Remembering Her Name: Ka'Sandra Wade

Pittsburgh's first homicide of the year was a domestic violence incident that took the life of Ka'Sandra Wade. Today, I'm participating in an effort organized by my friend Sue, who writes the blog Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents and who is an active member of the local social media community, including The Pittsburgh Women's Blogging Society.

Among the goals of today's Pittsburgh Cyber Vigil is to remember Ka'Sandra Wade's name. All too often in such incidents, it is the name of the alleged perpetrator that stays with us and perhaps the circumstances of the crime itself. Today, we're bringing attention to who Ka'Sandra was - a woman trying to escape an abusive relationship, an ambitious worker with aspirations of a better life, and a mother of an 11 year old son named Zaire.

I didn't know Ka'Sandra. I admit that I also didn't know many of the details of this case until I first learned of Sue's efforts with the Pittsburgh Cyber Vigil. (Maria from 2 Political Junkies has a great synopsis on her post, "Remembering Ka'Sandra Wade.) But what I do know from my five years of working in the domestic violence field is that Ka'Sandra knew she was in a bad relationship and was trying to leave - always the most dangerous time for those in domestic violence situations. Ka'Sandra had also reached out to and had the support of coworkers at her job. Finally, she called 911 on New Year's Eve when she was in trouble.

Ka'Sandra did everything that people who work in the domestic violence field tell people to do.

And yet.

And yet, now there is an investigation into the police response to that 911 call. From the reports, this appears to be rather botched (to say the least) - with investigators showing up and taking the word of a male individual that everything was fine and never speaking to the person who made the call. As Sue writes, "[t]he situation is complicated and tragic and has generated an outcry from the community to push for better investigation of domestic violence allegations, stronger laws to protect women and more awareness on the part of the community."

We start today, by remembering Ka'Sandra Wade's name and by pledging to remember the names of all those lost.

Other posts from bloggers participating in today's Cyber Vigil:

Losing Sight of the Shore –  BECAUSE Ka’Sandra Wade can not.

2 Political Junkies (Maria) – Remembering Ka’Sandra Wade

2 Political Junkies (Maria) – One More Thing

Queen in Heels – Remember Her Name: Ka’Sandra Wade

the betty and boo chronicles (full disclosure: this is my other blog) – Remember Her Name: Ka’Sandra Wade

Podcasts

Truality Radio – Host Ezra is an old friend of Ka’Sandra and saw her one week before her death. He describes that last encounter.

My name is Leslie Smith.  I’m known by most as Ezra.  I’m a spoken word artist and actor from Pittsburgh, Pa.  I’m so saddened by the lost of Ka’Sandra.  I called her “Pink”.  I met her in 2000 while attending the Pittsburgh Job Corps Center with her.  We both were in the college program.  We dated briefly, but remained friends.  I ran into her every once in a while and we would just say hello to one another and keep it going.  I saw her about a week and a half before her murder in East Liberty standing in front of a building.  We said our usual hellos and I kept walking.  But, then, something told me to stop, turn around, and chat with her for a little bit.  So, I turned around and asked her how she’s been.  I knew that Pink had gone through some rough times in her life from past discussions and I was hoping she was in a good place now.  She said she was about to start working full time at ACTION United and was about to start attending Devry University to receive her bachelor’s degree. Ka’Sandra sounded so proud of her accomplishments. There was a gentleman standing outside with her and I wasn’t sure if he was her boyfriend.  I asked if he was and he said no and they both laughed.  I told them I was just making sure I wasn’t disrespecting anybody.  I said, “Well, good for you.  Keep it up.”  She said thanks and I went on my way.  I left thinking to myself, “Well, there’s a job corps success story”, smiling to myself.  I was so happy for her.  She had overcame and accomplished a lot.  I still can’t believe she’s gone.

Twitter

Please follow #RememberHerName

Other Mentions

Melissa McEwen at Shakesville included the vigil in her weekly lists of must-read posts.

Additional resources:

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story on the life of Ka’Sandra Wade
• Information on domestic violence and resources from the Women Center & Shelter of Pittsburgh and The Center for Victims

CreativeMornings Arrives in Pittsburgh!

For a few hours on Friday morning (before we would learn the horrible news, before our hearts would be broken), several dozen of Pittsburgh's most creative people gathered at The Andy Warhol Museum for a party.

The occasion was, appropriately enough, the first ever CreativeMornings Pittsburgh.

According to their website, CreativeMornings is a global breakfast lecture series for creative types. Each monthly event is FREE and includes a 20 minute talk plus coffee. (The java is always important.)

And by global, these events are truly global - happening in every possible corner of the world. Which makes it kind of perplexing that Pittsburgh didn't have a CreativeMornings before Friday ... but that's part of what I've fallen in love with about this city.

You see, in the year and a half I've been here, I've learned that Pittsburgh is the kind of place where if you have an idea for something, there's usually someone (or several someones) saying, "that sounds awesome!" or "let's try that together!" or "how can I help?" or all of the above.

Seriously. Pittsburgh is honest to God the most creative place I've ever seen. We're chock-a-block with brilliant entrepreneurs and innovators and such artsy techy literary funky type people usually have multiple fantastical things happening at once.

That's what happened when Kate Stoltzfus (Plumb Media, Yinzpiration, Propelle - see what I mean?) was inspired to bring CreativeMornings to Pittsburgh.

The result? A fun, mentally invigorating and inspiring morning, thanks to Spark (the sponsor) and a presentation by Nina Barbuto of assemble.

After coffee and networking in the spacious lobby of The Warhol, the group gathered in the lecture hall where Nina told us about her background and the launch of assemble. She then challenged us to think differently about learning. Every day at assemble, Nina's team is "making learning a party" for kids by providing them opportunities to make connections through art and technology projects. She and other collaborators host "Maker Parties" where kids "can engage their intrigue while making physical and nonphysical learning connections."

Learning doesn't end when we leave school; in fact, it's the opposite. We can learn everywhere, in every possible setting, in every possible way. As creative types, Nina emphasized that we can do that too, in all aspects of our work. The question then becomes this:

Thanks, Kate, and the CreativeMornings Pittsburgh team for not being afraid to try this new idea out here in our city. I'm already excited about the next CreativeMornings Pittsburgh (Kate announced that it will be on January 11) and seeing what will happen.

Podcamp Pittsburgh is This Weekend! (I'm Going ...Are You?)

I'm starting to realize that living in Pittsburgh means making some choices - especially on the weekends.

Especially this weekend.

There are a ridiculous number of amazing-sounding things going on this Saturday and/or Sunday in Pittsburgh. Actually, that's true of many weekends here. Honest to God, I've never seen a city with so much to offer as this place does.

This Saturday and Sunday at Point Park University, you can take part in what sounds like a great conference: PodCamp Pittsburgh 7. (Registration is still open.)  What exactly is this?

Wonderful question (as a certain political candidate would say). Anticipating such, the @pcpgh peeps put together The Beginner's Guide to PodCamp Pittsburgh, from where I cut and pasted this from:

PodCamp is the most awesome thing in Pittsburgh.

But if you really want to get specific…

PodCamp Pittsburgh is a social, new media conference. It started in 2004 and was originally built around podcasting (hence the name PodCamp), and has since grown across North America. PodCamp Pittsburgh has also evolved into a study of information sharing online and how it affects us in different ways every day.

At PodCamp Pittsburgh, you’ll learn how to get started (or how to grow) sharing what you do with everyone else in the world through voice, video, pictures, text and other forms of media. You’ll find out what (and how to use) the latest tools others are using to accomplish great things.

In other words, don't be like me and see the word "pod" and think that this is a podcasting only type of thing.    Clearly, it's not.

Did I mention that PodCamp Pittsburgh is FREE? Yes ... free. It's supported by volunteers, of which I will gladly be one on Saturday while also attending several sessions. (You can see the full schedule of sessions, their descriptions, and speakers here.)

I'm incredibly excited about this. PodCamp Pittsburgh is the perfect opportunity to make connections among those in our city's traditional and new media scene and it is exactly what I need right now. Maybe it's exactly what you need, too.

Leave me a comment if you'll be there or follow me on Twitter @thefirmangroup. Would love to meet you and say hi!

3 Ways to Turn Your Non-Profit's Presence Into Presents

I was recently tapped to be a guest blogger for the folks at Benchmark Email, and I'm incredibly proud to be among the contributors they have on their site. (Seriously, to share the same screen as Chris Brogan?!)

My first post is part of Benchmark's "Presence for Non-Profits" series. I'd love for you to check it out and let us know what you think.

Here's the beginning:

When I saw my friend’s text, I immediately went into cruise director mode. (Those of you who are children of the 1980s like me can just call me Julie McCoy for the remainder of this guest post.)

Coming to Pittsburgh next week! Never been. No idea what to see or do.

I was thrilled with the possibility of catching up with my college friend, meeting his partner and showing them the highlights of my new city. Knowing their interests, I sent a Facebook message back with suggestions of places to see – museums, cultural attractions, historical sites.

While looking over my list, I realized that I hadn’t been to any of these places.

None.

So, in making my list for my friends, what was I relying on to try and make sure they would have a great time here? ... continue reading 3 Ways to Turn Your Non-Profit's Presence Into Presents here. 

#givingskivvies Takes More Steps Toward Its Goal

Yesterday I told you about #givingskivvies, the project I became involved with kind of spontaneously through my connection with several Pittsburgh bloggers. Through the power of social media - our blogs, Facebook, Twitter - we're trying to raise $1,000 (or more!) to provide new socks and underwear for the clients at Light of Life Rescue Mission here in Pittsburgh.

The Mission, which offers a variety of life-changing services to people in need, is in desperate need itself of clean socks and underwear for the men, women and children it serves. As of this morning, the bloggers' efforts have raised $710 toward our goal - in just one day!

As a fundraiser, I'm always fascinated to see how organizations handle aspects of their development efforts - and last night, one thing impressed me greatly about Light of Life. (Remember, I didn't know anything about this organization - never heard of it, even - more than 24 hours ago.)

After our day of blogging and tweeting and Facebooking, the above photo arrived on our various feeds. A simple photo, really, of socks.

With this caption:

Just heard from a few of the guys who received new socks and underwear! They wanted to pass on their thanks. One man said, "Under the circumstances we are in, we are grateful there are folks who want to help out with the difficult situation we are going through. We are blessed and grateful." Another said, "It is such a blessing just to have a clean pair of socks to wear!" Thank you, friends, for donating! You make a difference at Light of Life!

Brilliant and perfect. As a participant in this effort, I certainly wasn't looking for any acknowledgement of my effort ... but from a supporter's perspective? That's exactly the kind of spot-on acknowledgement that's needed for social media. This was a campaign that was organized quickly, organically, from the grassroots level, from one person to another. The thank you needed to be a personal one - a recipient to the donor. And Light of Life hit all the marks with that, in just a few lines and in a speedy fashion.

Here's how you can help #givingskivvies (including if you're not in the Pittsburgh area):

• If you live in the Pittsburgh area, you can drop clean, new, unused socks and/or underwear off at Light of Life. Their address is 10 E. North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

• Another option would be to donate online at www.lightoflife.org and put "SOX" in the designation field.

• Yet another option would be to purchase items online at a place like Target or Walmart and have them shipped to Light of Life, 10 E. North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212. (I made it easy for you. The links go right to the underwear pages.)

• Spread the word to others about this need. Share this info or blog post on Twitter, Facebook, or blog about it yourself. If you share it on Twitter, please use the hashtag #givingskivvies

Thanks for caring.

Giving Skivvies

I have a 10 year old son. Those of you who have kids or relatives or students around this age (or who can remember being around kids this age) know that this is prime-time for bathroom-related talk. High atop that list?

Underwear.

Quite frankly, I never really gave much thought to underwear before my kid started cracking jokes about it and reading the Captain Underpants series of books. Our new hero.

Because, really, we don't think too much about underwear except for when we don't have any, right?

It's one of those things that we tend to take for granted. It's only when the laundry piles up for an extra day or two, or we hope we don't get into an accident because our skivvies are a bit too worn around the edges, that we realize we'd better get ourselves to Target and buy a new pair.

And so we do. Simple as that.

But for the homeless, that's not so easy.

At the Light of Life Rescue Mission on Pittsburgh's North Side, a nonprofit organization that has been offering a variety of services for poor and homeless men, women, and children for the past 60 years, they are in need of new underwear and socks for their clients. Many of the people they serve are in recovery from addition and have mental health issues. They are completely out of underwear and socks and are in desperate need for new underthings.

That's where you and I come in.

I recently became connected via Facebook with several Pittsburgh bloggers who, just this morning, together created #givingskivvies, a campaign to raise $1,000 for Light of Life to purchase new underwear and socks to distribute to their clients in need.

Here's how you can help (including if you're not in the Pittsburgh area):

• If you live in the Pittsburgh area, you can drop clean, new, unused socks and/or underwear off at Light of Life. Their address is 10 E. North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

• Another option would be to donate online at www.lightoflife.org and put "SOX" in the designation field.

• Yet another option would be to purchase items online at a place like Target or Walmart and have them shipped to Light of Life, 10 E. North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212.  (I made it easy for you. The links go right to the underwear pages.)

• Spread the word to others about this need.  Share this info or blog post on Twitter, Facebook, or blog about it yourself.  If you share it on Twitter, please use the hashtag #givingskivvies

Please consider helping out with this worthy and wonderful cause.  Just one dollar would help buy a pair of socks or underwear for a person in need.

Captain Underpants would be proud.