Attention Action Heroes Worldwide : Call To Volunteer/ Intern

We're on full gear preparing for the I  Never Ask For It campaign ; designed to tackle and arrest blame across spaces of sexual violence. 

With this we're creating a Global Action Hero Network. This is a call for new internships (duration 4 months) , and to volunteer (time involvement can be designed by you in collaboration with us)

• You can volunteer/ intern from where you are geographically located
• You are also welcome to work with us from our studio in Bangalore, India
• We can match your area of interest / skills with campaign requirements
• Last day for application October 15th
• We will get back to you by November 1st, 2014

Apply here to intern and or volunteer 

Please do write to us at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com incase of any questions. 

If you have already volunteered with BN in the past and would like to re connect,  we would be thrilled to have you back!

There is no application criteria and we've been built 100% by Action Heroes, i.e you.

Do forward this to those interest, encourage people around you to apply. Yes we want Action Hero Grandmas to apply too!

We're currently particularly seeking individuals with an interest in video editing, sound editing, 

illustration, comics, communication design ( web and print) , programming, research , multi lingual skills, fund raising. 

Have stated that, one of our recent interns from Bangalore did none of the above, and chose to work with the police.

Another set of volunteers / Action Heroes include law students from Kolkata.  

A new Action Hero has moved to Bangalore from Norway and is taking the deep plunge into a participatory research project that is part of the campaign. We will be sharing internship and volunteer contributed projects shortly.

In solidarity,

Blank Noise Team 

Action Heroes

Call for Volunteers and Interns
Apply here

Safe City Pledge #Delhi

What's your Safe City Pledge?

2011 and some immediate things-

2011 and the ACTION HERO is on duty.
make your city safe by walking your street fearless.
Happy New Year!





To new news and immediate action:

1. MEET IN BANGALORE/ DELHI AND CHANDIGARH
This year promises to be eventful and energetic. We're starting with a meeting in Bangalore on Jan 8th, Saturday at 10 45 am. Location will be disclosed upon confirmation. if you can make it, please confirm at the soonest + bring a potential action hero along! (your friend/ colleague/ neighbour/ family/ co traveler) please email us most definitely by the 7th of Jan to confirm.

Meet up in Delhi and Chandigarh on Jan 23-. If you'd like to be involved with organizing a meet up in your city do get in touch with us right away.

Upcoming events include an Action Heroes event across cities (Feb) and an all new internet event too (to be announced in a week).


2. ACTION HERO TESTIMONIALS
A big thank you to all Action Heroes for sharing their stories with us on dealing with street sexual violence.Thank you Dianne Padma Nandini If you've got a story or a strategy on how you dealt with 'eve-teasing' you know where to send it .It doesn't have to be your story alone, it could be an urban legend, something you heard. This could also involve you speaking with women around you and gathering stories. (ask the women around you- grandma. cousins. friends. colleagues. domestic help.)


4. CALL FOR INTERNSHIP
call for interns. time- 2 months/ or project specific. apply by Jan 30 internship. phase 1 of 2011 begins feb 10


5. CALL TO VOLUNTEER
apply to volunteer deadline for 2011 phase 1 is Jan 30


5. THIS SPECTATOR CHANGED THE SCENE
We often hear stories about a 3rd person being attacked for helping in an 'eve-teasing'/ street sexual violence situation. These reports perpetuate fear by emphasizing the personal risk in getting involved. We're not here to say it isn't a risk but surely there have been instances where a 3rd person's intervention has changed the scene.
This is a call for personal stories of how 'spectators' involvement made a difference.Have you been that third person who got involved? Have you got a story on how the spectator's involvement helped you? email your story subject titled THIS SPECTATOR CHANGED THE SCENE no later than Jan 30. blurtblanknoise at gmail com
(more details to follow)

Yours in spirit
Blank Noise Team

Step By Step Guide to Unapologetic Walking tees are ready!

Blank Noise supports the Pride by walking wearing 'step by step guide to unapologetic walking' tee shirts.

These tee shirts can be worn anywhere anytime, they have The Step by Step Guide To Unapologetic Walking on them.


A big thank you to Anwesha , Nimi, Chitra, Soumya, Mohnish, Siddarth, Sanhita, Shreyasi, Paige, Hemangini, Jasmeen, Aarthi, Noopur, Saptarshi, Sunayana, John, Rashida, Neha, Natasha,Rashmi, Vishaka, Shravanthi, Pranav, Lalitha, Kirtana, Aarti, Payal, Nabila, Aparna, Shivangini, Ragini, Tinnie, Saraswathi, Smriti, Oindrilla for being the first to wear them on!

(A fresh new set of tees goes to print in the next 2 weeks!)

credits:
The Step By Step Guide to Unapologetic Walking had existed in the form of a poster prior to this- a big thankyou to BN member/ volunteer Shreyasi Kar for making the idea wearable!
To all those Action Heroes who made it to the street actions and other Blank Noise events- your insights created the Step by Step Guide to Unapologetic Walking.

What do you wish to do this Saturday at Cubbon Park?

Remember the wish list you prepared for things you wished you could do in your city?


Here's one more!

What are the things you would love to do at the park in your city?
(build the park wish list below)




Amrutha Bushan: * i wish i could smile whole heartedly at each and every person i saw in a park without worrying that i was inviting trouble.

* i love minimal clothing. i wish i could wear them on a daily basis;even to a park.

Dianne Sharma Winter: if i could be there I would wear a pink tutu and do handstands all across the park to the astonished cheers of my family and then someone would come along and offer me a job in the circusand i would take it

Shreyasi :I want to lay down under a tree and stare at the sky with music
blaring in my ears!! :) :D

Yasmin: I want to be able to take a nap in the park.

Aarthi: I want to skip the rope + read a book.

Saraswathi: I wish to whistle my favourite songs in public.

Jasmine : I am going to write a letter to a dear friend.

Natasha Hemrajani: i wish i could sit on the grass all by myself in tiny
shorts and soak up some sun and read and nap
without a care in the world without people staring
at my skin or at my lack of company and without
random men mouthing lewd songs at me because
this what they do when a woman appears
alone and vulnerable and skimpily dressed.

Bedatri: i want to get wet in the rain-from top to bottom,to the innermost strings of my garment and then walk back home without feeling guilty and i want to sit on the front seat of the auto and enjoy the breeze without twisting and turning in order to avoid those sudden brakes and what they bring along.

Lindsey Rieder : When I lived in Jaipur I always wanted to sit on the bench in the park near my house and enjoy watching the birds and squirrels and all the kids playing.

Soumya: I just want to plonk myself comfortable PJs in whichever position and dream away

Chitra: i wanna listen to my ipod and dance on the streets, not just bob my head and walk......

Alexandra: I am from Canada, and will be trying to erase the horrible tanline I have gotten from wearing Salwar Kameez everyday, while simultaneously entertaining my puppy whose name is Tombi.

and you?

Join us at 3 30 pm, Saturday, to do exactly what you wish to do there.
email us to confirm if you're coming!

The activities are individual based and not meant to be

co ordinated with what other Action Heroes will be doing.

There are no 'rules' except it would be fantastic if

Action Heroes wore a garment they always wished to wear

but did not because they thought they might be 'asking for it'.

The event will go on until 6 pm.

Every body is invited.

Bring along your friends, family or anyone interested.

Be an Action Hero!

Saturday Action Heroes include:

1. Aarthi
2. Machlee
3. Mangit
4. Shreyasi
5. Hemangini
6. Soumya
7. Chitra
8. Shilo
9. Ratna
10. Katheeja
11. Amrutha
12. Alexandra
13. Saraswathi
14. Jasmine
    
15. you?
    
16. sign up!! e: blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com
    

Bombay. March 15.

photo credits. Punit and Yamini


Yamini Deen reports:

After so many Blank Noise interventions, the street in my head is like a laboratory of delicious experiments- those of provocation, the test of limits .

The street tells so many stories of wooing , of harassing, of hookers , of control, of sexuality .

SO Gateway Sunday was one such experience.

I walked up and down the promenade for a while. I went and politely handed the letter to anyone who responded to me in some way-lewd, curious,anything.

Some men would look at me up and down in the lewdest way possible and get completey flabbergasted if I went up to them, smiled and handed a letter.

Guilt? Fear? Something they didn't expect?

One man came to me and said
''So you think I am eve teasing you''?
''Why did you only give me the letter''?

He later told a male friend.
'If a girl walks ''that way''..you know one assumes she is asking for sex.'

But Gateway is also a space where they pick up men/women for sex. is the line between being unapologetic and sexually overt so thin?

But I am by now extremely unapologetic about my walking.

Anyhow, in the corner right in front of a gateway of India stood a pretty white woman in a short yellow dress. When I first spotted her, men collected in a line , at a 'safe' distance and stared.

She fiddled with her phone.I handed her a letter and left.

After a while, I went there and noticed that men were taking turns to take pictures with her.

(This while she was holding our letter)

She was smiling. The crowd thickened. Rumours flew like sparks and at other parts of the promenade, fellow blank noise members overheard conversations

about Preity Zinta or 'some' celebrity being there.

(A photo op for random loiterers, is that the new hobby of celebrities?)

Well.,after a while, about 40 men had crowded around her taking turns to take a picture with her.They helped themselves to her waist while holding her.



And she was smiling , mostly, slightly embarrassed , occasionally uncomfortable.

And maybe behind all mobs, there are a few complacent cops standing at a corner.

We asked the cops why they didn't stop anyone.

They said it was because she agreed to have her picture taken.

I was wondering then if in my mind I allowed the thought that she might have actually enjoyed the attention.And NOT in a negative way- not in a she deserved it sort of a way.

We asked her and she said 'Now , ask them to go.'

It was like a constant seesaw between comfort and discomfort for her.She never really looked threatened, to me atleast.

The only thing that worried me was how the mob gathered so fast, and mobs being mobs, can go out of control.

Which again brings me to the question of when attention is threatening, when it is mildly irritating, when it is flattering and when it can make you bawl.

Action Heroes include: Yamini Deen, Pranav Joshi, Kismet Nakai, Punit, April.

Next event: Blank Noise Bombay on March 29th. Sunday.

CALLING ACTION HEROES. REPORT AT blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com

CALL FOR BLANK NOISE VOLUNTEERS AND INTERN:

Blank Noise is a community of Action Heroes ( citizens as volunteers) committed to building safe cities.

You could volunteer your time. skills and efforts into building this collective. You could also propose a project idea by writing to us at blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IXqsRk9b4eIFGoPQ1-oVqJ7_pLVl6SQIFA98MJNcjmk/viewform

Being An Action Hero and working with Blank Noise is about

• being self confrontational
• tackling your own biases. questioning them.
• asking questions
• meeting deadlines
• rolling your sleeves . getting your hands dirty
• being a good listener
• being enthusiastic
• being patient
• being persistent
• being open
• responsible
• putting in that extra bit
• about collective ownership
• about doing small things
• about making time
• about putting yourself out there
• about conviction

Got that?
Below is an application form for volunteers and interns.

# TO CREATE BLANK NOISE IN YOUR CITY . OR TO BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED WITH BLANK NOISE FROM YOUR CITY- SIGN UP HERE( time period is not defined. could be one or a variety of tasks/ interests/ ideas)

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pXj9QqBrUiZ7KSAIdHH5eMw


# SIGN UP TO BE A BLANK NOISE INTERN ( time period 2 months)
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pXj9QqBrUiZ5RkZL89UmVew

If you have volunteered with Blank Noise in any way possible- do send in your photo
at blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blanknoise/2514560156/

(flickr blog maintained by Dhruva Ghosh. Saptarshi Chakrabarty and Purba Sarkar)



We thank the following people for signing up as volunteers and interns:
( WE WILL BE WRITING TO EACH OF YOU SHORTLY)
JAIPUR
VIVEK KAKKAR
JODHPURPRIYANKA BHANDARI
AHMEDABAD
KHUSHALI PUROHIT
MEGHANA NAYAR
KOLKATA
PUSHPITA PRAMANIK
ADITI. NEHA

LUCKNOW

MOHIT SHARMA

HIMIKA
PUNE * SOLAPURVISHAL GAIKWAD
VADODRA
JYOTI
CHENNAI

JAYSHRI IYERPRIYANKA
DEEPTI

KATHEEJA TALHA
CAMBRIDGE (UK)
REKHA
ADELE
ROME (ITALY)
ADELE
STAMFORD
SUBHA SUNDARAM

SANDIEGO (USA)

AMAN TYAGI

CHANDIGARH
NEERAJ MONGA
NATASHA KAUSHAL
MUMBAICONRAD MENEZES

MOHNISH MOORJANIASAVARI GILL
MADHU AGARWAL
APARNA HAJNIS
CHIRAG SUVARNA
BANGALORE
SANDHYA
BALIKA GOPALKRISHNAN
KV BALAJI
SNEHA
THUPTEN KELSANG

APURVA MATHAD
DELHIMANITA SETHI

SHARAD BHATIA

NEERU MALHOTRADEEPSHIKA ARORA
ANISHKA VARMA
ANUBHAV PRADHAN
SHWETA SINGH
SATYA
RAVISHA MALL
SHWETA SINGH
SHRUTI PANWAR
GURGAON
Prateek Shukla
ANAMIKA
NAGPUR
PRADEEPTI SHARMA

SEND ME YOUR PHOTO: TO EVERY BLANK NOISE SUPPORTER/ VOLUNTEER/ MEMBER

This goes out to any one that has been involved with Blank Noise in any way-

be it online support and participation, street interventions, documentation, research, performance / other An all new Blank Noise Volunteers Flickr Album is finally up and running! Here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blanknoise/ Saptarshi Chakrabarty and Purba Sarkar from Blank Noise Kolkata have set it up and are managing the flickr album. Please note that we are in process of setting this up and not even half way through- thousands of people have volunteered so far but the flickr album has only 200 photographs-

• If you do not find your photograph please let us know.
• If you have never physically met with the Blank Noise Team but been an online participant, we would love to receive a photo from you.
• If you don't want a photo- any visual that symbolizes you- a comic, a plant, a logo- send it in!
• There have also been non blogging, non internet participants - such as parents who may have participated in Blank Noise events- please send us their details as well.
• If its NOT OKAY with you to have your picture in the album, we will remove it.

Please inform us at the earliest by mailing in at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com. Or if you would like to send a picture to include in the album, you can do that too.

Please add in details such as blog address, city you are writing in from, what you do/ profession/ occupation, and how you participated in Blank Noise. Mail in at blurtblanknoise at gmail.com subject titled 'your name + photo' We hope that you will write in as soon as you can. From the rest of us at the Blank Noise Team

SEND ONE GARMENT YOU WORE WHEN YOU WERE "EVE TEASED"

Do you really think you 'asked for it' when you experienced street sexual harassment?
How often have you found yourself blaming the pair of jeans, the salwar kameez, the skirt, the t shirt? Do you really think it is your fault when you are violated? Do you really think you deserve to be humiliated? Do you really think that it is only certain kind of clothes that result in women experiencing street sexual harassment?

We say NO.
We say there is no such thing as 'asking for it' and we need you to prove that for us/ yourself.

How?
Send in 1 garment you wore when you experienced 'eve teasing'. Your garment is your truth, your witness, your evidence, your memory. You can volunteer to collect clothes volunteers from friends, family, peers, associated and sent them in.

You can make this happen. It's simple- ask yourself and others around you to remember that one garment you wore when you were made to feel that you 'asked for it'.

Collect one, two or twenty, be the Blank Noise Action Hero from your city. town. locality.

What next?
We propose to install these clothes on the streets of your city and collectively challenge the notion that women ask to be sexually violated.

Suren Vikash participated in this event by bringing back a bag filled with clothes- belonging to his sister, cousins, and relatives. This is to say that men can participate in actualizing this as well!

• There will be a contact person per city- that could be you. want to volunteer?
• If you wish to collect clothes on behalf of Blank Noise from where you are based, email us. We would be thrilled to have you taking on this responsibility!
• The mailing address will be shared on email and will be city specific.
• Please attach a note about what exactly took place.
• Please attach the age of the person who experienced it.
• Your identity will not be revealed if you do not want it to.
• You could also photograph the garment and send it to us. We will share it on the blog.
• If you have any other ideas on how you can participate- actualizing the event, fund raising, seeking permissions etc, write in now!
• If you have already discarded that one garment to this project- we will be adding your name to this list below. If you have not been mentioned, please email us and we will add you right away!
• some of you may not have the garment with you- for instance if the incident took place in childhood and it was a school uniform- in that case do desrcribe the garment to us, or send us something close to it.
  

The idea- When women experience sexual violence/ harassment/ or are 'teased' they are made to feel guilty for experiencing it. We are taught to blame ourselves for being 'dressed provocatively', for being in the wrong location, at the wrong time. Public perception and blame also assumes that a certain female stereotype gets assaulted for the 'right reasons'. The truth is that we have been receiving all kinds of clothes- school uniforms, saris, short skirts, asexual-shirts, jeans, salwar kameez. No matter what you wear, a no means NO. There is no such thing as 'asking for it'

Blank Noise challenges notions of time, place , dress and person. With I never asked for it- we challenge the notion that women actually 'ask to be sexually assaulted'

We take a stand and urge you to do the same. I never asked for it. Yes we want 1000!

reference:
Our last street action on international women's day, March 8 asked Blank Noise Action Heroes from across the country to come wearing the garment they wore when sexually assaulted.
also see:
Cheap girls and this.

Blank Noise Lucknow. March 8. I NEVER ASK FOR IT

photographs and text from Blank Noise Lucknow is yet to come.

Stay tuned.
'Coming soon'.

Thank you for your patience

How to get a Blank Noise chapter going

Read all you can on our website about what we do.
Make sure you're following discussions on our email group and comment threads on the blog.
Get a group together: friends, relatives, anyone who is interested.
Email us and we can send you material such as posters or fliers and help you get going. Often interventions are conducted simultaneously across multiple cities and it would be great if you could get a group together in your city in time to join the others.
Make sure you are listening to the group and hearing other people's concerns.
Make sure someone is taking minutes of the meeting.

Email us for a skype chat! here we are: blurtblanknoise@gmail.com