03.07 Teens Take Charge… of our future
Women’s History Month, New Latin Wave Arts Festival, a “Stop the Steal” Social Media Review, and The Kids Are Alright.

There have been way too many mayoral forums, sometimes multiple in an evening, but this last week we were pleasantly surprised to see perhaps the best forum to date! The @TeensTakeCharge student-led forum gave us the hot bingo card above (we almost got bingo), teens unafraid to mute the candidates, and a comment section that really went off. View the forum below.
Also, it’s Women’s History Month, but that doesn’t mean we are done with Black history. We are celebrating women’s and Black history and excellence every day, including Lorraine O’Grady’s first retrospective—at 86 years young!—at the BK Museum, reading on the Combahee River Collective (the manifesto that introduced “intersectionality”), Women in Cannabis action, and Fires in the Mirror a play by Anna Deavere Smith. Although, perhaps the best way to celebrate Women’s History Month would be to impeach serial sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo...but that’s just us!
ON THE RADAR
WATCH: Sunday 03.07 3 pm: Solidarity Town Hall hosted by Dianne Morales
That Line-up: Jason Wu, GAPIMNY, Truth Out; Rohan Zhou-Lee, founder of Blasian March; Linda Sarsour, co-founder of MPower Change, Women's March & Until Freedom, Palestinian-Muslim-American activist and organizer; Frederick Joseph, NYT Bestselling Author of The Black Friend; Carolina Do, organizer for Asians4Abolition and artistic leader The Sống Collective; Pastor Samuel Cruz, PhD Trinity Lutheran Church; Moumita Ahmed, candidate for NYC Council District 24.Register!
ACTION: Monday 03.08 11 am-3 pm: NY State Women in Cannabis Lobby Day
Make sure NYS Cannabis Legislation is done right! Register!
WATCH: Thursday 03.11 6:30 pm: Maya for Mayor Presents Drag and Democracy
Maya Wiley fundraiser with Miss Peppermint and your favorite drag artists for an evening of laughs, performances, and a demand for new leadership in our city. Sign up!
WATCH: Friday 03.12 7:30pm: Jim Owles Liberal Dem Club Presents the Demise of Andrew Cuomo
This is a panel of HEAVY HITTERS: Zephyr Teachout, Fordham Law Professor; Bertha Lewis, Founder of The Black Institute; Jumaane Williams, NYC Public Advocate; Julia Salazar, NYS Senator; Brad Hoylman, NYS Senator. Register!
READ: Social Media Review. Rep Zoe Lofgren’s Insurrection/”Stop the Steal”
This review lists public social media posts from Members of the U.S. House of Representatives who were sworn-in to office in January 2021 and who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
NYS Rep Malliotakis (Republican Rep in South BK) has 19 pages of scary-social posts, Stefanik 34, and Zeldin 24. They also ALL VOTED AGAINST certifying the election. They are the worst.
CULTURAL WORK
Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And at the Brooklyn Museum, Opened March 5th.
The first (!) retrospective of the now 86-yo and one of the most significant contemporary figures working in performance, conceptual, and feminist art.
“Both/And” is a reference to her rejection of binary thinking (NYTIMES)
Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities by Anna Deavere Smith
After the 1991 riots in Crown Heights—started after 2 Black children were struck (1 of them killed) by a car from a prominent Orthodox Jewish Rebbe’s motorcade—Deavere Smith interviewed Black and Orthodox Jewish members of the community, reading and acting their statements, exploring the relations and tensions in the Brooklyn neighborhood and the dynamic of race, religion, racism and bigotry in NYC.
Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free
Barbara Smith and the Black feminist visionaries of the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. Combahee River Collective is credited for introducing “intersectionality” into the lexicon. Worth a read!
New Latin Wave Arts Festival thru March 13th
Soft Power Vote co-founder, Melissa Saenz Gordon, is going to host a panel based on her essay, We Need More Creatives in Politics at the New Latin Wave Arts Festival on Monday, 3/8! Featuring Marty Preciado, Veronica Bayette Flores, and Jonathan Gardenhire. Tickets are $10 and unlocks a week’s worth of panels, performances, and film screenings. Support Latinx arts and culture!
SPREAD LOVE, STOP THE HATE on March 5-7, 2021 on @twitch. A 40-DJ fundraiser for Stop AAPI Hate, A national coalition addressing anti-Asian hate amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Find the DJ you like in this lineup and watch their TWITCH channel!
SOFT POWER VOTE
The kids, ahem, YOUNG PEOPLE, are more than alright! Watch the Teens Take Charge Mayoral Forum
#Listen2TheYouth BINGO is everything in this mayoral race!
The students are not afraid to push back and mute the candidates!
Dianne Morales calls to abolish suspensions, YES!
Morales, Wiley, Stringer, Donovan, Menchaca, and Prince would free students of the burden of state tests and regents exams, while Yang, Adams, and Garcia would not. This goes for SHSAT too!
The candidates danced!
Keep track of Local Electeds Calling to Hold Cuomo Accountable (A spreadsheet).
Important Dates
03.23 Special Election: CD 11 & 15 (Bronx)
05.28 Deadline to register to vote
06.22 City-Wide Primary