2nd RingShout for Reproductive Justice Challenges the Legacy of Gynecology Practiced on Black Women's Bodies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New YORK ,New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) November 10, 2011 -- RING-SHOUT! FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public Arts Performance for Reproductive Justice
Inaugural Body Ecology Cultural Arts Direct Action Campaign

Contact: Sydette Harry (347)424-8052
Email: bodyecology@bettysdaughterarts.com
www.bettysdaughterarts.com

Manhattan, New York- 3pm on November 19, Body Ecology Performance Ensemble will perform its 2nd public art performance, RingShout for Reproductive Justice. The performance takes place at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue, in front of the statue of J. Marion Sims.

Kelly Thomas, founding member and assistant artistic director says, “We are calling on the power of the women who suffered at the hands of this "doctor" as we offer our second installment of RingShout for Reproductive Justice. We are calling on the power of the women are experiencing joy, trauma, revelation, doubt, and a myriad of emotions and feelings that relate to our reproductive health and choices”.

The goal of the performance is to raise awareness of reproductive rights among women of color, honor the enslaved women who forcibly served as test subjects for Dr. Sims as he pursued a career as a gynecologist in Birmingham, Alabama, a legacy not widely known. Complicating the role of Sims and the women he experimented on, the ringshout will use traditional songs and structure, along with modern testimony to respond artistically to Sims legacy.

Ebony Golden, founder and artistic director says, “A ringshout is a method for praise and worship. In the ring shout, people sing, dance, testify. usually the songs are lead but there is time for each person to speak or sing.[..] The idea is that the circle is sacred and when those join in the circle they harness an energy and power to manifest what they choose.”

The second event of Body Ecology’s Cultural Arts Direct Action Campaign , the ringshout is part off a season dedicated to using arts to address issues of reproductive justice within the African Diaspora community. Envisioned as way to bring together artists, activists, performers and all members of the community, for an interactive expression of the hopes, needs,demands and resources of the community, around the pursuit of reproductive justice.

Body Ecology is a performance ensemble that honors the creative, spiritual, scholarly and radical lived experiences of women of the African diaspora. Body Ecology is a project of Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative and is rooted in cultural arts direct action.

Recent performances include a performance/workshop at Indigo Days in Durham, North Carolina, a public art performance at the Harriet Tubman Memorial Plaza in Harlem, NY, a performance/workshop at Medgar Evers College and a several performances at Brecht Forum as part of the Women on Wednesdays Art and Culture Project.

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