Crazytown

A DAY WITHOUT A WOMAN

By Alisha Giampola (writer/performer)

Today is International Women's Day, and a lot of women around the country are participating in a "strike" organized by those who also organized the recent Women's Marches, in support of income equality and also resistance of the current administration's agendas that so disproportionately affect women. Some schools are even closing because of how many educators requested the day off, which is awesome. The school I work for sent an email to us encouraging those who were still teaching today to wear red in solidarity. I encourage my fellow artists to participate in any way you can. For many of us writers, freelancers, performers, actually striking today will be impossible. But we can wear red, call our representatives in congress letting them know how the current administration negatively affects women and women's issues, and demonstrate our economic power by choosing not to spend money today. If half of the population becomes marginalized, especially the half that represent the lion's share of jobs in caregiving and education, everyone loses- the next generation most of all. You can support women's voices in the media and the arts- may I recommend a great article written by my dear old friend Rhana Natour, a journalist for PBS, who yesterday wrote this super interesting article about the divisions in our country?

Even though I can't fully strike today, I can wear my red and my awesome new "Nevertheless She Resisted" shirt, and stand with all you awesome ladies (and lovely feminist guy allies, of course), and refrain from a regular full-length blog post. See you all next Wednesday, same time same place, and Happy International Women's Day to all! 

Solidarity, sisters!

ALISHA GIAMPOLA is an NYC based actor/teacher/writer and strong female character.
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TIPS TO POWER THROUGH THAT RUSSIAN ROSETTA STONE, FINALLY

Because now is as good a time as any to learn the new national language.
By Jennifer Anderson (actor/singer/девушка)

Last week on MSNBC, California representative Maxine Waters sat down with Chris Hayes and the rest of the nation for some good, old fashioned Tea Time.

Since the Kremlin Klan has already influenced elections, probably won the Patriots the Super Bowl again and gave the Best Picture Oscar to La La Land, we're not that far away from having to learn the Cyrillic alphabet like Mr. Garrison had to learn the Canadian one.

 

So why not beat the rush and start learning some Russian now? As someone who's attempted to learn the Slavic language once when she was bored on a cruise ship 7 years ago, I feel like I can lend some helpful tips and tricks for mastering this tough and cryptic language.

1. Just skip the voice stuff. I literally got stuck saying the Russian version of "hello" for 35 minutes before I just gave up an moved on. We won't need to say "hello" in new Russia anyway.

2. Imagine the weird looking letters as the bones of our founding fathers turning over in their graves to help you remember them. For example, the Cyrillic B...

...kind of looks like Benjamin Franklin hanging his head and crying into his protruding belly.

3. Let the pictures remind you of happier times, like this one: 

Ah, remember those pre-DeVos days when you actually learned how to read in school and girls were looked at as more than hosts?

JENNIFER ANDERSON актер и певец, живущий в Бруклине. Она любит мать Россию, да она делает. www.jenniferjanderson.com
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TOP TEN FILMS OF 2016: DAVILA'S LIST

I cried during at least seven movies in 2016...

by David Davila (some dude that loves movies)

There were seven different times when I saw a movie in 2016 and thought "Damn that's gonna win best picture!" Seven different times! There were also seven different times that I cried in the movie theatre like a little baby. Those two sets of seven have some overlap, and with that in mind it was pretty hard for me to put these wonderful movies in any kind of "best of" order this year. Sooooo for the first time EVER... I'm not putting them in order... 

WATCH THESE MOVIES... CAUSE THEY'RE THE BEST OF 2016:

La La Land: Here's to the dreamers who dream. The story of "the one that got away" is one that hits very close to home to me, as does the inevitable question of "when is it time to give up on your dreams?" Those themes are strong in La La Land, as is the set design, cinematography, story-telling, and marvelous performances. In the final scene when fantasy and reality finally come face to face... I sobbed uncontrollably. I cried even more the second time. Bravo! La La Land is a masterpiece that will be celebrated for the next hundred years. 

Moonlight: I've never seen a movie like Moonlight in my life. Something so specific, yet so true to real life that everyone can identify with it. A three part story that examines a man in three very pivotal moments that changed the course of his life, Moonlight succeeds where many stories fail, in the honesty of life's unexpected moments.

20th Century Women: A fifty-five year old woman must contemplate what it means to be a man in order to save her son from himself. The take away being that there are a lot of feeling that a man will feel during this life, and strength is what it takes to endure those feelings. I was bawling as the credits rolled. This is the only movie I was rooting for for Best Picture that did not get a nomination unfortunately. It deserved one, and both Annette Bening and Greta Gerwig were snubbed as well! 

Manchester by the Sea: A reclusive, and easily agitated man must return to his hometown to take care of his nephew when his brother dies. It's terribly sad... and that's just the first ten minutes. Would you believe me if I said that it gets worse and worse and worse from there? This is the saddest movie I've seen in probably twenty years and I cried for a good third of the movie and spent a week in a deep depression afterwards. The celebrated playwright, Kenneth Lonergan uses film to go to places that the theatre does not allow him to go. It's astonishing, breath-taking, and tragic.

Arrival: If you knew how your life would end would you live it anyway? The "If/Then" question at the center of this sci-fi art-house hybrid is one that we all ponder in our lives. Amy Adams is remarkable, as is everything about this film, from beginning to end and back again. Yes... I cried like a baby... again.

Hell or High Water: Two brothers decide to rob some small town banks in the ultimate act of revenge imaginable. This is as much a movie about West Texas small town life after big corporations sucked the money out of main street, as it is about what it takes to join the predator class and get rich in America. 

Hidden Figures: A wonderful, feel-good, female-empowering true story about the women who helped get a man into outer space. I laughed, I cried, and I cheered! This is a movie we'll be watching over and over every time it plays on cable for the rest of our lives.

Sing Street: If you wanna do something in life just do it. That's the idea behind this Irish film in the great tradition of Once and The Commitments, this movie takes a bunch of low-down underdogs and turns them into rock gods! 

Birth of a Nation: A retelling of the historic slave uprising of Nate Turner and company. The movie succeeds at drawing direct comparisons to current trends in police brutality that make one realize that the time of slavery is not as far away as one would like to imagine. Of course I cried in this one too. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The only blockbuster on my list, Fantastic Beasts took me on a journey that I did not expect. What a wonderful movie about saving the planet and stopping hatred. This is the type of movie we all need in our lives right now. Furthermore, this screenplay was written by J.K. Rowling herself, which makes me wish the studios had let her write all of the previous films. 

EMILY DICKINSON -AMERICAN SHERO

Emily Dickinson is timeless. So many of her words are still relevant today, and I find that her poems often speak to me as though they were written today. Here are a few Dickinson poems that every American woman should read. Right now.

 

1) Myself was formed - a Carpenter

2) It Was Given To Me By The Gods

 

3) The soul selects her own society

 

 

PROTEST IS THE NEW BRUNCH

It's only February.
By Alisha Giampola (writer/performer)

When satire has become reality, when those leading our government are making Orwellian propaganda seem tame by comparison, when the creators of South Park don't even know how to make fun of the current administration, because truth has become too much stranger than even the fictions of their twisted minds... what is the right approach? What tone do artists take during times like this to resist fascism and authoritarian moves like literally attempting to destroy the amendment that maintains our government's fine line of separation between church and state? It isn't funny anymore, and making fun of it feels daunting. Why bother satirizing a man who can tweet stuff like this with a dead-straight face: "I don't know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy..." I mean.... okayyyyy, dude. I literally don't know what to say about that. When you spend your entire Black History Month speech talking about how everyone likes you and you got more votes than anyone in the whole world ever and everyone else is losers, and then say things like: "Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice," as if Frederick Douglass is a real up-and-comer in middle management of a small but promising office supplies company... I just literally don't know what to say. 

Which is why I'm realizing more and more that the only way to respond to this preposterousness is with total and complete sincerity. (Although, there is absolutely a time and place for wit, and this is making me laugh today in the face of the utterly ridiculous confirmation of Betsey DeVos as Secretary of Education.) So. What do I mean by sincerity? I don't mean a total lack of irony. I don't mean "eschewing the lifesaving gift of comedy altogether". I just mean like, show up. I, a total and utterly insincere jerk, have been going to protests. Singing "This Land Is Our Land" alongside people holding homemade signs. Writing postcards to my congresspeople. Calling my senators and representatives EVERY SINGLE DAY (and also calling the ones in Florida, where I grew up, because I still have a Florida area code, and enjoy calling Marco Rubio and reminding him that he got bought by Betsy DeVos). 

Some people have gotten really fired up about caring about the future of our democracy. A lot of awesome people I know have always cared about the political climate of our country, and are not foul-weather activists like myself, who suddenly realized a few months ago that being mildly displeased about things but only actually bothering about them when they affect you is a really shitty way to be a human. But some of us needed things to become really horrible to become involved. As a kid I remember reading about Anne Frank and Sojourner Truth and the French Revolution and thinking: "Oh, so like if I ever saw things get bad politically, it would be pretty clear who the good guys and bad guys are. Everyone I know and care about would also be like 'Yeah, clearly those are the bad guys and here's our secret hiding place and here's our box of stolen ration cards.'" But that's not how things are. Yeah, it's pretty easy to see who the bad guys are, but it's really unclear how to deal with them and how bad they actually have to let things get before it's justified to begin calling them bad guys. And it is certainly surprising how many people don't clearly see the same distinctions between good guys and bad guys. 

I guess what I'm saying is, life is way more complicated than I expected when I was eleven, but is also surprisingly way more simple. I'm mortified that our country isn't accepting refugees from the country my own family escaped from during the last century, and I'm even more mortified that I feel so utterly helpless about how little I can ultimately do. Some of my friends are deciding to refocus their careers and run for office and help become one of the good guys in our government. Others are leading the resistance and gently pushing back on every human rights-compromising decision coming out of the White House today. Educators like myself have their work cut out for them for these next few years. Raising more tolerant, kind, inquisitive, questioning, inclusive humans is clearly in order. Humans who don't bully, who understand that the success of a group can be really good for the success of each individual in the group. Humans who are confident enough to accept that not everyone has to think exactly the same way, but we do all have to find a way to work together or our planet is doomed. Humans who recognize that just because someone believes in a different religion than you, that doesn't mean they're dangerous. Humans who are students of history and encourage others to be lifelong students as well. 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair… we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”
- Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities" (how did he KNOW, AMIRITE?!) -

If you live in (or are planning a visit to) NYC, and you'd like to partake in some art that embodies the sentiment of "resist, with sincerity", may I recommend a few things that I'm currently interested in?

-The Museum of Modern Art's curated displays of art from the countries affected by the administrations' unconstitutional travel ban.
- An upcoming production (starring a former director of mine, Kevin Del Aguila! Yay, Kevin!) of Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, a parable play about a dictator to be performed on February 20th, with ticket sales benefiting the Southern Poverty Law Center. 
- Sweat, a widely acclaimed Public Theatre drama about the struggle of the working class transfers to Broadway in March.

A couple other things I'd love to recommend this week are an Oscar-nominated documentary that I loved (and at our house where Daniel tries and frequently succeeds at seeing every nominated film every awards season, I can tell you that I see a lot of Oscar-nominated documentaries): Life, Animated- a beautiful story about a young man with autism who communicates through the films he loves. Also, this week's This American Life was heartbreaking and timely.

A picture I took during this week's protest in Washington Square Park. #thisiswhatdemocracysoundslike
I am proud to live in a city that stands strong with refugees from the devastation in Syria (and every other place in need of hope and freedom). 

ALISHA GIAMPOLA is an NYC based actor/teacher/writer who has no idea why La La Land has been nominated for so many Oscars.
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THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON #ALTERNATIVEFACTS

Rewriting history has long been a part of Imperialism and Colonialism...

by David Davila (Gay Latino)

"History is decided by the Victors."

Winston Churchill is credited with saying that, but he didn't come up with it. There are dozens of other people credited with saying similar phrases throughout History and so it is the perfect example of it's own meaning. None of us can know the things that came before us except through written documents, shared stories & myths, and scientific evidence. So it has always been that we believe what we are taught. So it seemed like the perfect time to review some of the #AlternativeFacts that every American has been taught in school.

Alternative Fact: Christopher Columbus discovered America.
Long before Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas, North and South America were inhabited by thousands of nations made up of Native people. These nations had been producing agriculture and trading amongst each other for centuries. Out of those thousands of Nations, descendants of only 562 of them survive today. 

Alternative Fact: Native Americans died of diseases. There was no intentional genocide.
Yes, many Native Americans died from diseases that were brought over from Europe that they had no immunities to such as small pox. Still, there are documented instances where some of these diseases were spread purposefully as an act of biological warfare through the distribution of infected blankets. Even beyond that however we have no way to know the amount of villages that were completely wiped out by colonizers who were encouraged to end the Indian race by any means. Yet, perhaps the greatest documented act of genocide was committed by the sixth president, Andrew Jackson, a populist who is now regarded by many as the American Hitler. His many deals with the Indian Nations eventually led to the Trail of Tears, a genocidal required relocation of all Native people across the entire country to Indian reservations. Most Natives did not survive. Even as late as the 1970's Native children were being taken from their parents - an act that the UN defines as genocide.

Alternative Fact: The electoral college exists to protect us from tyranny.
Many politicians at the time saw the electoral college as the only way to protect the country from the uneducated masses with no knowledge of the candidates from across the country. The creation of a two party system should have done away with that fear, however politicians in the South argued that their votes deserved to count more because of the slaves they owned.  The electoral college gave slave owners credit for their slaves and allowed the genocidal practices of slavery to remain in use for another hundred years. 

Alternative Fact: Slavery was completely abolished with the 13th amendment.
The thirteenth amendment stated that slavery was no longer legal except as a form of punishment. When the amendment passed it wasn't long before hundreds of thousands of former slaves were arrested and forced into manual labor to "rebuild the South" after the Civil War. This has turned into a billion dollar prison industry which incarcerates mostly people of color.

Alternative Fact: In America everyone is free.
Approximately 1 percent of the US population are incarcerated under a system that profits off of their imprisonment. These men and women are forced into labor without pay or with very little pay while the billion dollar industry continues to thrive.

Alternative Fact: In America everyone is equal.
Where to begin? Women only make 80 cents to every man's dollar for the same work done. LGBTQ people can still be fired in 29 states, while trans people are being discriminated against in restrooms. Some states have laws that require people with brown skin to carry around their 'papers' at all times to prove that they are citizens. People of color are oppressed by systematic racism that is imbedded into many of the policies of our government. People of color are not allowed to militarize as promised in the second amendment. Americans of white descent are encouraged to buy guns, but people of color are often murdered by police officers or painted as criminals when they are found to have a gun. 

I'm not a historian. I'm not a legal expert. I'm not an expert on anything really except dramaturgy and music. These are my observances as a concerned citizen. Alternative Facts are dangerous, and that is not an alternative fact.

I was lucky enough, growing up in South Texas along the Mexico border, to have amazing teachers throughout my public school education who made it a point to ensure that all of their students understood that the United States was built on Alternative Facts. We were encouraged to dig deeper and not believe what we were told. I am forever grateful to those brave social studies and history teachers who were in fact committing acts of civil disobedience by teaching us that "facts" in books could be lies. Thank you for your service! 

DAVID DAVILA is a playwright/composer from South Texas who grew up along the Texas-Mexico border. He is the co-author of MANUEL VS THE STATUE OF LIBERTY an award winning musical comedy about immigration, and VOX POP a musical about the tragedy of democracy. He has long been working on a series of plays about life along the Texas/Mexico border which include ADAN Y JULIO, ABUELAS OR THE POVERTY CYCLE, MEN OF GOD, CREDO, REQUERDOS OF MY LIFE, and AZTEC PIRATES AND THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF LIFE ON MARS. He is a self proclaimed Voxist, a Diva enthusiast, and founder of Lone Star Theatre Co. Wanna talk about it? www.daviddavila.net
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4 ALTERNATIVE FACTS TO GIVE THE IRS ON APRIL 15TH

Because if the POTUS doesn't have to pay taxes, why should you?
By Jennifer Anderson (actor/singer/totally willing to share my tax returns because I'm a law abiding citizen)

Last Sunday, Kellyanne Conway gifted us all a brand spanking new phrase to add to our "Living in the Age of Trump" lexicon:

Since we have a commander and chief who is the first in recent history (read: 45 years) to not only refuse to release his tax returns, but who refused to release them during his campaign, then said he would after an audit, and then oops changed his mind again and decided he won't after all, I've decided that I'm going to take a page from the Kellyanne Conway book of conduct and present some "Alternative Facts" to the Internal Revenue Service when they come knocking on my door for their fair share:

MY CONCERNS DON'T FIT ON THIS SIGN

By Alisha Giampola (writer/performer)

This past weekend, the Women's March drew millions of participants around the globe (on all 7 continents! Yes, on Antarctica too!!) In response to the march, Trump tweeted "Why didn't these people vote?" A similar sentiment to "Why are you marching anyway? Bet you don't even know." We do know. we did vote. I voted. Every single person I went to the march with or personally knew who was marching voted. We marched because it was the first day of an administration that women and marginalized people everywhere fear. We marched to hold a leader, who has made it clear that he believes the rules do not apply to him, accountable.

I'm old enough to have seen how much or little effect government leadership has on my daily life. I've lived under a president I voted for and a president I didn't vote for. I've seen presidents that I like make bad decisions and presidents I dislike make good ones. But I've never been more scared of what an administration could do to me or the people I care about, who are going to be affected by his corruption, incompetence, solipsism, and greed. I'm concerned about the long term consequences of his leadership on a country that I love and a planet that I and the entire rest of the human population live on. This weekend's rally energized those of us who feel deeply concerned. We are more prepared than ever to spend the rest of his term in office being as involved as we can to do whatever we can as citizens to block his hateful policies. More people voted against him than for him. More people are afraid of his leadership than thrilled by it. I voted against this man, so I get to protest his presence as the leader of the country I love and live in.

In a world of "alternative facts", with people more divided politically than ever, and a growing group of newly awakened young activists (myself included) who are trying to make sense of what is and is not reality, I feel it's important to simply share what I see with my own eyes, what I know affects me and the people I love for others who might not be in my same situation. It's the division that already exists amongst us that will be preyed on in coming days as legislation takes away civil liberties or blocks environmental regulations. It has already begun, and it will continue as long as we allow ourselves to be distracted, apathetic, or prone to infighting. 

So what did I see with my own eyes this weekend? I saw peaceful men and women come together in numbers unexpectedly vast exercising their constitutional right to protest, being supported by similarly peaceful men and women in uniform. I saw people who have been fighting the good fight for a long time and people who have never participated in activism before. I am deeply aware that this is only the beginning. We cannot smugly congratulate ourselves on a large and peaceful rally and begin to relax. The rally was a call to further action; not the only action necessary of concerned citizens. 

The way administrations like this shape facts to suit their needs and squash dissent by painting those in opposition to them as thugs or criminals has been outlined for us many times in history and literature. They way to resist is to continue to call and write to our representatives. To demand to be heard. To compassionately listen to those who voted for him, hoping against hope that he would upend a system he's actually more than happy to use for his own benefit. To remember that this is not normal. Squashing the freedom of speech of scientists and the press by a president is alarming, to say the least. To remember that our inclusiveness and compassion outnumbers his egotism and hate. We even outnumber the very loud, very powerful, very privileged members of our government who now feel empowered to take off their masks of pretense and make laws to return our country to the past when life was more oppressive and dangerous for people of color, women, and immigrants. 

Protest consists of so much more than marching. We can all legally resist the policies we disagree with at every turn. We can take simple daily steps like calling our members of congress every time we see injustice being legislated, every time liberties are squashed. Here are some good ideas of the everyday actions we can take under this new administration, but I challenge us as artists to do more. To use our talents to challenge viewpoints, uplift allies, inform and educate. Under other demagogues, in the face of other propaganda, reality as it was actually being experienced was preserved by the writers, the painters, the storytellers. I realize that this is the first time I've felt truly oppressed by my government and humbly recognize that is a real indication of my immense privilege. I stand with those less fortunate than I, especially refugees and minorities who are vulnerable to this administration's policies, and hope to use my privilege to help resist injustice and protect them. I, someone who has never been an activist, commit to activism now to protect my future, the future of the children I teach every day, the future of our planet, and the future of our collective faith in American democracy.

ALISHA GIAMPOLA is an NYC based actor/teacher/writer who hopes Ruth Bader Ginsburg is taking her vitamins. 
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30 THINGS TO DO THAT ARE MORE COMFORTING THAN WATCHING DONALD TRUMP'S INAUGURATION

Because self care is important when the world is imploding around you.
By Jennifer Anderson (actor/singer/fake news enthusiast)

Ladies and gentlemen of Crazytown, tomorrow marks a day of fear and mourning for the vast majority of this country. All of our efforts- physical, mental, political, spiritual- have not been enough to combat the shady ass shit that got a giant orange colored moth ball the highest office in the land. But just like death and taxes, Inauguration Day is upon us and we are left with the biggest insult to our collective intelligence ever: Donald Trump is our president.

However, just because it's happening doesn't mean we have to watch it. So as you're preparing to march in Washington or New York or any other city, take a few steps away from the madness with this list of more comforting things to do than watch Mr. Trump become President:

RISE UP

All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me
By Alisha Giampola (writer/performer)

I visited the Whitney Museum this past weekend with a dear friend on her birthday. She's an artist herself, and as a writer, I deeply respect anyone who can create a picture to replace my thousand words. We stopped at one point in front of the same piece, by Annette Lemieux, titled Left Right Left Right. 

Reading a bit about the artist and the piece, which was created in 1995, I learned that the piece used to be exhibited upright, with the fists (some of which are of famous activists and leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr.) shown right side up. Although, even upright, "several of the images are flipped, so that the same fist appears raised in opposing directions, and the use of photographs from various decades injects difference into what appears on first glance to be a unified front." Originally the work was meant to indicate (continuing in the words of the curated description): "that protests—and the political and ideological issues that occasion them—are more complex, encompassing contradictions and opposing views." However, in the wake of the recent election, the artist requested that her work be flipped upside down: “Lemieux’s gesture suggests a commitment to individual agency, the continuing power of protest, and a feeling, in her words, that the ‘world has turned upside down’,” the museum explained in a statement. 

I think it's fascinating, and not unexpected, that the artist has found new and refreshed meaning in her own art. Originally questioning the unity of any protest, the artist now sees her own work as a statement about the continuing power of such protest, including her own ability to participate through her chosen artistic voice. 

Meryl Streep stated last week in her powerful speech as she received a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes that an actor's "only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us, and let you feel what that feels like." I daresay that is the only job of any artist. Writer, composer, actor, painter, sculptor. Artists everywhere have always been the empathizers of the world. We remind others to think outside of themselves even for just a minute. To remember how a mere breath, a tiny edit on a strand of DNA, a hair's breadth, separates them from a life immeasurably different from their own. 

The Women's March on Washington is this weekend. There are marches planned all over the nation, and in several countries, but I am going to Washington D.C. with my husband and some friends. I know I'm lucky to be able to go directly to our nation's capital to peacefully petition and protest the administration there. If you are interested in attending, or standing alongside us in an affiliated march in your city or town, you can read about the Mission and Unity Principles of those participating here and here. If you, like me, are afraid of what the next few years of leadership in this country could upend, and especially if you (like me) are new to activism (I used to think that my only responsibility as a citizen was showing up to vote once every few years) - I urge you to join us! I am heartened to know how many of my creative, artistic, inclusive community will be supporting the march on Saturday, and if you're planning to go to D.C. may I suggest availing yourself of one of these helpful lists of what to bring/how to stay safe? 

Other protests and rallies in light of recent political events are scheduled around the inauguration weekend, including one for those who work in the theatre community, called The Ghostlight Project, which is scheduling a simultaneous, peaceful event for January 19th at theatres all across the country. 

Visit their site to see more stories and join their social justice campaign. 

It's easy to be inactive when we see injustices in our world. It's a little harder right now, when so much injustice is happening every day, but it's still more comfortable to sit back, especially if you occupy a position of privilege, which I am very aware that I do. But I will say that choosing to be a part of this, to not allow my silence to validate the oppression I see, feels great. It feels active. It feels supportive of those who have the potential of being in a much less safe place four years from now than I will be. 

If you want to support some awesome artists who are supporting the March, you can get some swag over at The Outrage or support a cause that supports women's rights, like protesting the defunding of Planned Parenthood or aiding the Malala Fund by adding this adorable "Smash The Patriarchy" pin to your protest-ensemble. 

It feels like there's a lot to take in right now: threats to the environment, our foreign alliances, the freedom of the press, healthcare and social safety nets for those in need, women's reproductive rights, the security of minorities, refugees, and immigrants...but there is a clear way to speak truth to power next weekend. And by power, I don't just mean You Know Who. This rally for him will be mostly Tweet-fodder (I can see it now: "Women rallying in Washington today: didn't see any tens, all clearly bleeding out of their wherevers. SAD"). But the Executive is not the only branch of our government, and Rome didn't transition from Republic to an Empire in only a day. For the first time in my adult life, I recognize an opportunity to remind those in positions of leadership who are supposed to be in Washington to represent my interests and the interests of all Americans that I am watching them. I am paying attention. I am remaining vigilant. 

See you there, ladies.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Women's March on Washington is the day after the inauguration, Saturday, January 21st, beginning at 10am at the intersection of Independence Avenue and 3rd Street near the US Capitol. This march is free and open for all (and not just women of course- people of all genders, colors, and creeds who are allies of women and the marginalized are encouraged to participate), but you are urged to register at the march's website if you are able, so a semi-accurate headcount can be used to ensure proper security and resources (more than 200,000 people are already expected). 

ALISHA GIAMPOLA is an NYC based actor/teacher/writer who will be in D.C. this Saturday wearing a hat her Syrian great-grandmother crocheted.
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