V TO THE TENTH A SUCCESS!
4/17/2008
V TO THE TENTH A SUCCESS!
Last weekend, April 11-12, tens of thousands of women and men from all over the world joined V-Day in New Orleans to celebrate V-Day's ten-year anniversary - V TO THE TENTH - at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome. Spurred on by the tremendous turnout of women and men, the energy, enthusiasm and excitement experienced during those two days in New Orleans, V-Day is confident that together with your help, we will CHANGE THE STORY OF WOMEN and over the next ten years end violence against women and girls!
This hugely successful weekend included:
- Over 30,000 attendees
- Over $700,000 raised for local efforts
- Over 125 speakers, 40 stars, 800 volunteers participating
- 1200 women displaced into the Diaspora by hurricanes Katrina and Rita coming home for the weekend, some for the first time, through the efforts of Coastal Women Coming Home Project with support from V-Day.
- 10,000 marsh grasses planted in the Wetlands
- SUPERLOVE speakers, art, storytelling, makeovers, massage, medical testing and healing circles, and yoga for women of New Orleans and the Gulf South region
- V TO THE TENTH benefit of "The Vagina Monologues" featuring performances by Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Kerry Washington, Ali Larter, Calpernia Addams, Lilia Aragon, Stéphanie Bataille, Jennifer Beals, Ilene Chaiken, Didi Conn, Lella Costa, Alexandra Hedison, Shirley Knight, Kristen Krepela, Christine Lahti, Liz Mikel, Doris Roberts, Daniela Sea, Amber Tamblyn, Leslie Townsend, and Monique Wilson plus very special musical performances by Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson, Peter Buffett, Charmaine Neville and The Voices of New Orleans Gospel Choir
- The world premiere of SWIMMING UPSTREAM, an original theater piece produced by Ashe Cultural Arts Center, Eve Ensler and V-Day. The play, which brought over 5,000 women and men to SUPERLOVE on Friday night, tells the raw, lyrical, soulful stories of women who have lived through the flood with grace, rage, humor and great resiliency was written by Carol Bebelle, Troi Bechet, Reverend Lois Dejean, Asali Njeri DeVan, Anne-Liese Juge Fox, Adella Gautier Briceshanay Gresham, Herreast Harrison, Karen-kaia Livers Tommye Myrick, Cherise Harrison Nelson, Kathy Randels, Dollie Rivas, Dina Roudeze, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder and Carol Sutton.
- Katrina Warrior Awards, honoring extraordinary women within the New Orleans community, were given to Cherise Harrison Nelson, a public school educator; Judy Watts of Agenda for Children; Monique Hardin of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights; Ann Milling of The Women of the Storm; and Dyan "Mama D" French Cole, a community leader. The awards were presented by The Men In Red, a group of local male leaders who supported V TO THE TENTH.
- Hundreds of women and men from the Diaspora, along with those currently living in New Orleans, with women and men from around the country and around the world, joined Dr. Denis Mukwege from the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the V TO THE TENTH SUPERLOVE parade starting at Congo Square and ending at the Louisiana Superdome, celebrating the women and men of New Orleans and highlighting the right to return home.
- Thousands of V-Day activists traveled to New Orleans to participate and attend bringing with them programs, T-shirts and more to create the V-Day Memorabilia Wall in the Superdome.
- Over 25 international V-Day activists from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dubai, Egypt, Haiti, Iceland, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan, Serbia were honored and joined with activists in New Orleans for the tenth anniversary events.
- Worldwide media coverage including USA TODAY, Times of London, Associated Press, Times - Picayune, Democracy Now, NPR, CosmoGirl, BUST, Extra, BlogHer, Feminist.com and many more...
There are so many stories, so many experiences, images, so many emotions and memories from V-Day's V TO THE TENTH weekend and in the upcoming weeks V-Day will be posting these on the website.
For those of you who could join us, thank you for taking the time and traveling the distances to be a part of this momentous weekend. Please remember the energy from the weekend and help us push the movement forward into the next decade.
If you would like to share your V TO THE TENTH memories or images please email them to [email protected].
For those of you who could not make it, visit www.vday.org, read the news stories, look at the photos, connect with other activists and join us as we all re-commit ourselves to ending violence against women and girls throughout the world.
HAPPY V TO THE TENTH! Thank you for a wonderful 10 ten years and welcome to a new V-Decade where will push the edge, go further, go deeper and CHANGE THE STORY OF WOMEN.
All Photos by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com for V-Day
