Reblogged from Guided To Safety:

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Thanks to WIMP (Web & Interactive Media Professionals), Guided To Safety is one of six North Bay nonprofits who will participate in a "Charity Hackathon" on Saturday, April 6!  From 9:00am to 7:00pm, at the iHub in Rohnert Park, teams of web designers, developers, and strategists will work with their designated nonprofit to create a new and improved website.  (Our team of gracious web volunteers consists of Sue, Kathleen and Adrian.)

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THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES - Santa Rosa
April 11

(Produced by the talented women who created our “Why We Are Rising” video)

A MEMORY, A MONOLOGUE, A RANT
& A PRAYER

(A Casa Grande High School Senior Project)

Mangina!

Last week at the local yacht club I got into a bit of an altercation with a local guy who fancies himself the self-appointed authority on the rights of men and defender of their honor and self-esteem. The culmination of this rather ridiculous non-event was his shouting at me as I walked away, “You’re just a mangina!” My first reaction was to laugh and respond, “Thanks for the compliment!”

Subsequently, I gave that term some thought over the weekend, looked it up – to some dismaying results – in The Urban Dictionary, and began thinking that the term was being defined rather terribly, but then I got a great quote from my friend Almond, regarding a re-definition of the term.

Mangina – an individual of the male species who embodies the spirit of equality and empowerment and assists in the effort to end violence against women and girls.

Yeah Joe… I’m a Mangina and I’m proud to be among what seems to be fairly superior company.

An example of such an opportunity … at the local yacht club one evening, Thom Butler, a dedicated V-Day Petaluma volunteer since 2009, attempted to initiate a conversation about The Vagina Monologues with another Petaluma resident.  Unfortunately, Thom was not only shoved (no matter who is involved, such physical violence is unnecessary) by the individual’s associate, but also referred to as a “Mangina” by the man he was speaking to, with the intent of being derogatory.

Up until now, many of us were unaware of this term’s existence.  While we very much liked the sound of it, we felt the definition didn’t do it justice.  That being the case, V-Day Petaluma has chosen to reclaim and redefine mangina.

 Mangina – an individual of the male species who embodies the spirit of equality and empowerment and assists in the effort to end violence against women and girls.

Thom, for your dedication to V-Day Petaluma and respect of all females, we have chosen you for our newly recognized 2013 MANGINA Award!

We wish to acknowledge and recognize Joe Manthey for bringing mangina to our attention, giving us the opportunity to raise it to a higher level.

The energy from ONE BILLION RISING continues with immediate action steps!

This week the House of Representatives will be voting on their version of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Women’s groups, advocates, and survivors have worked to show support for the inclusive, bipartisan Senate-passed bill,  S. 47, and are asking House members to oppose the alternate version which will be brought to the House floor for a vote as early as THIS WEDNESDAY – February 27! Our work is far from over.

The alternate version of VAWA falls short of our goals for VAWA. Action must be taken this week to show support for the INCLUSIVE, SENATE PASSED version.

WHY this is important for students, parents and alumna:

The alternate version of VAWA drops important provisions in the Senate bill including provisions to strengthen protections and security for students on college campuses. It also drops the Senate-passed initiative to erase rape kit backlogs and other provisions found in the SAFER Act.

This new version also fails by:

• Dropping the reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act;
• Omitting the Senate-passed LGBT provisions;
• Providing non-tribal batterers with additional tools to delay and frustrate swift justice in tribal court systems; gratuitously restricting existing tribal authority to issue civil orders of protection against all abusers – which is currently the only local recourse Native women have against non-Indian abusers;
• Weakening the ability of the Office on Violence Against Women to serve as the effective hub for carrying out VAWA’s mission.

Starting TODAY, we are encouraging you to flood your representative’s telephone lines and email inboxes with messages of support for S. 47, the inclusive, bipartisan Senate-passed version of VAWA and the demand that they vote against the House Republican leadership’s imitation VAWA.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

CONTACT Your Representative!

Feminist Majority has made it super simple to contact your representative, just enter your zip code and you’re halfway there! CONTACT >

Why is VAWA so important? LEARN more >

READ “Why the Campus SaVE Act MUST be in any Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013″ >

V-Day is creating a ONE BILLION RISING documentary project, and we are looking to include footage and high-resolution photos of events from One Billion Rising: North Bay/Petaluma, along with the rest of the world.

If you filmed or photographed your local event, we would love to see!

We will need the highest resolution files available shared with us via Dropbox. These can be RAW footage, edited pieces, single photographs or folders with multiple images.

Simply follow the instructions at our “Share Your One Billion Rising Media” page and add the Dropbox link of your material in the provided field.

If your event imagery is chosen for the final ONE BILLION RISING documentary, you will be notified and credited, so make sure to include your full name as you wish to be credited and your contact details!

ONE BILLION RISING was the largest global action in history to end violence against women and girls, and, with your help, the world will see inside the ONE BILLION RISING activities that took place all over the planet!

If you do not have access to Dropbox, please email film@vday.org

SERENDIPITY A  CHIROPRACTIC WELLNESS CENTER, co-owned by Doctors Michelle Arietta and Julie Restad, has been a ({V})Sponsor since 2010! In addition, Dr. Michelle Arietta was a cast member in the 2011 and 2012 productions of The Vagina Monologues and is a volunteer for our 2013 ONE BILLION RISING event.

At Serendipity A Chiropractic Wellness Center their mission is to improve the quality of your life. They know that health is so much more than just not feeling pain.  They  strive to have their patients reach their fullest innate potential, and have built their reputation on excellence through superior patient care, education, and satisfaction.

Find Serendipity Chiropractic online and on Facebook.

THANK YOU for your support,
SERENDIPITY CHIROPRACTIC!

In addition to our consistently strong financial stability, our responsive, knowledgeable and friendly staff will change the way you look at what your bank can really do for you. Our Summit Way Service Standards outline our unwavering commitment to the exceptional service our customers receive.

Summit State Bank proudly supports Guided to Safety and the V-Day mission in creating a healthier, safer community.

Community banks make a difference! Did you know:

• Summit State Bank exceeded their goal of lending $50,000,000 through their Small Business Lending Program in 2012. Summit State Bank’s 2013 goal is to infuse an additional $50,000,000 into our community to support local economic growth and job creation.

• Summit State Bank was the first community bank in California to launch a mobile deposit app and is currently the only community bank in Sonoma County to offer a Mobile Deposit app.

• Summit State Bank has been honored with awards like the ABA Community Bank of the Year, Gold Medal for Best Business Bank in Sonoma County, and multi-year winner for the Best Places to Work.

• Summit State Bank offers their Nonprofit Partner Donation Program and other exceptional support for nonprofit customers, including donating approximately 4% of net profits to our community’s nonprofits each year.

Visit SummitStateBank.com today to see how Summit is defining community banking at its best for you!

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“THANK YOU, Summit State Bank,
for your sponsorship of V-Day Petaluma!”