Happy International Women's Day!

As a woman, a mother, a founding member of the Women Creating Peace Collective, a national staff member of CODEPINK: Women for Peace and an advisory board member of the Afghan Women's Writing Project, this day has great meaning for me. I love connecting with women around the world to share our stories, our strength. This is the 100th year of International Women's Day, and we have a couple of local events planned to celebrate the occasion.

Today (Tuesday, March 8), the Women Creating Peace Collective will stand on the Mt. Rubidoux Ave. bridge (over Mission Inn Ave.) in Riverside in solidarity with CODEPINK, Women for Women International, and women standing up for peace all around the globe. The bridge movement was inspired by brave women in the Congo and Rwanda who joined together on a bridge bordering their two countries to stand up for peace and an end to violence against women. Please join us at 4pm, or find a bridge in your own area here.

The Women Creating Peace Collective will continue to celebrate International Women's Day on Saturday, March 26 at our 7th annual Gather the Women Conference. In the past, the event has been held at Cal State San Bernardino; we are excited to bring the event to downtown Riverside this year, where it will be more accessible to the wider community.

The conference will feature a day of inspiring, empowering workshops on creativity, sustainability, activism, spirituality and more. Our keynote speaker is internationally known drummer Rowan Storm, whose address will be "Women's Work Throughout the Ages: Timekeepers, Drummers, Weavers of Community." The conference runs from 9-5; at 8:30, we will gather at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3657 Lemon St., Riverside, CA 92501, and break out into concurrent workshops at various downtown venues. There will be a women's marketplace in the library plaza throughout the day and an evening concert of dance, music and spoken word at the Riverside Woman's Club, 4092 10th St., Riverside, CA 92501, 7-9pm. For more information, to register for the conference, or apply to be a vendor in the women's marketplace, please visit www.womencreatingpeace.org (the site which Michael put together for us, through many late nights with WCP creatrix Nancy, even in the midst of his double vision). It will be a beautiful day--please join us if you can.