Kansas State University

FIRE hosts coalition week to Take Back Our Lives

Submitted by Shireen Roshanravan

Please join FIRE — Feminists Igniting Resistance and Empowerment — a registered departmental student organization, for our coalition week April 19-23 to Take Back Our Lives. Given the challenges of the last year, it is more important than ever to connect with each other as we reflect on and lift up the ways we can and do take back our lives from daily violences.

From Monday, April 19, to Thursday, April 22, FIRE will have a table on the Union terrace from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. along with other campus organizations committed to building a violence-free campus. Stop by to find out more about the resources and community they offer. There will also be instructions and supplies available to make a shirt for the Clothesline Project and/or to write a survivor love letter to show support for and solidarity with survivors of sexual violence.

On Friday, April 23, the Clothesline Project showcase will be on display in 204 Multicultural Student Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At 4 p.m. in City Park, take part in the Wildcat Walk: To End Sexual Violence, which will culminate at Bosco Plaza where speakers and survivors will share their stories.

FIRE is also hosting a virtual visit with Hil Malatino, author of "Queer Embodiment" and "Trans Care." Malatino's research addresses how queer, trans- and gender-nonconforming people develop radical collective practices of care to survive and thrive against long histories of institutionalized violence. He will join interested students for an informal Zoom coffee hour discussion from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Monday, April 19, and give a public livestream talk from 4-5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20. 

To access the links for any of Malatino's virtual online events, please complete this registration form.

For more information about FIRE, please follow us on twitter @FIRE_KSTATE and on Instagram @fireatkstate. 

Take Back Our Lives events April 19-23:

• Monday-Friday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Tabling on the Union Terrace.
• Monday 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Student Zoom coffee hour with Hil Malatino.
• Tuesday 4-5 p.m.: "Queer Embodiment" and "Trans Care" public livestream talk. 
• Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Clothesline Project Showcase Multicultural Student Center Room 204. 
• Friday 4 p.m.: Wildcat Walk to End Sexual Violence at City Park.
• Friday 5 p.m.: Speak Out Against Sexual Violence at Bosco Plaza.

Malatino's visit is co-sponsored by the American ethnic studies department; the Diversity Programming Council; the DOW Center for Multicultural and Community Studies; the gender, women, and sexuality studies department; the philosophy department; the LGBT Resource Center; and the Arts and Sciences College Committee on Diversity.