Images Online from Around the World

A website dedicated to promoting "intercultural understanding" is a great resource for researchers and artists alike. The newly-opened World Digital Library (WDL) has international art and photography, as well as some music and video, on an easy-to-navigate site with an excellent search engine.

The site was launched by UNESCO in late April and is hosted by The Library of Congress and partner organizations. It states: "The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world." The site has already been declared "best of the web," and was featured in the Washington Post.

Approximately 1,200 items were posted in the debut, but the site has an expansive capacity for more of the type of cultural artifacts from archives and libraries around the world in which it specializes. A cursory glance through finds that, so far, the site is especially strong on historic maps.

But there is plenty to interest the eye here. A search under "women" brings out the iconic Rosie the Riveter with her "We Can Do It" pose, but also the cover of Layla, an Iraqi women's literary magazine from 1923 (pictured above); "Young Migratory Mother," a 1920s Dorothy Lange photo; a 1912 picture of suffragists marching in New York City; Tajik women fortune tellers; a watercolor of the Women's Army Corps in New Guinea in World War II; a 1945 women's bathing room in Jakarta; a 1410 Germanic ink and pen drawing from a medical encyclopedia, and more. Each image is accompanied by a crisp paragraph explanation and links to original sources, related pieces, and other information.

Materials can be searched by era, geographic location, type of source (i.e. print, book, journal), as well as by a series of common topics.

While the site is unrestricted, open and free to the public, use of the material for distribution or reprinting in another product must be cleared or verified from the original source, or otherwise checked through national and international copyright laws.

Posted by Cindy Cooper

pictured above, Layla, a woman's literary magazine in Iraq, 1923

WORDS OF CHOICE IN PERFORMANCE, NYC, April 23 at 7 pm

WORDS OF CHOICE II

April 23, 2009 7 pm

Judson Memorial Church

55 Washington Square South (W.4th St.)

at Thompson by NYU

Tickets: $15/Stu $5

Tickets may be purchased at the door.

Benefit for Planned Parenthood of New York City

A 70-minute performance followed by a Panel Discussion organized by PPNYC. Welcome by Rev. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church.

INFO: 212-560-2616

Directions:
A,C,E,F,V,B,D to West 4th St.
Walk 3 blocks east on W. 4th (which becomes Washington Square South)

R to 8th St.-NYU or 6 to Astor Place
Walk West to Washington Square Park, South to Washington Square South, West to Thompson

Judson Memorial Church is at Thompson and Washington Square South
Enter at 55 Washington Sq South
Disabled access at 243 Thompson Street

Talking 'bout The Reproductive Health Act in NY

It's sometimes a surprise to people that New York State does not have the most up-to-date laws on abortion. Now, with the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) before the New York State legislature, pro-choice organizations are beginning to do more outreach on the subject.

Among those efforts are a video by the NYCLU, and a event by Planned Parenthood New York City and Words of Choice.

The newly-released video by the New York Civil Liberties Union, produced by Jennifer Proulx, is the first in the YouTube category to attempt to explain the need for the RHA. The video, 9.47 minutes long, clips to a variety of voices -- rabbi, clergy member, law professor, doctors, advocates, former Ms. Magazine editor Marcia Gillespie about the need for strong NY legislation, along with echoes from regular folks.

The heart of the video, however, comes in two parts. In one section, a woman describes learning about a fetal anomaly and needing an abortion that her doctor says could have been prohibited if the so-called federal "partial-birth abortion" ban had been in effect at the time. Putting a face on this procedure puts women's health and choices where they belong: as the concern for legislators.

The all-important nitty-gritty information about the law comes through interviews with Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU (pictured above), and spread throughout the video. Lieberman offers clear cut explanations about why New York needs RHA. "We have a growing minority on the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade," she says at the outset. "Our law is outdated," Lieberman says, and New York needs to take action to protect women's health.

Planned Parenthood of New York City is also stepping up its efforts to support the RHA legislatiion, which will be the primary topic of discussion following a performance by Words of Choice on April 23 at 7 pm, according to Melissa Lee, Manager of Advocacy and Organizing at PPNYC. The event is a benefit for the PPNYC Activists Council, and will be at the historic Judson Memorial Church in NYC. (Tickets -- $15/$5 students -- may be purchased online.)

Writes PPNYC on its website: "Imagine a New York that ensures that every woman has the right to make the decision that is best for herself, her family, and her future… To secure that right for women, New York must pass the Reproductive Health Act!"

Words of Choice, the NYCLU video, the PPNYC site -- all make one thing clear: the job of securing reproductive freedom for all women is not yet done.

posted by Cindy Cooper

pictured above: screen shot showing Donna Lieberman from NYCLU video

Every Sperm Does Not Deserve A Name and Other Tunes

A 4-song CD by Caryl Towner with Stone Soup has all the rousing pro-choice voices that any rally needs. And a song with Mark Levy provides enough laughs to raise any spirit.

Called We Won't Go Back, the 2003 CD, can be found on CD Baby. Clips can also be played at that site, and it explains that the title piece was recorded live before 250,000 at the Rally to Save Womens' Lives in Washington D.C. in 1995. It has a pumping "keep your hands off our bodies" words and rhythm to match.

Towner describes herslef as a "feminist singer/songwriter/activist" who carries her message through her music. Stone Soup is a folk trio with which she sings. Another song on the CD, Stand Up, Speak Out! was written to support a community drive in upstate New York to prevent the loss of reproductive health services in a hospital merger. The song is part of a documentary video project by MergerWatch in New York.

The real delight on this CD is the incomperable satiric gem, "Every Sperm Does Not Deserve A Name" by Mark Levy. It's sung with him and Stone Soup, recorded live at the Clearwater Walkabout Coffeehouse in Katonah, NY in March, 2001. Levy also has a 1990 CD of songs, SHEORES -HEROES on his site which includes the song. A clip can be played online there, as well.

Here's a sample of Levy's "Every Sperm' lyrics:

I've heard preachers preach about the duties of a wife
I've heard husbands talk about the same
They say a woman must protect a zygote's right to life
But every sperm does not deserve a name

(Chorus)

Every sperm does not deserve a name
Every sperm does not deserve a name
If so a man would found a nation every time he came
Every sperm does not deserve a name ....

For a good mood-setter, crank up your computer and listen. Or grab a copy of the Towner CD for your next fundraiser.

posted by Cindy Cooper

picture above: CD cover for Caryl Towner's We Won't Go Back album

Not Yet Rain: Film Insight on Abortion in Ethopia

Filmmaker Lisa Russell has teamed up with the international women's health organization, Ipas, to create a a documentary, Not Yet Rain. The film, to be released in April, is exploring abortion in Ethiopia. There, women are still struggling to gain access to safe abortion care, even though the anti-abortion laws were finally liberalized in 2006.

By the looks of a trailer now online, Not Yet Rain, promises to be a stylish and sophisticated look at the need for safe abortion care. One woman on the trailer explains "A man raped me ... that's why I need an abortion. I'm afraid of the procedure. What shall I do?" Another woman, eyes tearing, refers to illegal abortion. "I lost my daughter through abortion," she says.

The filmmaker explains on a website that the title is taken from an African proverb, "Thunder is not yet rain."

The film ...

"explores abortion in Ethiopia through the voices of women who have faced the challenge of accessing safe care. Through their stories, we see the important role that safe abortion care plays in the overall health of women and their families.

While a law enacted in 2006 marked great progress toward reproductive freedom in Ethiopia, Not Yet Rain shows that much more needs to be done as women continue to die from unsafe abortions. Additional training for health workers and increased availability of care could save the lives of women in Ethiopia and around the world.".

The messages that the film promises are ones for Africa, but for the U.S., too: 1) Safe abortion saves lives. 2) Legalized abortion without access and service providers is not enough.

One of the beautiful parts of the trailer is the musical underscoring. Thankfully, the new website takes the trouble to describe the sources. One is Gigi, a woman who combines traditional Ethiopian influences and contemporary styles. The other is a Stanford University group called Talisman that performs African folksong and gospel. The arrangements create an evocative uptempo and gentle beat that add an alluring background to the trailer -- something too many filmmakers in the social justice genre seem to overlook.

Ipas, located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, "works around the world to increase women's ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights, and to reduce abortion-related deaths and injuries." This documentary promises to bring its valuable global work back home.

The clip for Not Yet Rain is here.

by Cindy Cooper

pictured above: graphic for the Lisa Russell-Ipas film "Not Yet Rain"