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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2018 www.ncfcatalyst.com | @ncfcatalyst
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Roxane Gay visits Tampa
The Activist Newsletter Giulia Heyward/Catalyst
Throughout this week (10/3–10/10), activists have the opportunity to participate in voter registration, canvassing and phone banking. Read on if you want to get involved in the community in the lead up to November’s election!
BY CASSIE MANZ Wed., Oct. 3, Reproductive Rights Phone Bank @ 6 - 8 p.m. Planned Parenthood Sarasota Health Center - 736 Central Ave., Sarasota. Join forces with Planned Parenthood and make calls to their supporters. Contact annie. rosenblum@ppswcf.org for any questions. Thurs., Oct. 4, Democratic Lit Packing Party @ 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Sarasota County Democratic Headquarters - 7358 S. Tamiami Trl., Sarasota. Canvassing isn’t the only way to get involved with the midterm elections! This Thursday join Sarasota County Democrats in packing candidate literature and amendment information into canvas packs. Depending on the area to be canvassed, each packet will include all local and state candidate literature and information on the amendments. Visit https://events. mobilizeamerica.io/flcc/ event/25713/ to sign up. Thurs., Oct. 4, Know Your Rights Panel @ 6 p.m. HCL 8 Come out to the ACLU of NCF’s Know Your Rights Panel! There will be food catered by Thai Spice, lawyers and plenty of answers to all of your burning legal questions. This is a great opportunity to get information on personal legal issues and on civil liberties more generally.
Courtesy of Alessandra Casanova Roxane Gay reading exerts of her book to the audience.
Sat., Oct. 6, Knocking Doors in North Sarasota @ 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Sarasota County Democratic Headquarters - 7358 S. Tamiami Trl., Sarasota. Meet at the Democratic headquarters before heading out to neighborhoods in North Sarasota and engaging with community members in conversations about candidates and important issues in the upcoming election. Training and materials will be provided prior to canvassing. Visit https:// events.mobilizeamerica.io/flcc/ event/25741/ to sign up! Sat., Oct. 6, Vote for Our Lives Rally @ 1 - 4 p.m. Bayfront Park - Marina Jack Trl., Sarasota. Get engaged this Saturday afternoon with the opportunity to hear from local and state candidates, learn about the ballot amendments and register to vote before the Oct. 9 deadline! The Sarasota County Democratic Party will have a table! Mon., Oct. 8, #TeamGillum Phone Bank @ 6 - 8 p.m. Sarasota County Democratic Headquarters - 7358 S. Tamiami Trl., Sarasota. Do you love talking on the phone? Want to get engaged in democracy? Come out and make some calls for gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum! If possible, bring a smartphone and laptop, as paper sheets will be limited. Visit https:// events.mobilizeamerica.io/flcc/ event/25446/ to sign up.
Courtesy of Alessandra Casanova Roxane Gay signing books and talking to fans after her talk.
BY MICHALA HEAD “It’s okay kids, major in English, it’s going to be fine,” New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger Roxane Gay said to a crowd of eager University of South Florida (USF) students. Gay recently graced Tampa with her presence, taking time to talk to a packed theatre about her books and current events, answer burning questions and, afterwards, sign copies of her works. Gay did not appear in Florida on a whim, rather she was invited to speak for the Sept. 27 installment of the USF College of Arts and Sciences’ Frontier Forum lecture series. “We felt that Gay’s work touched on a number of important issues: sexual assault, toxic masculinity, body image, racism, etc.,” Assistant Dean for Communication, Community and Global Engagement Elizabeth Kicak said in an email interview. “She is considered to be one of the best in her field, as an academic, while also having a strong following among non-academics.” When doors opened for the event at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts half an hour prior to Gay stepping foot on stage, the foyer had already been elbow-to-elbow crowded. Donors to the university, students from USF and several other nearby colleges, members of the general public and Gay’s parents (according to her)
were in attendance. The stage on which Gay spoke had a lovely living room setting in place, from where she read from two of her books on the couch. She was later joined by Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Eric M. Eisenberg, who sat adjacent on a matching, plump chair. Gay opened the seminar with discussion of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony, which had taken place earlier that day, and read the introduction she wrote for Not that Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture. This anthology, edited by Gay, features a collection of essays regarding mostly women’s experiences with sexual harassment and assault. Gay detailed her own personal experience in Not That Bad’s introduction. “May all our lives be so ruined,” Gay said, speaking to the assumed probability that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will be appointed in spite of recent sexual assault allegations against him. Gay also brought up her Yale University days and the reputation of Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE), the fraternity of which Kavanaugh was a member. “When I heard Kavanaugh was in DKE, I knew he did it,” Gay said. Gay also brought up more lighthearted topics throughout the evening, such as her love for Barefoot Contessa host Ina Garten and her frequent disdain for her personal
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