March will forever bring up a lot of feelings for me, and I’m guessing it might for you as well. It’s been two years since our collective existence changed, and I feel ilke this month will always come with some recognition of the trauma we’ve experienced (are experiencing), especially the jolt of how quickly our worlds shifted in those early days of the pandemic. Things feel very heavy right now, in our community and beyond. But, Spring will come. Probably not without another snow event, but it will come. Here are a few humble suggestions for making this a meaningful month. A month that brings attention to both women and people with disabilities. It’s a time to bring our focus to those groups of people, but let’s remember that our advocacy should last longer than a month. Also, trans women are women.
Photo from College of Applied Health and Sciences Facebook page.
Recognize Disability Awareness Month
The College of Education Special Education Graduate Student Association is hosting a film festival in honor of Disability Awareness Month. When you register for the event, you will be sent links to view two different films, beginning March 17th. Then there will be film discussions with each filmmaker on March 24th and 25th. The films:
- “Kelly’s Hollywood tells the intimate story of a woman who has Down syndrome and her loving brother who wants to help her realize her dream of becoming a Hollywood diva, until it starts to threaten his engagement and he is forced to confront his co-dependent sibling relationship.” Discussion with Brian Donovan March 24th at 5:30 p.m.
- “The R-Word is a humanizing, purposeful, and deeply respectful look into the long-reaching history and lasting implications of derogatory language used to describe people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” Discussion with Amanda Lukoff March 25th at 5:30 p.m.
The Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) is hosting the IHSA Wheelchair Basketball Tournament March 11-12. While we don’t have high school wheelchair basketball teams in our area, what a cool opportunity to see top programs in the state. Perhaps a few future Illini will be in the mix. Want to learn more about the sport? Two U of I alums have a podcast, Push Podcast: Wheelchair Basketball in the United States, that provides an education on wheelchair basketball and other adaptive sports.
Speaking of adaptive sports, the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games begin in Beijing this weekend, and former Illini Travis Dodson, who trains here at U of I, will be competing with the U.S. Sled Hockey team. Find the full schedule of games here.
Photo from Woman and Gender in Global Perspectives Facebook page.
Recognize Women’s History Month
Humanities Research Institute and Women and Gender in Global Perspectives are hosting their annual International Women’s Day celebration on March 8th at Levis Faculty Center. Every year, several campus and community leaders gather to tell the stories of how women in academia are making an impact in their respective fields.
Speakers range from U of I Student Body President Enoma Egiebor (above) to storyteller Dawn Blackman, curator of Randolph Street Community Garden to Jacki Thompson Rand, Associate Vice Chancellor for Native Affairs, and many more. The program will begin at 3:30 p.m., and will be livestreamed if you aren’t able to attend in person.
Support woman owned businesses. We are fortunate to have several in C-U and beyond. Dandelion, Firedoll, Golden Weather, and Art Coop come to mind, but there are thankfully some handy directories available that will help you seek them out specifically: LGBTQ+ owned (and/or affirming), Black owned, Woman owned, Immigrant owned.
Seek out women’s sporting events at Parkland and the University of Illinois. This month you can attend U of I women’s gymnastics, U of I and Parkland softball, and U of I women’s tennis.
Photo by Julie McClure.
Do some spring cleaning
We all get that urge once the weather gods offer up a few nice days right? We’ve been cooped up with all of our stuff for months, and we want to just do a clean sweep and start fresh. We have numerous organizations in town that would be happy to be the recipients of the items in your home that you no longer have a use for. You can lift the burden of having too much stuff while helping people in the community and contributing to community sustainability. Win-win-win.
Champaign ReStore is a great place to donate home goods, furniture, working electronics, hardware, garden and outdoor items, and more. A major bonus: they will do free pick ups! Check out their website for a full list of accepted items. When folks purchase your items, that money will go towards home builds for Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County.
The Idea Store is ideal for that random stuff that you just don’t know what to do with. Mismatched game pieces, craft supplies, trophies, postcards and old photos, magazines…the list is endless. You need to make an appointment to bring your donation in, so head to their website to book a slot.
Donate your used books to Orphans Treasure Box Bookstore. They provide jobs for women who’ve experienced poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, incarceration, and/or domestic violence. They funnel your book donations to those who need them, and proceeds from book sales support organizations that serve vulnerable kids.
If I have clothes to donate, I have two “go-to” spots. Salt and Light is an easy place to drop items, and they will recycle items that don’t get put on the floor for thrifting. I also love Karma Trade, a swapping service. They’ve partnered with the U of I to repurpose textiles that they don’t sell, and you earn points for shopping whenever you bring in clothes to swap.