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Activism
Valentine’s Day is for lovers, I get that. Still, if you adore fashion and you dig doing good perhaps you can merge all that l’amour into one outing. You could do that tonight, Feb. 14, as fashion designer/Project Runway All Stars winner and AIDS advocate Mondo Guerra hits up 17th Street’s Hotel Palomar to benefit ActionAIDS’ Dining Out for Life program with a Fashion in Action event featuring t-shirts of his design and nibbles from Square 1682.
Guerra — who goes mostly by his first name, “Mondo” — has spent time in Philly before. He did the AIDS Walk here two years ago, loves the city’s sense of history and winding streets (“they’re so narrow,” he says) and appreciates the buzz he gets here after living in New York City for so long. Most crucially, he’s impressed by this city’s dedication to AIDS/HIV education and activism. “We are all activists. Philly’s big on that. Anyone can get involved from any community that you are a part of. I get asked that all the time. It’s easier than you think.”
Hey, Philly feminists! If you’re looking to spend some time with like-minded ladies to learn about the process of making your own zine, clear your schedules for August 26 from noon to 5 p.m., when Philly Feminist Zine Fest debuts at the William Way Community Center (1315 Spruce St.) for an afternoon of workshops focused on the creation and content of zine production.
Classes will cover a broad range of topics, including how to use your writing as an outlet for anger, stress and grief, how to channel your creativity to be an ally to sex workers and how to utilize your zines in different, creative ways.
The event will double as a fundraiser for Project Safe, an outreach and support organization for Philly sex workers, and ActionAIDS will be there to provide free, rapid and confidential HIV-testing all afternoon.
(madeline@citypaper.net) (@mpaigebates)
Road-tripping across America requires great tenacity and reliable transportation. Walking across America requires steel will and iron legs. Armand Young appears to have both. His journey on foot from San Diego to New York City and back began in April 2007, when he decided to honor those who died during the September 11th attacks by making a pilgrimage to Ground Zero. Along the way, young carried a giant bamboo pole and a purpose: promote human kindness throughout the country. Young's bamboo pole is filled with “thousands upon thousands” of signatures from people who pledge “to commit one act of human kindness within 24 hours.”
The second half of his Human Kindness Walk brought Young through Philadelphia last week. He plans to head west along Route 30, collecting signatures along the way.
View galleryGreen space isn't common in Center City and landmarks around Rittenhouse Square are slow to change. So don't be surprised when walking down Walnut Street that the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has taken over that odd vacant lot right across the street from Rittenhouse Square and turned it into a garden focused on growing food for the City Harvest program. City Paper went to the opening and took a few pictures.
Yesterday University City unveiled The Dirt Factory, its new trash-to-treasure composting facility that will convert organic neighborhood waste into compost with the help of fallen leaves, worms and a high-capacity Earth Tub system. The facility will be open for drop-off every Wednesday from 5 to 6 p.m., and UCD and the Pedal Co-op will also provide collection services for bagged leaves, wood chips and other organic material. The Factory held a party for its grand opening, filling the air with bluegrass music and the scents of locally sponsored refreshments, and we took some photos.
Rashad Corey Productions brought glitz and glamour to Old City Friday with Stomp the Runway. This benefit for Women Against Abuse showcased fashions from a variety of Philly designers and served as a fitting tribute to late runway model Vanessa “Ms. Banks” Watson, who was murdered by her boyfriend in February. Here’s a peek at the head-turning style and attire that was on display.
(michael.blancato@citypaper.net) (@mikeblancato)
Photos by Kate Hennessey
Saturday, the Norris Square Neighborhood Project (NSNP) held its annual Festival de Bambulaé, a Puerto Rican celebration and fundraiser in the community's vibrant garden space. NSNP supports local Latino youth through areas such as the arts and community involvment. The neighborhood's inspirational effort permeated all aspects of the event, from the paper flowers to the pork roast to the homegrown mint in the mojitos.
Rashad Corey (pictured) presents Stomp the Runway, a premiere fashion gala designed to raise money and awareness for domestic abuse victims in Philadelphia. Inspired by the death of local model Vanessa “Ms. Banks” Watson, the proceeds of this event will go to Watson’s family and Women Against Abuse, the only non-profit organization in the area that provides shelter services to victims of domestic violence.
Famed Philly broadcasters MoShay Laren and Kendra G will host the evening’s festivities, which will include food, drinks, live music by DJ Hollywood and a silent auction. The runway show will showcase styles by designers Autumn Kietponglert, Shooney Frederic, Ava Bishop and more.
Tickets will not be sold at the door, so make sure to act fast. The super speedy among you will reap additional rewards, as the first 100 guests to purchase tickets will receive premium gift bags courtesy of Spa East.
Fri., June 15, 7 p.m.-11p.m., $40, TRUST, 249 Arch St., 215-592-8400, stomptherunway.com.
Feeling in need of liberation? Bored of the stale, traditional ways of activism? On Tue., May 24, Giovanni’s Room (345 S. 12 St.) is hosting a spoken arts event beginning at 5:30 p.m. The poetry slam is being put on by Gender Edge, a movement which promotes activism through art. Spoken word artists include Ms. Wise, J Mase III, indee, Jane Cassady, and Leah B. You’ll be hearing poetry in the tradition of Gender Edge’s “punk inspired” philosophy of empowerment and creativity, put forth by gender queer/ transgender youth. Right on.
Monni Must is a photographer who has portraited hundreds of Holocaust survivors. Together, these faces make up her Living Witnesses project — a nonprofit book series that preserves the stories and faces of those who triumphed over trauma. While Must’s first book, Living Witnesses 1, looked at survivors living in the Detroit area, her follow-up book has taken a broader view, compiling the photographs and stories of survivors across the world. Must is coming to Philadelphia on April 10 for a collaborative project with local high school students; she'll take the photos, and students will write up the stories of survivors. (If you know someone who would like to participate, call Must at 248-867-4884.)
City Paper: What made you start this project?
Monni Must: In 2007, my daughter died tragically and suddenly, everything stopped. I’m a portrait photographer. I found a strong connection with Holocaust survivors, because they too lost their families suddenly, without any chance to say goodbye. They reassure me that year later I will still be able to remember my daughter. So, it has slowly become a life’s mission for me and has helped me heal.
CP: Were you involved with Holocaust survivors before you started?
MM: Actually, I didn’t know anything about Holocaust survivors. I had friends whose parents who had accents and numbers on their arms, but I really didn’t have a sense of the scope.
CP: What are your interviews with survivors like?
MM: Well, I’ll give you an example from when I was in Germany. In Munich, we showed up at a survivor’s house and it was a couple. The wife spoke English and I thought it was just the man who was the survivor — it turned out both of them were. Their entire families were annihilated in the world. They didn’t have a single relative. Not until the interview was mostly over did I realize the wife was a survivor, too. When I asked her, she didn’t want to talk about it. Eventually, though, she decided to show portraits she still had and the pictures were a way for to open up and share with me.
CP: How is taking picture of survivors a different experience?
MM: Because I’m a portrait photographer, I watch every movement you take I want to watch your eyes, your hands, your facial expression. From that, I get a sense of who they are and how I can capture that in a photo. The difference is that in my studio, I’m controlling the environment. But when I’m in their house, it’s their house and it’s about them, so I always try to incorporate that into the shot. I want to capture their personality, who they are. I don’t want to represent just their their pain, because it’s about them being survivors.
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