By Cara Jepsen
Today’s the last day of the spring conference Stopping Gender Violence on Campus, sponsored by the University of Chicago’s Sexual Violence Prevention Resource Center. Paula Kamen, author of Feminist Fatale and the article “Acquaintance Rape: Revolution and Reaction,” will discuss how social activism has revolutionized sexual attitudes on campus and provoked a conservative backlash in the process. Kamen speaks from 3:30 to 5 at the Social Sciences Research Building, 1126 E. 59th, room 122. It’s free. A reception follows. Call 702-0059.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Jamaica’s prime minister P.J. Patterson comes to Chicago this week to meet with business and government leaders. Tonight he’ll be the guest of honor at a dinner-dance that benefits Jamaica’s National Youth Service Program. The program provides skills training and job placement for young people. Sponsored by the Jamaican consul, Jamaica Tourist Board, and other local Jamaican organizations, the event is at 7 at the Fairmont Hotel, 200 N. Columbus. Tickets are $65. Call 663-0023.
Sunday 5
Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s beautifully shot films include Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, and Shanghai Triad. His 1994 To Live won the Grand Jury and Best Actor prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and incurred sanctions from the Chinese government. It follows the fortunes of Xu Fugui, a rich, lazy gambler who falls on hard times; just when things seem like they’re getting better they get worse. Fugui and his family endure–and survive–the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. It plays tonight at 5 as part of a new Asian filmmakers series in honor of Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington. It’s free; call 346-3278.
For many years Susan Murphy Milano’s father, a batterer, alcoholic, and police officer, threatened to kill his wife if she ever left him. In 1989 he carried out that threat, killing her and then himself. The incident prompted Milano to push for the Illinois stalking law, which passed in 1993. She also founded Project Protect, a national nonprofit organization that provides 24-hour protection and housing for battered women and their children. She’ll give a talk called Safe Relationship Behaviors at the Women in Management luncheon today at 11:30 at the East Bank Club, 500 N. Kingsbury. It’s $45. Call 419-0171 for more.
Since 1991 San Francisco’s KMEL has been home to “Street Soldiers,” a Sunday night talk show that encourages youths in the thick of gang violence to call in and talk about their problems. Hosted by Joseph Marshall Jr. and Margaret Norris, the program is riveting for its gritty reality; one night a young woman called asking what to do after her boyfriend gunned down her family. Marshall and Norris quickly put on a rap record and counseled the woman off the air. Marshall knows what he’s doing; as founder of the Omega Boys Club, he works every day to transform gang members into college-bound teenagers. Marshall tells his story in his new book Street Soldier: One Man’s Struggle to Save a Generation–One Life at a Time. He’ll sign copies from 7:30 to 8:30 tonight at Barnes & Noble, 659 W. Diversey. It’s free; call 871-9004 for more.
