International Day to End Violence Against Women

United Nations’ Day for Ending Violence Towards Women Celebrated in San Francisco Nov. 26

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – On Saturday, Nov. 26, Bay Area residents will observe the United Nation's annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with Latin music, healing ceremonies, dance, art, poetry and information. Events take place in the heart of the Mission District at Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St. (www.dancemission.com), beginning at 6 pm. A $10 entrance fee is requested to cover costs, but no one will be turned away.

In addition, organizers have scheduled a press conference at noon that day (Nov. 26) at The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission Street. Speakers will include Mona Lisa Wallace; board member of the National Organization for Women; Mabel Aguilar, social services coordinator for La Raza Community Resource Center; and other community leaders addressing the issues behind the internationally observed day.

This year, organizers will pay special tribute to Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, activist mother of one of the multitude of young women murdered with impunity in Juarez, Mexico, who herself was shot to death last December by a man suspected of murdering her teenager, as Ortiz peacefully protested her daughter's murder. A sidewalk altar in honor of Ortiz will greet all who enter the theater.

Under the title “Guardianas de la Vida” (Guardians of Life), the evening event opens at 6 pm with a reception and an interactive sewing piece by Circulo Mujeres de Horas Felices called “Mending the Heart/Remendando el Corazon” during which audience members are invited to sew while discussing themes such as "Why are our children violent?".

The show itself opens at 7:30 pm with an invocation by Yoruba chief, author and professor Luisah Teish, followed by the poetry of Judy Grahn, Genny Lim and Nina Serrano; Latin music by Bay Area singer-songwriters Maria Loreto, MamaKoatl and Marta Sevilla; theater by Circulo Cultural; folkloric dance by Maria Luna and modern dance by Maica Folch and Paloma Parra. The art of painter Hersalia Cantoral will be on display.

Food and drink will be available.

“In San Francisco we have been obtaining annual official proclamations of this day for the past six years,” said MamaKoatl (pronounced mama-coe-ah-tull), who – with co-sponsorship from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto – spearheaded the day's observance.

“It is important to keep the issue of violence against women alive in the international arena,” she added. “We have to treat it as human rights violation. At no time of the year is this intervention more appropriate than the last week of November, when the American identity is reinforced by the unconscious glorification of genocide inherent in the Thanksgiving holiday.” The holidays are also a time when domestic violence rises.

For more information about the issues behind this event, please visit http://guardianasdelavida.wordpress.com/.