‘V-Day’ celebration hopes to help ‘Break the Chain of Violence’

The Break The Chain flash mob dance at Southern Oregon Women’s March in January 2020.
February 4, 2023

Feb. 14 program includes, speakers, dance, music, performance, all striving to raise awareness and end violence

By Debora Gordon for Ashland.news

Inspired by the work of the former Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues” who went on to found “V-Day” and the One Billion Rising movement, Ashlander Lynne Pethtel is organizing “Break the Chain of Violence,” an evening of music and dance performances and a debut performance on Feb. 14.

Pethtel, an Ashland resident, said she has always had a passion for social justice as expressed through music, and was inspired to go forward with this event after learning about V-Day Rising. V-Day was founded in 2012 by V (formerly Eve Ensler) to raise awareness and end violence against women.

A 30-year founding member of Women Making Music, a nonprofit in Northern California, Pethtel organized Ashland’s V-Day event in February 2020. After a COVID-19-induced hiatus, Break the Chain will return this Valentine’s Day.

This event is designed to bring people together in dance and song, focusing awareness on the violence experienced by women and girls, whether they be cisgender, transgender, gender non-conforming, BIPOC, Jewish, Asian, in poverty or otherwise marginalized in the community. 

“We connect through all of our diversity and our marginalized communities,” Pethtel said. “We can grow stronger when people come together in solidarity; healing can occur. We have a connection with the diversity of our community rooted in love, inclusion, solidarity, celebration.”

V-Day has now grown into a global grassroots organization called One Billion Rising, a reference to the estimated number of women across the planet who will be beaten or raped during their lifetime.

The “Break the Chain of Violence!” event is set for 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Wesley Hall at First United Methodist Church, 175 N. Main St., Ashland. Graphic by EK Graphics

The public is welcome to join together in Ashland in solidarity with the many other actions around the world that will be held on that day to create a joyful, creative celebration of diversity and express solidarity by denouncing the violence that many marginalized community members experience.

The event will include the community flash mob dance protesting domestic violence; as well as music, speakers and educational booths.

Marta Quest and a drumming circle of women will start the evening off, followed by Lisa Ebony, who will sing “Say Her Name.” Ebony is the leader of the Ashland BIPoC Sanctuary and co-host of shows on Ashland’s local community radio station KSKQ, including The Chop Shop and Friday nights music show, The Music That Makes Us.

Dr. Louise Paré, global women’s spirituality educator and author, will speak about the current situation of Ukrainian women and girls regarding human and sex trafficking.

Alicia Gerrity, the Southern Oregon University student body president, will debut “BODYlogues,” which addresses systems of privilege, hierarchies of power, societal mistreatment of bodies, and the expectations placed upon them.

The Women With Wings choir and the Holy Misfits will sing.

Educational booths will include Community Works Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Sex Trafficking Resource Center; SART (the Sexual Assault Response Team); SOPride and “Breaking Trafficking Traps” in Ukraine. Jackson County library offer a sampling of books reflective of diversity and inclusion.

The event is open to the public. It’s scheduled to run from 6 to 8 pm. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Wesley Hall at the First United Methodist Church at 175 N. Main St., Ashland.

Donations will be accepted. For more information, email [email protected].

Debora Gordon is a writer, artist, educator and non-violence activist who recently moved to Ashland from Oakland, California. Email Ashland.news Executive Editor Bert Etling at [email protected] or call or text him at 541-631-1313.

Feb. 10 update: Opening paragraph changed to better reflect event organizer’s motivations.

Picture of Bert Etling

Bert Etling

Bert Etling is the executive editor of Ashland.news. Email him at [email protected].

Related Posts...

‘No Kings’ protest planned Saturday in Medford

Southern Oregonians are expected to turn out Saturday as part of a nationwide protest dubbed “No Kings” protesting how President “Donald Trump has been reaching for unprecedented powers, fashioning himself a ruler in a country founded on a rejection of kings,” according to an event announcement posted on the Oregon District 2 Indivisible website. 

Read More »

Soaring success for Ashland Airport Day

Gleaming little planes were parked in rows down a portion of the runway with others taking off on the available runway. Helicopters were parked and flying overhead too. A trio of skydivers descended one after another, and parents knelt down to point up as children stared upward, fascinated, at the Ashland Municipal Airport’s annual Airport Day.

Read More »

Our Sponsors

Wildfire Preparedness Print Guide Ashland.news
Jefferson Pipe Band Celtic Summer Concert Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall Rogue Valley Ashland Oregon
Ashland Climate Collaborative Sreets for Everyone Ashland Oregon

Latest posts

Oregon governor surprises SOU grads

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek surprised Southern Oregon University graduates on a sunny Saturday morning at the school’s 99th commencement ceremony. Kotek, who congratulated each graduate on the stage during the more than two-hour event,  described the tumultuous times facing the class of 2025.

Read More >

Picture This: SOU’s mortarboard messages

It’s a small space — 9.5 by 9.5 inches, 90.25 square inches — but many of the nearly 900 Southern Oregon University graduates in attendance at Saturday’s commencement ceremony took advantage of the moment, perched on the cusp of finishing one of life’s chapters with beginning another, to do some succinct summing up atop their mortarboards.

Read More >

Viewpoint: A protest is not a rebellion

James Lobsenz: There is a difference between a protest and a rebellion. Hundreds of thousands of people protested the Vietnam War. But the fact that they marched, carried signs, chanted, engaged in sit-ins, and burned their draft cards, does not mean they engaged in a “rebellion” against the United States.

Read More >

Our Sponsors

Southern Oregon Summer Camps and Activities Directory Ashland Medford Oregon
Pronto Printing Ashland Medford Southern Oregon
Conscious Design Build Ashland Oregon
Ashland.news House Ad

Explore More...

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek surprised Southern Oregon University graduates on a sunny Saturday morning at the school’s 99th commencement ceremony. Kotek, who congratulated each graduate on the stage during the more than two-hour event,  described the tumultuous times facing the class of 2025.
It's a small space — 9.5 by 9.5 inches, 90.25 square inches — but many of the nearly 900 Southern Oregon University graduates in attendance at Saturday's commencement ceremony took advantage of the moment, perched on the cusp of finishing one of life's chapters with beginning another, to do some succinct summing up atop their mortarboards.
Southern Oregon Climate Action Now launched its premier Green Business Recognition ceremony on Thursday, June 12, with a “green ribbon cutting” at a four-plex built out of straw bales on Wightman Street in Ashland.
Meredith Page: I do not want this to get lost in the news. The U.S. Army has been planning its 250th birthday celebration for two years; it's on June 14. This day has been stolen from the brave women and men who defend this country and our freedoms.
ashland.news logo

Subscribe to the newsletter and get local news sent directly to your inbox.

(It’s free)

Don't Miss Our Top Stories

Get our newsletter delivered to your inbox three times a week.
It’s FREE and you can cancel anytime.