Let’s roll!

This Saturday, June 30th, 2012, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be in Ann Arbor to kick of a Day of Action canvass and phonebank for Obama for America (OFA), the campaign to re-elect President Obama.

Starting at 10:00 a.m., the event includes both phonebanking and canvassing and YOU are invited. Before things get started, Ms. Wasserman Schultz will speak to volunteers to let them know what is at stake this year and how important their role is in the 2012 campaign.

Details after the jump.

Abolishing corporate personhood and getting money out of elections is a principle, not an “issue”

The national organization/movement Move to Amend is working to amend the U.S. constitution to abolish corporate personhood that gives corporations constitutionally-protected civil liberties and to get money out of elections by ensuring that money is no longer viewed as constitutionally-protected speech. David Cobb is one of the chief spokespersons for the Move to Amend effort and currently on a national speaking tour that stops in Michigan this week.

Details about the Michigan leg of David Cobb’s trip (including information on his presentation THIS FRIDAY IN ANN ARBOR) and my interview with him after the jump.

Corporations are not people, money is not speech

A coalition of people in the Ann Arbor area are putting together a working group to join the national push to repeal the corrupting Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. The nearly unlimited amount of corporate money flooding into our electoral process is already having a corrosive impact on our democracy.

On Friday, June 29th, this group is bringing David Cobb from Move To Amend to Ann Arbor to speak about this issue and what can be done about it.

Details after the jump.

Vagina POWER!

l-r: Rep. Rashida H. Tlaib, Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, Rep. Lisa Brown, Eve Ensler, and Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes

Yesterday, Monday, June 18, 2012, upwards of 5,000 women and men and children descended on the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan to reclaim that place of power for women and their vaginas. After being told that uttering the word “vagina” was dirty and “lacked decorum”, Representative Lisa Brown and her colleague Barb Byrum were censored and banned from speaking.

Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues worked with Senator Rebekah Warren and others to stage a reading of the groundbreaking and magnificent play on the steps of the Capitol. But, what transpired there was more than just a theatrical event. It was an empowering event and a tranformative event for the state of Michigan. The thousands that gathered shared their anger and disgust and their refusal to continue being treated like children or second class citizens.

Follow us after the jump for many photos, video and more.

Vagina power!

There’s a storm brewing over the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan this afternoon. I am pretty sure it’s a Vagina Storm.

Photo after the jump.

“If saying ‘vagina’ is controversial, then the men that believe that need to look at what they feel about vaginas.”

Tomorrow, starting at 5:00 p.m. Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues brings this wildly successful play to the steps of the state Capitol Building. With help from state legislators, activists and progressive leaders around the state of Michigan, they will perform The Vagina Monologues in front of the building where Republicans have basically banned the word from being uttered.

Ensler is the founder of the group V-Day, dedicated to ending violence against women and girls all over the world.

The reading of The Vagina Monologues at the state Capitol was the brainchild of Carla Milarch, the associate artistic director at the Performance Network in Ann Arbor. You can find out more information about the “Vaginas Take Back the Capitol” event and RSVP on their Facebook page HERE. Also, be sure to share your ideas for signs to be carried at the event HERE and by tweeting using the hashtag #MIvaginasigns.

With the story of Republicans publicly censuring and banning their female colleagues from speaking on the floor of the state House because they exercised their free speech rights going national, Ensler is getting interview requests from all over. In fact, this has actually become an international story and she has been interviewed about it by the BBC in England.

I spoke with Ensler by phone this afternoon about the “Vaginas Take Back the Capitol” event and the reading of The Vagina Monologues on the Capitol steps.

Vagina Power

A couple of days ago, V-Day, the group founded by Eve Ensler to end violence against women, started a Facebook event page called Vaginas Take Back the Capitol. Ensler, the creator of the Vagina Monologues, will be presenting her show there along with a whole host of other women including state representatives and senators.

In just two days, over 2,140 people have RSVPed.

This event is going to be huge.

Click through for more information and then submit your ideas for signs in the comments.

Powerful women are powerful

A newly formed group called the Michigan Women’s Power Assembly is kicking off tomorrow with a daylong meeting in Detroit. Their focus is to “broaden and update the women’s movement and tackle public policy assaults on women’s rights.

The event will take place this Saturday, June 16th from 8 am to 5 pm on the campus of Wayne State University at the McGregor Conference Center and is open to the public. Registration is $20 and includes lunch and childcare. Scholarships are available. Register at www.miwomenspowerassembly.com.

More information after the jump.

Hard to stop a freight train The Michigan House Republicans voted to pass one of the three anti-choice, anti-women bills that make up the omnibus package described as the most regressive legislation of its kind in the country. A deeply divided Michigan House on Wednesday approved new regulations for abortion providers after passionate floor debate on the issue. House Republicans […]

See some amazing gardens, benefit Growing Hope – it’s a twofer! This Saturday, June 9, 2012 from 10 a.m to 4 p.m., the Ann Arbor Branch of the Woman’s National Farm & Garden Association is sponsoring the 22nd Annual Garden Walk. Tickets are only $15 and proceeds go to Growing Hope. Meet homeowner gardeners and be inspired by their labors […]

We have the smartest readers in the blogosphere

On Thursday night this past week, we had our Beer With Bloggers event at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti. We had a great turnout of around 75 people and the conversations were fascinating.

The event was originally started by one of Michigan’s finest bloggers, Mark Maynard from MarkMaynard.com. This is the two of us. I’m the one on the right with…