There are a few hours left to contribute to your favorite organizations, cause or program. With online donations making it even quicker and easier to do so, I urge you to take a moment to contribute.
NYCSubwayGirl donates a portion of performance contributions to organizations who help to make this world a better place. I call them The Champions I Support.
Supporting with a gift of any amount goes a long way.
I hope you join me.
Happy Valentine's Day, Happy V-Day Happy One Billion Rising Day to end violence around the globe.
Today something extraordinary is occurring. Today will be amplified by the power of the people uniting. You might be a part of it as I am, or you might hear about it in the news or from a friend, but what is happening is tangible, it's the connected energies of people globally expressing an intention. To end violence. Stop abuse.
I am honored that V-Day.org has featured my song today on the One Billion Rising website. You can listen and download here
15 years ago I was on the crew at the first V-Day event at Hammerstein Ballroom NYC. Back then we had no idea how Eve Ensler's poignant and culture shifting play The Vagina Monologues would turn into a global movement.
15 years ago. V-Day.org was born and has since raised more than $90 million to end violence towards women.
15 years ago I met the love of my life and so we too celebrate 15 years. Celebrating One Billion Rising is a wonderful way to honor our 15 years and Eve Ensler who introduced us. Happy Anniversary!
Tonight I'll be performing my song 'Rise Up' on the same stage that 15 years ago helped release the first V-Day out into the world.
Tony award winning playwright Eve Ensler says "We cannot keep working day after day when millions of women and girls are battered around the world. this is the moment when we escalate and amplified by our efforts, where we get bold and dangerous and disruptive and say no more. Where we celebrate the fact that we are women and we have bodies and we have a right to walk and be anywhere on this planet anytime and be safe and free."
poster + logo by Megan Sparkman
The ONE BILLION RISING campaign began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities and women and men across the world will come together to express their outrage, strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women.
"Dancing insists we take up space, and though it has no set direction, we go there together. Dance is dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive, and contagious and it breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere, at anytime, with anyone and everyone, and it's free. Dance joins us and pushes us to go further and that is why it's at the center of ONE BILLION RISING," said Eve Ensler, V-Day Founder and Artistic Director. “With beautiful music and infectious lyrics from Tena Clark, amazing vocals by a talented group of V-Girls, and Debbie Allen’s bold choreography, Break The Chain is sure to inspire women and men worldwide to rise.”
The campaign is growing every day in the lead up to February 14, 2013, with women and men around the world signing on. To date, thousands of activists, over 13,000 organizations around the globe, and 176 countries have committed to participate and hold events. From the International Rescue Committee, to NOW to the AFL-CIO, to OXFAM Australia, to Sangat South Asia and Lila Pilipina, to Amnesty International USA, thousands of organizations are spreading the word amongst their millions of members in an effort to make the campaign the largest volunteer mass action ever.
V-Day’s short campaign film ONE BILLION RISING, shot and edited by South African filmmaker Tony Stroebel, has been viewed and shared over 170,000 times since launching this fall. Celebrities including Jessica Alba, Connie Britton, Anne Hathaway, Donna Karan, Jennifer Lawrence, Dylan McDermott, Riley Keough, Thandie Newton, Yoko Ono, Laura Pausini, Robert Redford, Charlize Theron, Lily Tomlin, Kerry Washington, Ruby Wax, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Monique Wilson, and Zoe Kravitz, are all actively working to raise awareness about the campaign and recording PSAs to inspire others to sign on.
Ensler kicks-off a multi-city tour with stops in Mexico City, Lima, and Guatemala City to meet with officials and activists. Governments and politicians around the world are already supporting ONE BILLION RISING. From the First Lady of Nepal to the Mayor of Lima, from the Los Angeles City Council to British MP Stella Creasy, from officials in Santa Fe to France, around the world leaders are joining the campaign.
Regional coordinators are working around the clock, building grassroots coalitions. From Iran to Fiji, from Hong Kong to Guatemala, the reach of the campaign is already upwards of hundreds of millions of individuals. Renowned writers and thinkers including Alice Walker, Adam Hochschild, Naomi Klein, Dr. Denis Mukwege, and Christiane Northrup are supporting the effort. Every day the campaign grows, and more women and men are committing to rise together on February 14, 2013.
Individuals and organizations can get involved with ONE BILLION RISING by:
V-DAY’S ONE BILLION RISING CAMPAIGN SONG AND MUSIC VIDEO:
“BREAK THE CHAIN”
Written by Renowned Producer Tena Clark, Featuring Dancer and Choreographer Debbie Allen, and Directed by Tony Stroebel, New Video to Spread Awareness of Global Campaign
ONE BILLION RISING Campaign Escalates with 176 Countries and Over 13,000 Organizations Signed on to Support Global Day of Action to End Violence Against Women and Girls
NEW YORK – V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, unveiled an exclusive new song and music video to support its ONE BILLION RISING campaign. “Break the Chain,” written and produced by Tena Clark with music by Tena Clark and Tim Heintz, debuted world-wide (November 19, 2012).
Directed and shot by South African filmmaker Tony Stroebel in New York City, “Break the Chain” spotlights a cast of V-Girl dancers and activists from around the City, led by acclaimed dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen (“So You Think You Can Dance,” “Fame”). The song features moving vocals by Liz Byrne, Shelea Frazier, Ashley Juedy, Dana Kluczyk, Jenny Mollett, Jenna Brooke Scannelli, Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, Naomi Walley, and Caitlin Witty.
“Break the Chain,” aims to raise awareness around the world about V-Day’s fastest escalating global campaign to date, ONE BILLION RISING. V-Day will create a “how to” video, featuring choreographer Debbie Allen, and accompanying curriculum outlining the steps and lyrics, so that activists around the world can hold their own flash mobs using “Break the Chain” on February 14, 2013.
About V-Day
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized by volunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million; educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and funded over 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements includingWorth Magazine's 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine's Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. www.vday.org
Here's my clip of the song I wrote honoring Eve Ensler and the One Billion Rising campaign and why I'm Rising on February 14th
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From Eve Ensler: Thank You ONE BILLION RISING For Rocking The World To all of our activists, regardless of how you rose THANK YOU for making 14 February 2013 the largest global action in history to end violence against women and girls! “Together on 14 February, we expressed our outrage and joy and our firm global call for a world where women are free and safe and cherished and equal. One Billion Rising brought together coalitions of groups and individuals that have never worked together before and galvanized new supporters and associations and masses of men who were not previously engaged, but now see violence as their issue. It did all of this while putting violence against women to the center of the global discussion. One Billion Rising has broken taboos, lifted the veil of silence, and inspired a radical outpouring of support to reveal the worldwide system of patriarchy, which sustains the violence. One Billion Rising has shown that violence against women is not a national, tribal, ethnic, or religious issue, but a global phenomenon, and that through this worldwide rising and support, survivors can be given the confidence of knowing that violence is not their fault.” – Eve Ensler Today we celebrate these victories, and we hope you do to. Now ask yourself WHAT CAN I DO IMMEDIATELY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS - and then go out and DO IT! One Billion Rising was always conceived to be a catalyst and a wind rather than a new organization. So use it to fuel your next activities, you can: PLAN local actions for International Women's Day (8 March), STAGE a V-Day benefit in your community, WORK for political action in your community or country like the VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) effort in the U.S. |
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In response to more than a billion women who experience violence on the planet, playwright Eve Ensler and her amazing V-Day organization have created One Billion Rising. On February 14th, I'm joining V-Day in a global strike to demand an end to the violence. I honor Eve Ensler, she inspires me everyday. She travels the globe in pursuit of ending violence towards women and girls. V-Day contributions create safe houses, schools, education and much more. Inspired by Eve and One Billion Rising I wrote a song called Rise Up. It is featured on the One Billion Rising website On the 14th, I'll be performing in NYC's Grand Central Station mezzanine 12-3pm (above 4/5/6 platforms + near shuttle corridor). At 6:00 pm I'll join a group in Union Square march towards ABC Home and perform my song on the steps of the shore. Later at Hammerstein Ballroom an amazing party 8pm-12am will take place (more info here). Also on Friday the 15th @8pm for my friends in Columbia County NY, I'll be performing my song at Stageworks 41 Cross Street, Hudson, NY during a fund raiser for The REACH Center and One Billion Rising. The event features the play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. I will be also perform musical interludes throughout the play. For tickets please call the Stageworks box office at: 518-822-9667 or use the link here to directly purchase tickets |
words and music by Cathy Grier
One Billion Rising
I'm here to tell a story
something precious and fine
about a woman who made a difference in our lives
She's got a new plan
we're gonna make a stand
one billion rising up to end violence across the land
Rise. Rise Up
Rise, One Billion Rising
mothers fathers, sisters brothers
sons and daughters rising up, we're gonna rise up high
lifting our heads, waving our hands
making a choice to raise our voices across the land
Rise. Stand up
Rise, One Billion Rising
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The ONE BILLION RISING campaign began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities and women and men across the world will come together to express their outrage, strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women.
"Dancing insists we take up space, and though it has no set direction, we go there together. Dance is dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive, and contagious and it breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere, at anytime, with anyone and everyone, and it's free. Dance joins us and pushes us to go further and that is why it's at the center of ONE BILLION RISING," said Eve Ensler, V-Day Founder and Artistic Director. “With beautiful music and infectious lyrics from Tena Clark, amazing vocals by a talented group of V-Girls, and Debbie Allen’s bold choreography, Break The Chain is sure to inspire women and men worldwide to rise.”
The campaign is growing every day in the lead up to February 14, 2013, with women and men around the world signing on. To date, thousands of activists, over 13,000 organizations around the globe, and 176 countries have committed to participate and hold events. From the International Rescue Committee, to NOW to the AFL-CIO, to OXFAM Australia, to Sangat South Asia and Lila Pilipina, to Amnesty International USA, thousands of organizations are spreading the word amongst their millions of members in an effort to make the campaign the largest volunteer mass action ever.
Happy Valentines Day.
In 1998 I helped out as a stage hand for Eve Ensler's V-Day event, now a global movement to end violence towards women. Today I honor Eve's tireless work, her passion, and commitment and especially thank her for introducing me to the love of my life.
soul food
deep trust
same time
same page
lovers hand
holding
without touch
knowing
trust