23 Oct With gratitude Atlanta, Recap of Evening of Reckoning & Rising
With gratitude Atlanta!
Our Sunday, October 8 V25 gathering – AN EVENING OF RECKONING & RISING at The Carter Center to celebrate V’s book and V-Day’s 25th anniversary was a stunning success and raised over $80k for the City of Joy.
Our deepest thanks to V-Day board members Pat Mitchell, Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson and Maya Penn for leading the host committee and whose performances captivated the audience. With gratitude for our host committee: V (formerly Eve Ensler), Paige Alexander, Angie Allen, Nikki Noto Benitez, Sara Blakely, Sarah Cipperly, Tena Clark, Enid Draluck, Staci Fox, Pat Mitchell, Laura Turner Seydel, and Susan Celia Swan who contacted friends and networks, wrote emails and social media posts and spread the word. There are people who can make an event truly sing, and V-Day’s own Tony Montentieri deserves a special bow for this evening, thank you Tony! Special shout out to The Carter Center team who welcomed us with open arms and made the evening so beautiful. The Atlanta Journal Constitution ran a piece in advance of the event entitled “Tony-winning playwright’s healing crusade, battling violence against women.”
To begin the evening, we gathered for a cocktail reception in honor of Christine Schuler Deschryver (Co-founder and Director of City of Joy/V-Day Congo) and the extraordinary powerful necessary work of City of Joy, the revolutionary leadership center for the survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo that was a buzzing, joyous gathering of activists, supporters and friends of our host committee & the V-Day movement.
We are in awe of our amazing presenters and performers The Carter Center’s Susan Marx, Pat Mitchell, Rosario Dawson, Joaquine Kalukango, Maya Penn and Jane Fonda. Jane was unable to join in person, but she taped her performance via video and ended it with a wink that the crowd adored! Ending the evening with Tena Clark’s anthem for One Billion Rising “Break The Chain” danced to by Atlanta activists was the icing on our 25th anniversary cake.
On Monday, V (formerly Eve Ensler) and Susan Celia Swan visited the incredible Highlander School and leaders in the Stop Cop City movement as well as the forest where activists have protested the complex and near to where the 26 year old nonviolent protester Tortuguita was murdered by police.
On Wednesday, 11 October, Christine gave her first ever Ted talk during the opening session of Ted Women, hosted by Pat and Maya with Ted’s curator Helen. Maya gave a beautiful intro. In her talk, Christine shared the vision, programming and impact of City of Joy’s model. Her power, poise and presentation had the crowd clapping throughout the talk. It was an epic moment where you could feel those in the room rise in solidarity as her words connected them to a vision that moves from social service to social justice, rooted in a power that IS compassion, care & community.
VOICES was a Discovery Session on Wednesday afternoon and this morning at TedWomen and Aja Monet (poet, organizer and V-Day Artistic Creative Director for Voices) and Hollis Heath (producer, Voices) lead the sessions taking the audience through the embodied listening of the piece, both sessions were well attended and the audiences shared creative ideas and the impact of the experience and left full of ideas and inspiration and pledges to host Voices listening sessions in their communities.
With our V-love and gratitude to the V-Day, One Billion Rising and City of Joy Atlanta community who lifted up the work of V and V-Day and the City of Joy,
– All of us at V-Day