Pen-Elayne on the Web

IWM Notes

A Google search on "International Women's Month" (which this is) yielded this page from NIIT Technologies, an Asian IT training company. Sounds like a cool program - I can figure out "SWIFT" (Short Work Programs in Information Technology, which caters to the literacy needs of people keen to learn computers), but I'm a little cloudy on "Jyoti." The company's goal is "to take over 50,000 women across the digital divide during International Women's Month, 2003" via this program; I wish them luck! The World Bank is also getting in on the act with their Initiative on Gender and ICT for Development.

Closer to home, Women in Technology's Chicago regional chapter event, a week from tomorrow, will be an "International Women's Month Celebration:Women in the Forefront - Success Stories." The same day in Eugene, Oregon (Ampersand territory?), NPR station KLCC (89.7 FM) is holding a luncheon to "celebrate and recognize accomplishment of women worldwide. Wariko Waita, of Kenya, will be sharing her up-to-the-minute perspectives of the changes taking place in Kenya and the new democratic election's impact on women."

The World Beat Center in the San Diego area will be celebrating Audre Lorde on March 23; I hope part of the celebration will include correcting the spelling of her name, but I fear the master's spell-check will never dismantle the master's website. Here's a cool page about women in jazz. Every Generation is taking "nominations for our alternative 100 Great Britons [which] will be launched in March as part of International Women's Month." As long as you're in the UK, you might want to head to London to check this out on International Women's Day (Saturday, March 8). And maybe you'll catch the Triple-P Posse's European tour while you're at it.

Here in New York City, the relatively milder weather will probably encourage a good turnout for the National Moratorium coordinated by all sorts of progressive groups (at times like this I really miss being employed by a company that didn't dock me sick time) leading up to their March 15 do, and this coming Saturday (IWD) International ANSWER (yeah, I know, but still) is having a NO WAR March in Solidarity with the Women of Iraq on International Women's Day (careful, it's a PDF) which they say is also to demand a new contract for daycare workers - [sarcasm] as ever, great to have a non-confusing, single-focused message [/sarcasm] - and they're encouraging women and men to bring noisemakers, including pots and pans. Also, Ken Gale informs me that his SO and Nuff Said cohost Mercy Van Vlack will be part of WBAI's IWD programming, "contributing a segment: an interview with Trina Robbins on women in history comics such as Dignifying Science. They also covered women in art history and women in comics." I hope the station mentions that Bluestockings isn't closing after all, they're under new ownership and will be renovating and reopening soon, and I'd love to hear my favorite sparring buddy (Trina, as opposed to Mercy) on the radio again, but I'll be in Philadelphia, visiting my friend Leah and hoping she has a reliable net connection so I don't break my 2003 daily-blogging streak. [More interesting IWM and IWD links as I find 'em.]