First Educational Group of the Year = SUCCESS!

Our first educational discussion group of the year was a success! Hanalei was our gracious facilitator who made an intensely crafty and informative timeline of Filipino American history. And all of the post-its represent all of us who came through!

Thanks to Macky, Julie, Jacky, Sarita, Jennine and Lynda for attending and contributing to a lengthy and educational discussion!

There'll be more discussion groups in the coming months and if you'd like to come, please contact Kimmie David, our Educational Development queen at fire.nyc@gmail.com for date, location, time and readings!

Are you an artist?!

Hello folks! Thank you so much for your support in the last year! This April, FiRE will be celebrating our one year anniversary at Judson Memorial Church. WE WANT YOU to join our all Pinay line up!

What's below is just for the Silent Auction portion, BUT, we are also looking for bands, performers, singers...anything! :)

email us! diwangpinay@gmail.com

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DIWANG PINAY 2008: Rise, Women, Rise
A Call for Donations for Our Silent Auction

Saturday, April 19, 2008, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), a volunteer-run, mass-based women's organization serving the New York City area, will celebrate its one year anniversary by hosting the first-ever all Filipina and Filipina-American artists' showcase, DIWANG PINAY ("Spirit of the Filipina"): "Rise, Women, Rise" and is currently accepting donations or art work created by and books authored by Filipina and Filipina-American artist.

Diwang Pinay ("Spirit of the Filipina") is an annual performance and silent auction in New York City showcasing Filipina/ Filipina-American performers, writers, and visual artists. Diwang Pinay hopes to promote the work of Pinay artists everywhere AND represent the expanding cultural backbone of the Filipina diaspora. This FiRE event is one of the few venues solely dedicated to providing Filipinas and Filipina-Americans a platform to display their triumphs and struggles through art, linking history to the narrative of today’s overseas Filipina.

April 19, 2008 will mark the first of the annual Diwang Pinay series, and in 2008, calls attention to the human rights violations that run rampant in the Philippines. The toll of women community leaders who are murdered or disappear continue to rise, which has prompted FiRE to create this artistic venue featuring singer/songwriters, performers, and visual artists in order to draw attention to the hostile climate which women organizers face today, and the culture of resistance that triumphantly surfaces during these times.

Filipina artists of various artistic disciplines from the New York City area and beyond are invited to donate their work to the Diwang Pinay: Rise, Women, Rise Silent Auction. By doing so, you will be entitled to free admission for you and a guest to Diwang Pinay 2008, and recognition in the Diwang Pinay program and website. All proceeds in the sale of your work will go toward sustaining FiRE's community education projects and its future programming.



Submission guidelines:

1) Thank you for your interest in donating your work! This means a lot to us, so please email Melanie Dulfo at diwangpinay@gmail.com with the following information:

Your Name

Your Phone

Your Mailing address

Your email

Artist bio

Description of submitted work

Estimated value of your piece

2) You will then be sent a mailing address where you can send in or drop off your work.

3) Should you need more information, have questions about your specific medium, or anything else, please feel free to email us at diwangpinay@gmail.com. Or visit www.firenyc.org to learn more about Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE.)

Holiday Hiatus: OVER!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We're back, and thinking of you! We know there haven't been that many updates, but we collectively decided to give ourselves some time to miss the community work (hence, the silence on our end!) We've returned refreshed, a little chubbier from the family parties, and looking forward to the 2008 we got planned for y'all!

From the East Coast, FiRE NYC hopes our kasamas and allies had a safe holiday season, and rang in the new year right! Amidst the turbulence of now, we are grateful to be beside you in this movement. Thank you for struggling it out with us during our first year, as these growing pains have been quite challenging to overcome. Please know how grateful we are to you for your commitment to us. Thank you, kasamas and allies, your support makes us the organization we are today! Please keep a look out for an eventful 2008, as Diwang Pinay comes to the East Coast and FiRE hits its first anniversary!

Oh yes, check back soon for the swell of updates. :)