by Sariel Friedman
When the SPARKteam girls shuffled in to the SPARK retreat on the morning of Thursday, August 9th, little did we know that by the end of the weekend, we would have gotten hopelessly lost on public transportation, critiqued sexualized advertising wherever we went, spent way too much money on junk food from overpriced vending machines, learned how to compose a proper blog post, and lots of other SPARKteam building activities. By sharing stories, karaoke, and feminist “click” moments, thirty awesome ladies bonded, sparking a movement and learning how to change the world.
As returning members caught up, new members from as far away as England and California gathered in a circle and started to chat. We were divided into teams to share our fears and hopes for the weekend. But this was no subdued consciousness-raising group: we had to present our collective thoughts as a performance and name our team in honor of a feminist role model. The rapping and rhyming “Steinemites” stole the show.
After a few more icebreakers, Jamia Wilson and Shelby Knox arrived and introduced themselves by sharing their feminist “click” moments–that moment they realized they were feminists. The conversation broadened as we all reflected on our personal click moments.
Dinner arrived and so did Dede Lahman, a former editor of Seventeen Magazine. She gave us some sobering but useful facts about people who work for teen magazines: “Most of the writers and editors are only in their jobs to make money, or to use the experience as a gateway to work for larger publications,” she said, “They really aren’t interested in feedback and critique.” She helped us strategize clever ways to reach the editors and make a difference.
Half of the group went back to the SPARKpartment and the others spent the rest of the evening browsing in Bluestockings, a feminist bookstore. Oh yes, and getting lost on the subway.
The second day of the retreat at Hunter College was filled with concrete information. We learned how to format a successful blog post: ”You should create about 5 catchy headlines per blog. The headline should sum up the entire blog in one sentence and captivate even those who would probably not be interested in the content. The blogs should contain as many hyperlinks as possible.” We had 15 minutes to put these lessons into practice, writing our own blog posts. For example, Jezebel’s recent gem: The Official Guide to Legitimate Rape.
After the lunch break, and more of that overpriced junk food from uncooperative vending machines, we were updated on the current SPARK projects: the Teen Vogue campaign; a SPARK book; alcohol and sex education and an up-and-coming fashion blog. After about half an hour, we came back together and presented our new ideas for the old actions.
Jamia Wilson returned for a Media Literacy training session. She brought two guests: Emma Axelrod and Taylor Palmer, who were graduates of Women’s Media Center’s Progressive Girls’ Voices program, and had had successful media interactions. We shared our stories about being on interviewed on television and radio and watched a clip of fellow SPARKteammates Carina and Emma on Fox News. We were taught about “elevator pitches:” what to say if you meet, say, Katie Couric in the elevator and have thirty seconds to advertise yourself and SPARK simply, thoroughly, and compellingly. We wrote our own elevator pitches and shared them with the group. Emma said it best: “I learned that as much as we can want to kick the media’s butt at times, it really has the potential of helping us. Whether it’s spreading the word about an action on the news or posting links to blogs on as many social media sites as humanly possible, not only can the media help us get heard, but we can also help the media become a better outlet for consumption.”
At a festive Italian dinner that night, Jennifer Pozner, Anaheed Alani, Jamia Wilson, Shelby Knox, and Nicole Schwartz joined us. They
made their way around the two tables, speaking directly with each of us about being an activist, about the specifics of their work, and about our futures. The inspiring dinner morphed into an impromptu karaoke party back at SPARKpartment, our home away from home: ”Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill, “Aaron’s Party” by Aaron Carter and, of course, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper had the SPARKteam dancing, singing, and sweating in the New York heat.
We gathered at the Brooklyn YWCA on the final morning for a closing ceremony. We wrote letters to ourselves about our memories of the retreat; the letters will be sent to us in six months as a way of keeping the bond and the spark alive even after we have dispersed. After one last gathering of our action groups for strategic planning, we said bittersweet goodbyes.
Although we began the weekend as thirty disparate girls, we ended as a group of like-minded, empowered young feminists, part of something much larger than we had even imagined. Even if we weren’t supported or understood in our hometowns, we were heard and encouraged in the classrooms at Hunter College. And we will be heard as we, in the words of SPARKteam member Nadia Bourne, “right the wrongs, break the mold, and fight the power” on the streets, in the Op-Ed pages, and in social media throughout the coming years.