Thanks to all that have helped make Get Lucid! such a presence in Philadelphia. A year ago we had our first fundraiser-dance-party for the DreamActivists PA. We titled the event Get Lucid! Now with five successful fundraisers, many parties, dinners, and hangouts later we are constantly astounded with the people we have been surrounded by. The artists, organizers, activists, and beautiful people looking for a warm party have shown us that we’re getting somewhere. Every time I see new friendships made and phone numbers or emails exchanged I’m proud to have helped create the space where it happened. The Get Lucid! crew has some exciting things in the mix…
Have a listen to the Get Lucid! Compilation Vol. 1
May 25th 2013
Bring It To The Floor
A Vogue/Runway competition and Ball
All Ages All Houses
with the Get Lucid! Lounge (21+ room)
Proceeds go to the Attic Youth Center
$15 at the door
Underground Arts 1200 Callowhill Street
Stay tuned as Get Lucid! artists will be doing their work all over the city throughout the summer
Get Lucid! Activist Dance Parties will be back in September
So who and what is Women Against Abuse anyway? Why should the Get Lucid! community be rallying in support? What is there to celebrate? The answer is simple: for the last 36 years, WAA has taken the issue of domestic violence in Philadelphia and created a monumental infrastructure to address it.
As part of this Get Lucid! fund and awareness-raising campaign, we want to take this opportunity to promote an ethos of community learning and safety within the GL! community. We interviewed staff at WAA to hear about domestic violence from their expert perspective. Read on to educate yourself and see how this is an issue that affects us all!
Get Lucid!: Your agency works with people who have experienced domestic violence. How would you define domestic violence, who experiences it, and what are some of its major consequences?
WAA: Domestic violence is a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic coercion, that adults or adolescents use to gain power and control over their intimate partners. Anyone can experience domestic violence, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Violent behavior by an abuser can become increasingly dangerous over a brief or extended period of time, making it difficult to generalize the consequences of an abusive relationship; however, they tend to include physical injuries, emotional trauma, and reduced ability to leave the relationship due to escalating threats and lack of control over personal decisions and financial assets. Abusive partners often closely guard their partners, making it difficult and often dangerous for the victim to plan to leave. In Philadelphia —where police respond to more than 108,000 domestic violence incidents each year, the court system is clogged with requests for protection from abuse orders, and 24 women were killed at the hands of their intimate partner in 2012 – the rippling impact of abuse reaches far and wide, with ramifications evident in emergency rooms, courts, prisons, therapy sessions, and shelters
GL!: A question about language: some people in the field use the term “survivors” of domestic violence and some use the term “victim” of domestic violence. What bearing does each of these terms have on the way people perceive domestic violence, and what made Women Against Abuse fall on the term “victim”?
WAA: Women Against Abuse uses both terms depending on the situation being described. “Victim” emphasizes the reality of being hurt, controlled and abused by an intimate partner. “Survivor” is an empowerment term that emphasizes the process of healing and recovery. At times, an individual who is being hurt by their intimate partner does not identify as either a survivor or a victim, so it is important for our outreach materials to be as approachable and welcoming as possible.
GL!: What is the known extent of domestic violence in Philadelphia and what services exist to accommodate it? Are these services sufficient?
WAA: Domestic violence has a huge impact on tens of thousands of women, men and children in Philadelphia, with ripple effects across the city’s systems, including law enforcement, health centers, housing systems and the courts. Last year, the Philadelphia Police Department responded to more than 108,000 domestic violence incidents – an average of nearly 300 per day. Domestic violence also results in significant health care costs and lost work productivity, since victims often seek treatment for their injuries at emergency rooms and are unable to work as a result of abuse. A recent report released by the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center on Family Violence calculated that 2,000 of the Philadelphia hospital emergency department visits in fiscal year 2011 were likely the result of women being assaulted by a current or former intimate partner.
Domestic violence is also one of the leading causes of homelessness. Individuals often turn to emergency shelter systems to seek safety from abuse. Women Against Abuse operates the only emergency safe haven for victims of domestic violence in Philadelphia. Despite being a relatively large shelter with capacity for 100 women and children, Women Against Abuse was forced to turn away more than 8,400 requests for safety in its shelter last year. There is an enormous need for safe, affordable housing for survivors of domestic violence in Philadelphia. Women Against Abuse continues to advocate for increased safe housing resources for survivors and has recently expanded short-term and long-term housing options for survivors.
Domestic violence also impacts the court system in Philadelphia, where there are courtrooms dedicated to domestic violence due to the sheer volume of cases. Women Against Abuse’s Legal Center has trained court advocates and attorneys who work directly in these courts to provide legal assistance, safety planning, options counseling and referrals for victims.
Women Against Abuse and numerous partner agencies continue to work together to help end domestic violence in our community by providing resources for survivors, addressing stigma and stereotypes about domestic violence, and engaging the community through public awareness campaigns.
GL!: During the Get Lucid! campaign to raise awareness and funds for Women Against Abuse, what message would you like to see us promulgate about your organization and domestic violence in general?
WAA: We’d like to encourage everyone to learn about domestic violence, challenge misconceptions they may hold about it, and support the struggle to end domestic violence in our city. Domestic violence is a social issue that requires a community-wide response. Every voice counts. Visit www.womenagainstabuse.org to learn about domestic violence and ways to get involved.
GL!: How would you like to see Women Against Abuse grow in the future?
WAA: Women Against Abuse continues to grow in response to the needs of survivors, and to strategically implement programs that address gaps in services and improve system responses to domestic violence. This includes increasing program capacity, reaching out to more community partners, and building program efficiencies through creative thinking. We are currently in the process of reaching out to key city departments and community organization to initiate a coordinated community response to domestic violence. The goal is to be able to ensure that various city systems are sensitive to the needs and realities of domestic violence and are able to provide survivors with trauma-informed support, resources and referrals for safety from abuse.
*dust settles*
It’s the sunday after Mad House’s release party. What an experiment last night was! Some things went amazingly well–others will need tweaking. This is in constant evolution…we’re working hard to hone in on exactly that makes get lucid Get Lucid! let’s hear from you…what can we do?
We’re making a move towards simplifying our sets and highlighting the key parts that make our events unique, memorable and something you want to be involved with.
Looking forward we intend to develop our relationship with Underground Arts. Our visions are similar and after the Attic fundraiser in February we feel at home there. We want to make 4/19 for Women Against Abuse the largest, funnest Get Lucid! so far–help make that happen!
We have an exciting collaboration on 5/25 that you’ll soon be hearing a lot more about. Before taking the summer off to travel around the country a bit we’ll be throwin down for the first Friday of June…
much love GL!family
[SO Far]
April 27th 2012 DreamActivists PA at the Arts Garage
February 1st 2013 Attic Youth Center at Underground Arts
March 2nd 2013 Prometheus Radio Project at PhilaMOCA
[UPCOMING]
April 6th 2013 Mad House Release Party in a “secret” BUNKER at 12th and Spring Garden
April 19th 2013 at Underground Arts Fundraiser for TBA
May 11th 2013 Get Lucid! Block Party 500 Block of N 12th St
Brought to you by The Institute and Underground Arts
Theater, extended spoken word set, live art, art exhibition, hip-hop and Galvanize with a special performance choreographed by Nubi Ra and her dance crew ANDAND a DJ afterparty up the block.
We’re not messin’ around this time. PhilaMOCA is a historic venue–a testament to Philly’s rich history of art. We’re taking this responsibility VERY seriously. That’s why on March 2nd we are bringing our A game and weaving an evening leaving you energized and synergized.
Considering the venue: what better beneficiary than Prometheus Radio Project! This Philly based non-profit has championed the cause of democratizing media. This organization was instrumental in getting President Obama’s signature on the Local Community Radio Act, which opens the FM radio waves to grassroots social justice organizations across the nation. For the past several months our friend Jeff Roussett has been travelling the nation, holding panel discussions, doing outreach and rallying communities working for local justice. October 15th is the federal deadline to register for one of these freed-up frequencies and Jeff and Prometheus are facilitating the registration of over 500 community groups. Over the next 3 to 5 years you will be hearing a lot more about Prometheus and you’ll be hearing a lot more from your fellow citizens on the air waves.
“MISSION The Prometheus Radio Project builds participatory radio as a tool for social justice organizing and a voice for community expression. To that end, we demystify media policy and technology, advocate for a more just media system, and help grassroots organizations build communications infrastructure to strengthen their communities and movements.”
“VISION We envision a world in which the media is not a means to limit democratic participation, but a way for communities and movements to express themselves and struggle for justice. We imagine a nationwide community radio infrastructure made up of hundreds of independent, locally-orientated stations, part of a global movement to put media in the hands of the people.”
“VALUES We value radio because it is easy to produce, free to consume, and accessible to more people across the world than any other mass media. Radio does not require expensive equipment, literacy, or a broadband connection. We believe in participatory radio because it is a proven tool for movement-building and cultural expression.”
Revolutionary Dreamers!
Here they come
Ready to stand
There they go, ready to flow
Fresh words, sleep walking minds
Improvising neurons
Impromptu ignition
Blazing trails through frontier lands
Baring thoughts, surprised, taken aback
“Damn, I should write this shit down!”
Revolutionary Dreamers, get it out there
Don’t stare at your eyelids
Don’t shuffle your feet
Instead, remove hands from pockets
Hold your heads up and
Speak your words
Unique in the LED lights of now
The world is alien!
Order and Policy: ridiculous!
So, say something about!
So, change it!
Slamming and standing
Marching in broken lines
Stacking stanzas on concentrated frustation
Damnation at every intersection
Bisecting our generation
It’s only a trick
The “haves” and “have nots”
will soon realize they all have not
been included in the Will left by
Forefathers–short sighted
contradictions apparent
raped from the top
Hijacked for all their worth
We are just afterbirth in their eyes
Our anxiety, over-medicated
Abdicating destruction
Our society, spews ignorance
Yet our pens still flow
Our Minds still make
Fingers, snap-tap keys
Information technology
Expanding our view
Encouraging the new
Not ever meant to anesthetize
Created to make you realize: You!
You have something to say
Shake your peers awake
Make them feel the rumble
They need to hear it, they need to feel it
Too often labeled incompetent
Too often boxed into bubbles
They say you are stained with an apathy
That just won’t wash out
That you’re not interested in education
“We just can’t get them to care!”
That’s because the systems twisted!
You can not be standardized
Your potential cannot be quantified
Instead, take knowledge into your own hands
See the world for what it is: Yours!
Link arms, touch hearts
Own your neighborhoods, honor your families
Slaves, illegals, and servants dreamt for miles
with hopes for their lineage
Here you are
Gonna keep chillin’ on the corner?
Gonna live at momma’s forever?
Gonna take the medicine of inaction?
Follow in the unquestioned footsteps of no(-)bodies?
Hell NO!
You’re gonna rock the boat!
Capsize all hope for the status quo!
Dunk the system, refreshing our existence!
Engage in a new plan
Created by those subject to it
No longer afraid to change
No longer limited by old’Uncle Sam’s chains
THIS IS BIGGER THAN AMERICA
We are an
INTERNATIONAL generation
Ready to start?
Revolutionary Dreamers:
Hold your fears to the light
Laugh in the faces reflected in flames
Search deep inside, for that caged hope
Tag walls with the dark hues of your aggravation
Speak aloud, all those things that haunt you
Lay those neurons out, side-by-side
Weave one infinite perspective
Because it’s not “Us vs. Them”
It’s us versus the future
Because soon it’ll just be us and it
Face to Face
And we will not lose
We CANNOT lose
with us on our side!
See you next time, GL! family
-M
