Welcome to our new weekly newsletter, POWER House Speak for the Week! In this and upcoming newsletters, we will recap what’s going on with the POWER House, repro rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ equality.
This has been a busier than average week for us. Tuesday was the first in a 6-week series on personal safety course. This a comprehensive will teach the basics of situational awareness, best practices on personal safety, and more. If you missed this one and still want to attend, no worries. We’ll be happy to get you caught up! The course is every Tuesday from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the POWER House.
We are also very excited about our street medic training and/or legal observer training coming up tomorrow, Saturday September 23 from 1:00 to 4:00 at the POWER House. The street medic training will focus on basic first aid, tear gas antidotes, pepper spray antidotes, and proper handling of hurt individuals in a way that does not cause additional injury. This class is offered by a nationally certified paramedic with 7 years of experience. The workshop will also cover situational awareness. We doubt this is a course we will be able to repeat, so make sure to attend!
Legal observer training will be offered right after the street medic training for those who are already in the medical field or street medic training is not for them.
All of these classes are offered for FREE, but donations are always appreciated. If you wish to participate, please mark “GOING” ASAP so we can arrange for a larger space if necessary.
*WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ENTRY TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY REASON.*
**This training is not certifiable in the State of Alabama and is for informational use only. For more information about legal liabilities please see: http://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/volunteer/assets/GoodSamaritanAct.pdf Please note that all attendees must sign a waiver of liability before taking the street medic class.
Wednesday, POWER House founder Mia met with representatives from URGE Alabama to discuss how we can work together to forward reproductive and gender equality. URGE was founded in 1992 by Gloria Steinem, Kristina Keihl, and Julie Burton and currently has chapters in six states. All chapters are on college campuses and have the goal of empowering young leaders in fight for reproductive and gender equality. We are excited to be working with them.
Last night, you may have seen a group of POWER House folks protesting at the Moore/Strange debate in Montgomery. We were there with signs supporting healthcare, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ equality. Afterward, we went to the train shed where Sarah Palin was campaigning for Roy Moore. We were protesting alongside Frannie from the Kudzu Coalition as well as some other great local activists. Mia was there with a large co-exist flag and live streamed it all to FaceBook. Both Moore and Strange are actively campaigning on promises to destroy these important freedoms. We will continue to fight against this. Ask us how you can join us!
We would also like to recognize that this is Bi Awareness Week. Established in in 2014, the purpose of this week is to bring awareness and visibility to the bisexual community. For more information, check out this article from GLAAD https://www.glaad.org/biweek2017.