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WF Community Book Read in Partnership with Ex Fabula…She Speaks
March 28, 2023 @ 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
The Women’s Fund utilizes the annual WF Community Book Read to deepen our understanding of the role women have in history. Whether you read it alone or with others via a book club or organizational effort, you celebrate National Women’s History Month. This is a chance to honor the achievements and contributions made by women.
This year, a special experience to culminate the speeches in “She Speaks, Women’s Speeches that Changed the World, from Pankhurst to Thunberg” is underway. In this book, Yvette Cooper tells the story of female oratory. She introduces each speech to help the reader understand context and impact. Cooper believes the voices of women have been sidelined for too long. She wants to promote, debate, and celebrate the public words of women; she argues spoken words matter, speeches matter, and that they are pathways to power. Cooper says: “when women’s voices are not heard, it undermines democracy and hurts us all.”
In this partnership, Ex Fabula demonstrates its expertise in connecting the community through the art of true, personal storytelling at this event. The four women below will read a speech from the book that resonates with them, and then share an explanation as to why. We are excited to introduce them to you…
Storytellers named by Ex Fabula
Sue Blaustein
Selected speech: Kavita Krishnan’s “Freedom without Fear”
Sue is a retired food safety inspector and union activist. She’s a poet, self-publisher and a volunteer at the Urban Ecology Center, Ex Fabula and the Veterans Administration My Life My Story program.
Michaela Lacy (she/her)
Selected speech: Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning”
Michaela is a Milwaukee native, a proud Still Waters Sugar Baby and Public Allies Milwaukee alum. In her own words, she is “a Black woman who centers herself in working towards Black liberation and joy.” Her primary skill is creative thinking and she uses that to produce art, engage in conversation, and support others in moving toward self-advocacy. She is passionate about writing and has been published in many poetry anthologies. In 2018, she was named Prince George County’s Third Annual Youth Poet Laureate. She is also the owner and proprietor of Sacred Garden Open Mic, Milwaukee’s first youth-run open mic. She currently serves as an organizer for Love on Black Women.
Alexis B. Outlaw
Selected speech: Sojourner Truth’s “I am Woman’s Rights”
Alexis is a lover of connecting others and empowering women through the act of celebrating the human experience. A certified business professional by trade, she enjoys golf, traveling and cheering on the Milwaukee Bucks!
Kim Shine
Selected speech: Audre Lord’s “There are so many silences to be broken.”
Kim is the current production manager for HYFIN Radio, under Radio Milwaukee. Kim spent nearly a decade working as a television journalist in various local markets — most recently in Milwaukee.
Speech Hosts
Bela Roongta Eitel
Selected speech: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi’s “We Should All Be Feminists”
Kate Brejcha
Selected speech: Eva Kor’s “A Message of Hope and Healing”
Tables will be marked for discussion about these two speeches.
Partners Promoting the Book… “She Speaks”
101.7, The Truth
Alverno College
Cardinal Stritch, This Week at Stritch
Milwaukee Women Inc.
Your Invitation — a Collective Effort
Please help bring this event to fruition and fund a WF Flash Grant to Ex Fabula! Traditionally, we have a $10 registration fee; however, for this event, we are organizing a COLLECTIVE EFFORT. Any paid amount over $10, funds a WF Flash Grant to Ex Fabula and helps offset expenses associated with this event. And at the same time, we want the event to be accessible to all, so there is a guest option too. Will you add your name to the “Collective Sponsor” list?
Event Vision Sponsors
Kate Brejcha
Jaime Green
Ashton Henry
Nicole Horvath
Annette Jacobson
Heddy Keith
Kelly Ottman
Monica Shah-Davidson
Erika Sander
Alexandria Staubach
Liz Syrrakos
Noelia Velez
Debra Zarne