In a live taping for the #HealMeToo Festival Podcast on March 29, 2019, Festival Founder and Artistic Director Hope Singsen discussed activism as a mode of healing in our lives and in our culture with a phenomenal guest. (A few days later, Singsen also had the honor of presenting Emma with the first #HealMeToo Trailblazer Award at the Festival.)
In 2014-15, Emma Sulkowicz’sMattress Performance (Carry That Weight)and direct action-activism at Columbia University spurred global headlines and rallied students nationwide to demand better sexual violence policies.
About Emma Sulkowicz: Emma is a performance artist best known for their work Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight), 2014-15, where they carried a dorm room mattress on Columbia University’s campus to protest the university’s mishandling of their sexual assault complaint against a fellow student. Mattress Performance sparked a national debate about sexual assault on campus while drawing both praise and critique from the art world and beyond. Sulkowicz lives and works in New York City.
Your Turn: Ideas & Links
Want to explore activism in your area? Here are a few ideas and links to explore.
As the grassroots arm of the women’s movement, the National Organization for Women is dedicated to its multi-issue and multi-strategy approach to women’s rights, and is the largest organization of feminist grassroots activists in the United States. NOW has hundreds of chapters and hundreds of thousands of members and activists in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since our founding in 1966, NOW’s purpose is to take action through intersectional grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.
UltraViolet Action creates a pathway for millions of women and our allies to directly influence the laws and policies that govern our lives.
UltraViolet Action is a 501(c)(4) organization that creates consequences for sexism by holding politicians and thought leaders accountable to all women. We leverage the 501(c)(3) educational work we do to run grassroots lobbying 501(c)(4) campaigns to pass or defend legislation that will benefit all of our lives. We demonstrate the demand and create political pathways for policies that center women, especially women of color, Indigenous women, immigrants, and LGBTQ people.
By working directly with lawmakers and mobilizing constituents, we protect and expand health, safety, and security for millions of women.
Supermajority is a new home for women's activism, training and mobilizing a multiracial, intergenerational community that will fight for gender equity together.
Supermajority will provide women with the tools, resources, and knowledge they need to channel the energy and activism of this moment and change the direction of this country. For good.
