually assaulting a woman while she lay unconscious. Gray states that he believes his clients case is defensible because there were, “no weapons, no injuries and no force” alleged.

This is a multi-coalition effort and you are invited to stand together with the National Organization for Women to tell Earl Gray, and those who believe as he does, that sex with an unconscious woman IS rape, and that RAPE IS INDEFENSIBLE.

The Rally is tentatively set to occur simultaneously with the next pretrial hearing on September 18, 2007 from 9am to 10am with a press conference at 9:45.

We will post additional details as they are made available. Please email MN Valley NOW if you are interested in participating in the event and/or helping to prepare signs and materials for the rally.

The second Gathering of the Sisterhood of the Round Table will be held Saturday, July 28, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in the Community Room at the River Hills Mall in Mankato, MN. Sue Forcelle, founder of the Sisterhood of the Round Table, Inc., will be the featured speaker. Belly dancers will also be performing at the Gathering.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Cindy Bruegger, Promotions Executive for the Sisterhood of the Round Table, Inc., at cilobr@yahoo.com or 507-462-3752.