The opening performance was extremely attention grabbing. We weren’t able to take videos or pictures because it was a traditional song from her family however her voice was powerful and made the whole room echo so I won’t ever forget it. Following the performance the WWR panel went upstage and gave us some information about WWR, and what each of them are mostly involved in. The most interesting thing was the tie they made between two totally different sounds, Punk and HipHop, both of which are displays of struggle, injustice, or expressions of emotion. Next came percussion by “Fernando” I believe, which is a live band who plays a traditional “Jam Session” type performance. So many different instruments and loud bangs at once it’s pretty interesting. Kind of reminds me of improvised Jazz without the Jazz. Pretty engaging and fun to watch!
The opening
So great to see these powerful, imaginative, joyful, inspiring women up front!
The beginning of the panelists.
Group 10
The theater is filling up with friends, musicians, and members of the community. The panel has just started with the creators of the event taking the stage. The atmosphere is electric with love, supportiveness, and depth. It’s sweet to see the community that is working together to bring the WWR goals into reality. There was a round of applause for all the people who have contributed to the scene so far. The community is only growing from here and the passion exhibited by many of the attendees is evident. It’s inspiring to hear the stories from when Women Who Rock just started and the origin of the name (un)conference. It sets the stage for women to feel empowered, have a safe place to express themselves, and have their voices heard.
Timeline
The WWR timeline. Happy 5th anniversary!
Opening video montage
So wonderful to see friends in the videos — participants from past years — Sherrie Tucker, Tiffany Ana Lopez, and more!
The community altar
The altar is coming together. Women go up in twos and threes, adding photos, drawings, messages, and more. I forgot to bring something to put on the altar! I wish I had brought a photo of Professor Kanchana Intarasunanont, my musician friend who passed away two months ago…
International Women’s Day musical brigade march
Marching up Rainier Ave — singing, chanting, second line spirit of community in the street — it was sweet. And so many Asian Pacific American women! Thank you to the members of Gabriela for leading the way in your purple sweatshirts!
Morning energy at WWR
Group 10
The atmosphere was vibrant and energetic when I arrived at WWR this morning. I got to participate in setting up the stage for the many wonderful artists who will be preforming today. There is so much talent and positivity in the room; I instantly feel at home with my fellow volunteers. The artwork is truly inspiring and includes many pieces depicting different textures, colors, and prominent figures. My favorite aspect is setting up the alters with flowers, colorful tissue paper, and candy skulls. The parade is invigorating and brings a new energy to the conference. It’s so gratifying to be a part of the WWR culture and be working with so many creative people to create the space for community building and personal growth.
AIDS Quilt
During the conference held by Anne Balsamo, she brought up the project that involved the AIDS quilt. The AIDS quilt is a quilt that was assembled by donators to honor family and friends of loved ones that died due to AIDS. Anne Balsamo and her group brought this quilt to Washington DC In order to show and let people come and reminisce in their memories. Unfortunately the weather was not at par with sunny conditions, so they came up with an alternative idea. Anne and her team turned the 84,000 panel quilt into an online database. Not only did this benefit the people in Washington DC who could not see the laid out quilt, this allowed anyone in any state to view and reminisce in the memories.
-Kyle Helgerson
Anne Balsamo
Anne Balsamo started her conference today speaking about people and technology, how people are constantly engaging in the material of the world in order to create the foundation for future word making ideas. Anne mentioned in her lecture that people are starting to use new tools in technology so that they could “break the norms” and create something new, just like music. Artists are constantly “breaking the norms” in order to entertain a new or keep their audience always coming back to their shows. Turn tables are a great example of technology that helped change the music world. Turn tables provided a new style to music that nobody had thought of before, this allowed for a more unique sound and eventually a new type of music was born from it.
-Kyle Helgerson
Women Who Rock 