Resources: #MMIW
Years ago, at a UN Commission on the Status of Women panel, indigenous women from Alberta, Canada shared the alarming stories and numbers of missing and murdered women from their province. I, naively, thought this would become major news. MMIW is getting more attention now, but the doubters, the victim blamers continue to minimize these tragedies. Thank you to Marci Mc Lean - Pollock, Mary Underriner, Renee Coppock for these resources to help us add numbers and stories and faces to our efforts.
​
What other events, resources, organizations to help us amplify this issue?
Montana MMIW Task Force - Misty LaPlant is the specialist there. https://dojmt.gov/mpt/missing-indigenous-persons-task-force/
Sovereign Bodies Institute with a MMIW Database https://www.sovereign-bodies.org/
MMIW March in Billings: May 2, starting at 10 am. from N. 31st and Second Ave. N. to Sky Point
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls:
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track…
Somebody's Daughter: The Trailer
“After watching Somebody’s Daughter many thoughts fevered my brain for hours,” commented Wes Studi, the only Native American actor ever to receive an Oscar. “The search for a solution begins with first knowing a crisis exists,” Studi continued, and the purpose of Somebody’s Daughter is exactly that – to alert lawmakers and the public alike that the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women crisis exists and demands urgent action. Somebody’s Daughter focuses on some of the higher-profile MMIW cases, some of which were raised during the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs MMIW/MMIP hearing in December 2018. With historical points of reference, the victims’ and their families’ stories are told through the lens of the legal jurisdictional maze and socio-economic bondage that constricts Indian Country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscqDqT0L18&fbclid=IwAR0tRfKCTSA2HfLYseFBFBFXJR6A4pWNzcZzcOXec6Tm6qQZtl4li57IOZI
Look up Anna Paige’s recent, powerful #MMIW post which has been shared over a thousand times.

When Priscilla Otani and I decided to piggy back on the success of her previous postcard projects for the Women's Caucus for Art and the United Nations, we had no long range goals other than to give women, men and children a chance to consider the impacts women have had on the economy, human rights, education, the environment, world health religion, the arts, sports, politics and peace. We were inspired by the work of the UN Women's  HeForShe campaign and its Beijing+20 program, celebrating the First World Women's Conference. 

The call went out and the cards came in - steadily and from around the world, starting with a post card making gathering at my house and including gatherings in the Bay Area and classrooms around the country.  The growing collection traveled, in 2015, to the WC and CAA Conferences, to the UN Commission on the Status of Women Conference and our International Caucus UN Program parallel event there, to Honey's Cafe in Red Lodge, Montana, and, in 2016, to the Torpedo Factory Art Center in DC, the Women's History Month Exhibition at St. Louis Florissant Valley Community College (near Ferguson), Arc Project Gallery in San Francisco and ... all were collected in our online gallery.  Some samples are above.

The resulting mosaic of cards is a rich and inspiring diversity of media and message and women! 

Thank you to all who nurtured this along its path, including Maureen Burns-Bowie, Janice Nesser, Maggy Hiltner, Kerry Wolfson, Cherie Redlinger, Michael Yochum, and Stephen Wagner.

More information and photos of events at https://www.sherricornett.com/women-do-it-traveling-postcard-exhibition.html

I just rung off with Maureen Burns-Bowie , our WCA International Caucus UN Program Director, and still have chills of excitement and emotion from her description of our UN Program's presentation, "Impressions: Artists Consider the Millennium Development Goals" at the UN Commission on the Status of Women Conference. The packed room was profoundly moved by how our artists document and empower through their work: Ann's with the Rwandan genocide, Mary's with the widows from the Cambodian killing fields, Allison teaching women in Laos to photograph their lives. These women brought professionalism, responsibility, accountability, earnestness and dedication to this project. This is what it takes to pull off a stunning and impactful event. This demonstrates why WCA is an NGO of the UN and how, when we up our game, when we set standards for excellence as artists and activists, the results continue to echo in meaningful ways in our communities and the larger world. My gratitude and congratulations to all involved, but especially to Maureen for having the vision, for finding and bringing these impressive women together and for making this happen. More information and images will come soon from this group and I am happily anticipating them. Yes, artists do change the world.

My words as I narrated the introduction: "Throughout its NGO relationship with the the UN, the Women's Caucus for Art, of WCA, and its artists have created projects that cut across language and cultural barriers to bring attention to world issues. In this film, we will be sharing a rich array of artists and their works, all of which aim to start conversations, birth new ideas, support political freedom and transparency, expand the voices of all people, and create community,