Levana’s Feminist Reading Group Reads “The Hunger Games”

The Levana Gender Advocacy Centre’s feminist reading group meets once a month to discuss a different text and the book we are reading this month is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

“In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. 

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before — and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.“

The book is available for purchase at bookstores like Novel Idea (20% off when you mention it’s for the reading group!) or borrow a copy for free from Levana’s library (come visit us in the Grey House!). You can also download the audio book through the Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

We’re meeting to discuss the book on
Tuesday, August 28th at 6:30pm
Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Central branch in the Boucher room (130 Johnson St.)

Everyone is welcome!
Free vegetarian dinner will be served.

The space is wheelchair accessible.
Childcare available — please e-mail us.
Let us know if there’s any other way we can make this event accessible and/or convenient for you. Contact us at levanacentre@gmail.com

Check out the facebook event.

Happy reading!

Downloads!

We have a new page up on our website called ‘Downloads’ (hover over ‘Links & Resources’) and we’ll use the space to post downloadable materials we create.

Right now you can find some posters, flyers, stickers, and bookmarks we created about cis privilege and education. Feel free to download the PDF files, print, share, and post wherever! We’d love some feedback on these materials, so please share your thoughts, criticisms, suggestions, etc. by e-mailing us at levanacentre@gmail.com

Some of the materials (find more on the Downloads page!):

      

LGAC & Ignite! present a screening of Saving Face!

Levana Gender Advocacy Centre and Ignite! present…
a free Sunday night film screening of Saving Face!

Saving Face is a hilarious romantic comedy written and directed by Alice Wu about queerness, race, family, and awkward situations.

A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations. Stars Joan Chen, Michelle Krusiec, and Lynn Chen.

Watch the trailer:

Join Levana & Ignite! for a free Sunday night movie! Refreshments provided!

Sunday, March 25 (TOMORROW!) at 7pm

at the AKA Autonomous Social Centre located at 75 Queen St. (corner of Wellington)

Check out the facebook event.

Venue is wheelchair-accessible.
Childcare available upon request – email us at levanacentre@gmail.com!

*rescheduled* Levana’s Feminist Reading Group Reads ZINES!

The Levana Gender Advocacy Centre’s feminist reading group meets once a month to discuss a different text and this month we’re reading a couple of ZINES from our growing zine collection! Specifically, we’ll be reading Learning Good Consent and TimTum: A Trans Jew Zine.

Zines (pronounced ‘zeen,’ like magazine) are self-published booklets or magazines, often handcrafted and photocopied, about anything!

Learning Good Consent:

“Curated by Doris editor Cindy Crabb, Learning Good Consent looks at the culture of sexual consent from a standpoint both sexy and educational. In a world of shady abusers, demonized victims, and one-sided dating rituals, Consent has your back. As says Cindy in the zine’s intro, ‘Talking about our experiences with consent, our struggles, our mistakes and how we’ve learned, these are part of a much larger revolutionary struggle.’”

TimTum: A Trans Jew Zine:

Author Micah Bazant uses ‘timtum,’ a Yiddish word for an androgynous person or effeminate man as an identifier, and adds another definition: “a sexy, smart, creative, productive Jewish genderqueer.” The personal zine sees Micah struggle with both transgender and Jewish identities, histories, and terminologies.

Copies of the zines are available for free from Levana’s library (come visit us in the Grey House on or after Jan. 10th!) or read them online/print them out yourself!

Learning Good Consent — READ / PRINT (when printing, make sure to select ‘short-edge’ binding)
TimTum: A Trans Jew Zine – READ / PRINT (when printing, make sure to select ’2 pages per sheet’ and ‘short-edge’ binding)

We’re meeting to discuss the zines on
Thursday, March 29th at 6:30pm
Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Central branch in the Boucher room (130 Johnson St.)
Everyone is welcome!

The space is wheelchair accessible.
Childcare available — please e-mail us.
Let us know if there’s any other way we can make this event accessible and/or convenient for you. Contact us at levanacentre@gmail.com

Check out the facebook event.

Happy reading!

Make Your Own Demon! (As part if International Women’s Week)

A feminist craft session for people of all genders, inspired by Lynda Barry’s graphic novel One Hundred Demons

Supplies provided, but feel free to bring your own as well!
No experience with arts or crafts necessary.
No previous knowledge of Lynda Barry’s One Hundred Demons necessary. However, if you would like to check it out, you can borrow a copy from Levana’s library by visiting our office at the Grey House (51 Bader Lane).

Venue is wheelchair-accessible.
Kids welcome.
Refreshments provided.
Time: 2:00pm-5:00pm
Location: AKA Autonomous Social Centre – 75 Queen Street 

Childcare available – please contact levanacentre@gmail.com or (613) 533–2963 to make arrangements
Please contact us with any access needs at levanacentre@gmail.com

We all struggle with demons throughout our lives. Levana sees demons everywhere – Patriarchy, Heteronormativity, Capitalism, Racism, Partner Abuse, to name a few. In One Hundred Demons, Lynda Barry devoted a chapter each to 20 of her own demons, exploring her experiences of racism, violence, loneliness, adolescence, etc. At the end of the book, she invites readers to create visual representations of their own demons.

At Levana, we see all kinds of demons haunting our lives in Kingston: bad jobs or no jobs, violent partners, racist bus drivers, street harassment, reduced/threatened spaces for marginalized students at Queen’s, inadequate mental health support, fat-shaming doctors and nurses, judgmental and suspicious social workers. We also know the demons of inadequacy and insecurity, body shame and fat shame, internalized oppression and self-hatred. In order to unearth our demons, we must identify them; call them out. To build loving, caring, strong communities, we’ve got to confront the demons that prevent us from treating each other well, caring for and supporting one another.

There’s rarely intentional space for us to discuss and challenge our demons, and even less space to do so together. We often feel alone and isolated, like these problems are our own to face, rather than finding comfort, support, and solidarity from so many others around us. And we’re made to feel responsible for these burdens, rather than understanding that the whole world is upside-down.

This event is an opportunity to create representations of some of the demons that haunt our lives and share them together. It will be a time to get together and talk, enjoy some music, and eat snacks.

 

 

BOTTOMS UP: Queer & Feminist Hip Hop Night!

PUSH IT! OPIRG Kingston’s 2nd Annual Hip Hop Festival, in collaboration with the Levana Gender Advocacy Centre, presents…

BOTTOMS UP: QUEER & FEMINIST HIP HOP NIGHT
featuring LOST BOIS, ABSTRACT RANDOM, & MC MAN CHYNA

Saturday, March 3rd
The Mansion (basement) – 506 Princess St.
doors at 9pm
19+

Check out the facebook event.

*Venue is unfortunately NOT wheelchair-accessible and the show is NOT all ages. We apologize for that.

Tickets $10 available at the Grey House (51 Bader Lane), Monday to Thursday 11am-5pm
OR at the door

$25 for a festival pass (covers all 3 festival events including the OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP DANCE PARTY & 2 shows)

—
Want to help out?
We’re also looking for volunteers to help out with set-up/take down and running the door at the shows! You will be granted FREE admission to the show!
Write us at: info@opirgkingston.org
—

Full Festival details at www.hiphop.opirgkingston.org

LOST BOIS
Lost Bois are a queer hip-pop duo for studs, bubbles, girlies, and weirdos of all kinds. A.O. and B.Steady are self-described as “a couple of silly sexy word sculptresses from DC with a mission to make fun music for the most serious of strugglers.” At the age of 12 two lost bois met and, in friendship found musical solidarity. In their teens, A.O. and B.steady shared the stage as vocalists in a jazz band, falling in love with the nuances of the jazz standard. Through college, the bois independently fostered their passions for music and founded The Q Crew; an all-female queer rap trio. Upon their return to DC in the summer of ’09, A.O. and B.Steady reunited with a fierce determination to challenge the sexist, racist, and homophobic hot-mess that is mainstream music. The Lost Bois are revolutionizing the queer music scene with a mission to make wacky and silly music for the most serious of strugglers.

ABSTRACT RANDOM
Abstract Random is a three human animal in facepaint and costume under a video projection. They call the wordsoundbeat electro dub hop bringing back feminist political cool. Composed of Jamilah Malika (vocals), Loversun aka F. Nocera (producer, vocals, visuals) and Ayo Leilani (vocals). They have played NXNE, Canadian Music Week, Under The Volcano, Brooklyn Boihood, Womens’ World Conference, Nuit Blanche, Manifesto; from galleries to bars to bookstores, festivals and parks; with the love from audiences from their hometown of Toronto to Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Guelph and Brooklyn.

MAN CHYNA
Man Chyna burst from a Smoky Mountain-womb, just like his personal (s)hero, Dolly Parton. Part burlesque and part faggotronic rap, Man Chyna strip hops around Canada like a sissy M.I.A (Sissy Elliot?). Won’t you be the Boy-oncé to his Gay-Z? Mo Homo.

Levana’s Feminist Reading Group Reads “Angela Davis: An Autobiography”

The Levana Gender Advocacy Centre’s feminist reading group meets once a month to discuss a different text and the book we are reading this month (for Black History Month!) is Angela Davis: An Autobiography by none other than Angela Davis.

“First published in 1974, when Angela Davis was 28, this is as fine a memoir of the 60s and 70s as you’ll find. More than that, its a journey from a childhood on Dynamite Hill in Birmingham, Alabama to one of the most significant political trials of the 20th century; from political activity in a New York high school to the Soledad brothers; from the faculty of the Philosophy Dept. at UCLA to the FBI’s list of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. A powerful and commanding story told with warmth, brilliance, humor, and conviction.”

The book is available for purchase at Levana’s library (come visit us in the Grey House!) or borrow a copy for free. Also available at Stauffer Library.

We’re meeting to discuss the book on
Tuesday, February 28th at 6:30pm
Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Central branch in the Boucher room (130 Johnson St.)
Everyone is welcome!

The space is wheelchair accessible.
Childcare available — please e-mail us.
Let us know if there’s any other way we can make this event accessible and/or convenient for you. Contact us at levanacentre@gmail.com

Check out the facebook event.

Happy reading!