Sins Invalid makes me dote on open highways, wishing I could turn my power chair up to six miles an hour and speed all the way to San Francisco. Instead, I sit at my computer and yearn for a love far more fulfilling than that of any single lover. That love is for the community of Sins Invalid that recognizes, acknowledges and celebrates all of me—the femme disabled lesbian adopted from Calcutta, India.

I was born with Cerebral Palsy and for thirty years I have been living with it and despite it. Realizing I was gay did not happen until I was a sophomore in college. I’ve lived with this and am still struggling to live despite it. While my parents always have been and are still behind me as their daughter—the advocate, the artist and the college professor, they are not totally behind their daughter—the femme lesbian. And, in part, I don’t blame them. No matter my age, they’re still my parents and coming out, for all involved, don’t have a reputation of being easy. And it didn’t help that my first and only relationship, at age twenty-five, had many societal strikes against it.  I was head over wheels (cheesiness is an admirable trait) for a woman more than twice my age that already had a solid relationship.  She has been arrested many times for civil disobedience, something my mother took very kindly to the first time they were the same room together (note the sarcasm). Although I’m very outgoing I can also be very quiet (which usually means I’m scheming for some good change), but my partner had a generally boisterous personality.  Her age, arrests, relationship status and loudness meant there was no convincing my family of the love between us. Even though the end our relationship was inevitable, it raised questions: Was it just my girlfriend my parents hated? Was it her age? Her other relationship? Or just being gay?  At the time, my answer was, all of the above, but, almost three years later, I know it’s because I am their disabled daughter. Yes, they know I’m not asexual and capable of accomplishments they would never set for themselves, but they can’t ignore my wheelchair. They have spent their lives tirelessly fighting to make sure I have the best life possible. But my sister was the one who was always warned about boys.  Not me. And I never brought it up because I didn’t have a boy crush. Nor do I feel attracted to any girl. So, although my parents have never said don’t be gay they’ve never been outright affirming. Instead, we just don’t talk about it. Even though I “get it,” it amazes me how parents who have adopted three children from India (two of which have always been “different” due to disabilities) and fought so hard to help us thrive, can’t fully accept me.

This is where my yearning to join Sins Invalid kicks into high gear, I have read the stories, watched the stories and, dare I say it, been inspired by the creativity, acceptance and strength that this community continues to share. I can’t wait until the movie comes out! In the meantime, I dream that this type of love can grow if it never succumbs to cliché thinking.

Sarah Rizzuto

We went on our First International Tour! At the invitation of the University of Toronto, on March 17th Sins Invalid flew to Toronto to offer a full length performance at The Art Gallery of Ontario, involving four live performers (Leroy Moore, Maria Palacios, Alex Cafarelli and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha), the work of three media artists (Aurora Levins Morales, Todd Herman and Patty Berne) and one stage manager (Ralph Dickinson).  With widespread publicity throughout Toronto, we attracted 300 attendees; sadly, 100 community members were turned away at the door.  In the words of one audience member:  “Sins presented a reclaiming, revaluing and liberation of our whole selves that went beyond anything I have seen before. The performance welcomed, loved and complicated that which is considered taboo, monstrous, the unspeakable, part of ourselves that we may have hardly even known about. Thank you for brilliance and thank you for sharing it with us.”  Sins also led a disability justice workshop as part of New College Disability Studies Week, sponsored by New College, University of Toronto and Ryerson University’s School of Disability Studies. The workshop engaged over 60 participants with a diverse mix of disability studies students, professors, and community organizers. Co-facilitated by Patty Berne via video and Sins performer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha in person, the workshop linked disability justice, praxis, movement building, race, class, and queerness.

We webstreamed our full 2009 performance on demand for 24 hrs/day from August 5 – 11th, with a live Q&A on August 10th.  We offered a viewing packet that included the 2009 show program, access suggestions for group viewing, and provocative discussion questions.

We led two performance based workshops:
-    Reaching for Each Other: Movement Offerings across Abilities with Laura Malpass and Patty Berne
-    Sex in the Summer – Getting’ Some Mixed Ability F***ing, facilitated by Mkali Hashiki and Patty Berne

We participated in two Artistic Collaborations:
-    The film I Cannot Speak Without Shaking by Todd Herman featuring the writing of Patty Berne was shown in The Ugly Spirit, as part of London’s 2012 Festival for the Cultural Olympiad
-    The Chili Story (Ellery Russian, Patty Berne and Ralph Dickinson collaborated on that video) was included in CripTease: An Evening of Irreverent Art. At the University of Alberta in Canada, the event peaked attendance at around 120 and featured 16 artists from across North America and Europe.

We hosted two cross community dialogues amongst cultural activists and movement builders from different sectors in a dialogue series entitled MAKING CONNECTIONS:  Conversations Within and Between Communities, with a few dozen people participating. Conversation topics included:
-    Who is worth paying for, and who ends up paying? The capitalist construction of disability and disability in the market.  Conversation questions included: How do we understand our bodies and our work in an economy that by definition asserts that disabled means unable to work?  How do we hold our selves, our relationships, and our work to effectively disrupt this oppressive narrative?  How do we as community organizers and/or cultural workers understand labor in relation to art and movement building? How can we re-conceptualize means of production and consumption in a disability justice framework?  How can we create a practice where the economy exists to serve the people and not just the people serving the economy? How can we expose that the medical industrial complex profits off of its own construction of disability as pathological “net drain”?
-    Medicalizing, Fetishizing, & Classifying Crip/Brown/Queer and otherwise “Transgressive” Bodies & Minds, based on the questions: can we identify intersections/ conflicts/ parallels between the medicalized exotification of our crip bodies and of our ethnicities? What are some forms of modern-day eugenics?  Where does this move into the grey area of cures?  How do we move beyond architectural/attitudinal barriers & access to the “disabling” that is created by white supremacy, capitalism, ableism, patriarchy, hetero-normativity, or medical system?  What are some parallels and distinctions between “devotees” fetishizing crip bodies and the hypersexualization of brown/black bodies or gender non-conforming bodies?  How do we inhabit our bodies and eroticism while resisting the pigeon-holing of our bodies?

We were covered in numerous places, including:
- Aorta Magazine, Feb 2, 2012
http://www.aortamagazine.com/blog/sins-invalid/
Sins Invalid: The Claims to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility
- National Sexuality Resource Center, February 14, 2012
http://www.nsrc.sfsu.edu/article/sins_invalid_unashamed_claim_beauty_name_invisibility_soon_be_documentary_film
Sins Invalid: An Unashamed Claim to Beauty in the Name of Invisibility Soon to be Documentary Film By Jenese Jackson
- Cultural Organizing, March 8, 2012
http://culturalorganizing.org/?p=586
An Interview with Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility By Paul Kuttner
- Sex with Timaree, March 29, 2012
http://sexwithtimaree.com/2012/03/29/sins-invalid-what-bodies-are-allowed-to-be-sexual/
Sins Invalid: What Bodies Are Allowed to be Sexual? By Dr. Timaree Schmit
- YES! Magazine, Aug 01, 2012
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/its-your-body/sins-of-the-flesh
Speaking For All Bodies (Not Just the “Perfect” Ones): In “Sins Invalid,” performance artists shatter stereotypes around sex and disabilities to reclaim the body’s redemptive power By Sven Eberlein

We maintained our strong online presence, with 12,180 total visits to our website in 2012 with 8,429 distinct visitors!

We maintained our channel – Crip Justice – on YouTube, with a total of 54 public videos, 122 subscribers, with total upload views of 88,861 (17,907 views in 2012 alone)!

We diversified our earned income to include:
-    touring performances
-    presentations
-    webstreaming
-    partnering with Ships In the Night
-    Kickstarter campaign

We had ROCKSTAR Interns:
-    Lateef McLeod
-    Brooke Willock
-    Sandie Yee
-    Nina Maghazei
-    Beast Von Fancy
-    Eni Pela

We further understood the meaning and practice of Mixed Ability Organizing.

We loved.  Our selves.  Our bodies.  Each other.  Our community. You.

Thank you for your support, your inquiries, and your excitement over the film!  We want to share some important updates for you about the film and the premiere:

In late August of last year, Sins Invalid’s Advisory Board met – and in acknowledging that we only “launch” a film once, and that a premiere event is a key feature of a launch but not an entire “launchpad”, we decided that it made the best sense for Sins Invalid to fully capitalize on the launch and have every element of the film launch in place when we premiere the film — including a website, a companion DVD, agreements with film festivals and universities in place, etc. So, the Advisory Board recommended that the premiere happen in Spring 2013, in the context of an already engaged distribution plan, and not as a stand-alone event.

We were checking in with the performers scheduled for the October premiere, updating our foundation partners as to the change in timeline, in dialogue with the venue, and drafting an update to send y’all in the newsletter…and then, as you likely read in Leroy’s Welcome Back note, Patty was hit by a car.  It was a serious accident, and she sustained a broken femur, tibia and fibula in her right leg.  It took a long 17 weeks of healing for her to get back to being in her chair daily.  We are so so grateful it was not worse.

The accident forced a hold on the film work for the Fall.  We are grateful that the first week of Jan saw Patty back at Sins Invalid!

We know that you are excited by the film and we are hopeful that this change in timeline hasn’t alarmed anyone too much.  In the past few weeks we’ve worked to create a final cut with our editor and the film looks AWESOME!

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts – and we offer you many thanks for your patience, support and encouragement.

In unity,
Leroy Moore and Patty Berne

Are you finding our 2009 Sins Invalid show compelling?  Would you like to talk with others, ask questions, continue engaging with the energy of the performance?

Come join us for a live Q & A with Artistic Director Patty Berne and a few Sins Invalid performers on Friday, August 10^th, 7pm Pacific Time!

Click here and follow the 3 easy steps below to join us for a live chat!

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Go to the chat panel, where you can view other people’s message. When you are ready to join, simply hit the PENCIL symbol.
Step 2: Pick a nickname for yourself, then click on SAVE CHANGES.
Step3: Type your thoughts or questions, then click on SAY.

And remember, you can watch the webstream from now ‘til August 11^th!

Enjoy the Sins Invalid 2009 show whenever you want from August 5^th ~ 11^th!

Where will you go and view the show?

Click here and from there you will be directed to Paypal.  Then, you will receive an email and viewing instructions.

Don’t forget our juicy viewers’ packet. Click HERE to download

Wanna join us for a live Q & A with Artistic Director Patty Berne and selected Sins Invalid performers?

We will meet you online at http://www.livestream.com/sinsinvalid on Friday, August 10^th, 7pm Pacific Time!  Share with us how you feel about the show and have dialogues with our performers!

Any last-minute questions?  Of course!  We are an e-mail away! Write us at info@sinsinvalid.org.

We are just so thrilled and excited about seeing you online!

Shocking Story! Shocking Story!

In less than 3 weeks, you’ll be able to see Sins Invalid’s pay per view online performance anywhere you want! Big thanks to our rockstar sponsors: Dual Power Productions, and Fierce Bodies, you get to watch Sins Invalid 24 hours a day, whenever you want!

Get your calendar out and mark August 5^th~11^th for an unforgettable viewing experience with Sins now! Come on, go ahead and book mark the following link http://dualpowerproductions.com/sins-invalid/

Plus, you’re invited to join a live Q & A online with Artistic Director Patty Berne and selected Sins Invalid performers on August 10th!

What are you waiting for?

Got any questions about watching Sins Invalid’s performance on your own?

Want tips and ideas for hosting a viewing party?

Don’t be shy! write to us now~ info@sinsinvalid.org

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Sandie: Sins Invalid, Pay Per View Performance Is Back! Mark your calendar! In less than 3 weeks, you will be able to see the full 2009 Sins Invalid performance!

Beast: When?  Aug. 5th-11th!  With the generous help of Dual Power Productions, and Fierce Bodies, we will be able to bring this incredible experience to you, wherever you are.

Beast: When again? Aug. 5th-11th!

Sandie: 5th to the 11th! (Text on screen: ANY TIME DURING the week of August 5th~11th, go to this link) Go and click the following link: http://dualpowerproductions.com/sins-invalid/

Beast: So, what do you get? You get to pick a good spot for viewing Sins Invalid’s performance wherever the internet is accessed. You get a Sins Invalid team member-written viewer discussion guide with juicy questions for your viewing party attendees! As a mixed ability organization Sins Invalid understands that everyone has access needs, and sometimes getting to one of the annual performances is not physically, mentally, or financially possible.

Sandie: So, what do you do about it? Where can I see Sins Invalid’s performance?

Beast: That’s why we’re bringing Sins directly to your living room, or bathroom, or basement, or your favorite dive bar… or library, or smart phone…You can be cozy and watch the show on your couch.

Sandie: One-person viewing party is totally cool!

Rodney: Oh, wow! Sins Invalid is beyond awesome! Unbelievable!

Sandie: Tell me about it!

Rodney: Sins Invalid brings good companions together!

Sandie: Two people can make a great viewing party, too! If internet is available in your backyard, you can watch Sins Invalid on your grass! I just found a perfect spot for watching webstream! Is there anyone following me? Mmmm…. Watching Sins Invalid is like body cleansing.

Rodney: What other locations can you watch our pay per view?

Beast: Or steal away of the show for some needed alone time.

Rodney: Pow!

Beast:  We are pleased to announce that on August 10th, there will be a live Q & A online with Artistic Director Patty Berne and selected Sins Invalid performers! We want you to join us!

Text on screen: Want to get tips & ideas for hosting a viewing party?

Sandie: How do I sign up???????????? Hum….. hum… hum… hum

Beast: Now, are you ready to sign up for a viewing party? Or do you have a question about watching Sins Invalid’s performance on your own? Write us at… info@sinsinvalid.org

Sandie: Give us your name, email, phone number and your location.

Text on screen: Tips & Guides will be delivered to you!

Sandie: And please don’t forget to tweet and LIKE us on facebook!

Rolling credits: Starring

Sins Invalid Intern: Beast von Fancy, Nina Maghazei, Sandie Yi

Patty Berne &  Leroy Moore

Male voice over: Rodney Bell

Can’t wait to see Sins Invalid online?

Mark your calendar! August 5th~11th

Go to this Link! http://dualpowerproductions.com/sins-invalid/

Got any questions? Write us now! info@sinsinvalid.org

Don’t forget to Visit Our Sponsors!

dualpowerproductions.com

firecebodies.com

Watch it alone cuddled up on your couch or throw a viewing party – or both!  From August 5^th – 11^th, you will be able to watch our 2009 performance 24 hours a day in your own home, your school, the café – wherever you can get an internet connection!  Between August 5^th – 11^th, just click http://dualpowerproductions.com/sins-invalid/.

Because it’s a Pay-per-View, you will be asked to pay by clicking a sliding scale donation button before you view the performance (we suggest $10, though the minimum is $2).

Then, you will be ready to watch Sins Invalid featuring the artistic works of Aurora Levins Morales, Mat Fraser, Cara Page, Nomy Lamm, Leroy Moore, seeley quest, Maria Palacios, Antoine-Devinci Hunter, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, John Benson, Todd Herman, Ralph Dickinson and Patty Berne – and you can watch with your kitties and puppies, your hot new date, a few close friends or family members, your classmates or a houseful of cool guests! It’s totally up to you!

Now if you do want to host a viewing party host and get some support from us, it’s easy!  Just send us an email at <info@sinsinvalid.org> with your contact information (name, email, phone number and location) – WE WILL SET YOU UP!

Available online will also be an awesome downloadable viewing packet and discussion questions for a fuller viewing experience!

Can’t wait to watch?  Or maybe even host a viewing party and continue the expansion of our Sins community?  Contact us NOW!

Our Co-Sponsors are:

May 20th, 2012

2 – 4:30pm

518 Valencia

San Francisco, CA

Cost:  Free

Registration required

(Please email your name, phone number, whether or not you identify as having a disability and any access needs to: info@sinsinvalid.org)

How do you express love and solidarity to the crips in your world?  To the other bodies in your world – human, plant, and otherwise?  What does your body want the world to understand about it?

This workshop will explore the wisdom of our bodies moving alone and moving together.  This class is for all levels and abilities.  If you are shy, this is the class for you.  If you are a professional, this class is for you.  If you think you can’t move gracefully, this class is for you.  Why?  Because we know your movement is beautiful and that we can experience connection with others across body type and ability.  We look forward to it!

Facilitator Bios:

Originally from Roanoke, VA, Laura Malpass‘ dance training began leaping down local grocery store aisles and with an antique music box on her living room floor. She studied more formally at Southwest Virginia Ballet, School of the Grand Rapids Ballet, le Centre de Danse du Marais, and Hope College. While at Hope, she enjoyed choreographing and performing with StrikeTime Dance Company, promoting the arts in Michigan and Indiana public schools. Upon graduation, she moved to the Bay Area to explore work deeply rooted in emotional reality with Moving Arts Dance, under the direction of Anandha Ray. She currently thrives on creating collaborative works with Catharsis Dance Duo and teaching ballet, modern dance, and creative movement to all ages in the East Bay. She believes that dance can transcend all boundaries we perceive or feebly construct, empowering individuals and transforming communities for the better. In each class, she desires to foster growth and holistic health through creative self-expression.

Patty Berne is a Co-Founder and Director of Sins Invalid.  Her passion for this work stems from living in a complex body which whispers while others bellow; her framing for this work derives from her work for disability justice and its intersections with gender based justice, queer communities, racial justice and her training in working with survivors of trauma of interpersonal and state-sponsored violence.

The Development Coordinator will work with the Executive Director to make the organization more sustainable by increasing stakeholders, including foundations and major individual donors, and creating compelling new fundraising materials that communicate the mission, vision and work of the organization. The position is responsible to partner in planning and implementing a strategy to raise $200,000 in operating funds.

Position Responsibilities:
• Coordinate grants including the production and submittal of up-to-date and compelling proposals, LOIs, reports, and other collateral as needed
• Regularly research foundations landscape to identify future opportunities
• Solicit in-kind and cash donations from local businesses and community organizations
• Engage in/manage major donor approaches
• Engage on-line giving strategies including leveraging online social networking for fundraising purposes
• Interface with funders’ community and stakeholders on behalf of Sins Invalid
• Devise/implement year end major ask fundraising event and/or mailing
• Document organizational development processes & strategies

Necessary Experience and Skills:
• Minimum two years non-profit fund development experience
• A successful record of attracting and sustaining public and foundation and funding
• Proven familiarity with social justice work in a non-profit work environment
• Experience and competencies in working in a diverse work environment
• Prior experience working in teams and in collective settings
• Ability to work independently
• Experience and familiarity with non-profit finances
• Experience with grants management and reporting, including experience working with multiple public and private funders
• Understanding and commitment to anti-racist and anti-ableist principles
• Extremely strong organizational skills, excellent time management skills and proven ability to work well independently
• Strong ability to set own goals/timelines and meet deadlines independently
• Excellent written skills and proficiency writing and editing letters of intent, foundation proposals, donor letters and donor materials
• Accuracy, attention to detail, and the ability to proof own work
• Excellent oral and interpersonal communication skills
• Demonstrated experience and proficiency with Mac systems and the internet
• Experience and proficiency with Word, Excel and the internet required
• Experience using “Web 2.0″ social networking tools (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for fundraising purposes

Preferred Experience and Skills:
• Experience and competencies in working in a mixed ability, multiracial, multi-gendered environment
• Familiarity with performance related work in a non-profit work environment
• Prior experience mentoring
• Familiarity with the California Cultural Data Project
• Familiarity with Sins Invalid’s mission and programs

Compensation and Benefits:
Sins Invalid offers a competitive salary that is commensurate with experience. This position will be located at the organization’s headquarters in Berkeley, CA.

To Apply:
To apply, please send an email to info@sinsinvalid.org. Please write “Development Coordinator” and your name in the subject line, and include three attachments as pdfs:
(1) Cover letter including your (a) full contact information (b) the reason you are interested in this position (c) your familiarity with Sins Invalid (d) the unique experience, skills and qualifications you offer to this position and to the organization.
(2) Resume with three professional references.
(3) A relevant writing sample.

We will contact you if we wish to invite you for an interview.

Sins Invalid is an equal opportunity employer. Applications are strongly encouraged from people with disabilities; people who identify as LGBTQI; people of color; women; immigrants; people living with HIV/AIDS.

Do you want to be a part of a team that creates GROUND BREAKING WORK?

Then apply for an internship with Sins Invalid!

Cultural and Political Programs Internships for Summer 2012

Sins Invalid is a San Francisco/Bay Area based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and queer and gender-variant artists as members of communities who have been historically marginalized.  Our performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment and the disabled body.  Conceived and led by disabled people of color, we develop and present cutting-edge work where normative paradigms of “normal” and “sexy” are challenged, offering instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all individuals and communities.

We are seeking interns who know they have skills to contribute, are passionate about social justice, understand the importance of cultural work as a means of making change, and are excited about putting their beliefs into practice!

The Cultural and Political Programs Internship will give you hands-on experience with community relations and outreach, organizational development and fundraising.

Requirements:

• A minimum commitment of 3 days per week, from 1 – 6pm; shift days/times are negotiable for a minimum of 3 months.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office programs; our hope is that everyone has their own laptop/computer to work on.
• A strong attention to detail and ability to work independently.
• An interest in disability justice, racial justice and disrupting heteronormativity.
• If you are in school, either at a junior or senior level in college or the equivalent in life experience.
• Professional behavior at the worksite.

Benefits:

• Opportunities to build relationships with people from a wide variety of justice and performance related fields.
• Opportunities to learn deeply about the intersections of disability, race, gender and sexuality.
• Experience in non-profit administration.
• Opportunities to engage with Disability justice praxis.

To apply, please send an email to info@sinsinvalid.org.  We will send you an intern application to be returned to us along with a current resume.

Our Summer 2012 projects open for intern involvement include:

Film Distribution Planning: We are completing a 41-minute film that reflects our one-of-a-kind performance work, weaving interviews of artists and co-founders alongside unreleased performance footage to serve as an entryway into the absurdly taboo topic of sexuality and disability.  We will be premiering the film in Fall 2012 and are currently developing a distribution strategy that includes self-distribution, partnering with a non-exclusive distributor and screening at film festivals.

Webstreaming a Sins Invalid Performance: Many Sins Invalid community members who have connected with us through our web presence or our education work around the country are unable to attend a live Sins Invalid event.  Additionally, due to the isolation of ableism, even local community members may face difficulties attending a live performance.  In response to these challenges, we will offer our 2009 performance to be viewed on-line 24 hours/day during an allotted time.

Community Workshops: We organize performance workshops for community members with and without disabilities.  In the past, these workshops have included poetry, dance, storytelling, erotic writing, dance, and vocalization workshops.

Movement Building: Through our invite-only series of “MAKING CONNECTIONS: Conversations Within and Between Communities,” we bring together political artists, cultural activists, and movement-building allies involved with radical social justice projects to cross-pollinate our politically and creatively informed works.

What a past intern had to say about their experience at Sins Invalid:

“Nothing short of fabulous… Sins pulls the pain and traumas from ableist oppression and turns it inside out into a complex celebration of beauty and sexiness.  This doesn’t just happen on the Sins stage, but also in our program work: I’ve had exciting opportunities to interview on behalf of Sins live on the radio, learned invaluable lessons about what it takes to make base building happen, helped plan and launch a successful fundraising campaign to finish Sins – The Film (we surpassed our $15k goal!), I’ve developed my networking skills, I’ve participated in political dialogues I wouldn’t otherwise have been exposed to (like developing best practices for being a politically radical mixed ability organization, or how we negotiate the legacy of the freak show in disability performance)… Interning is nothing short of fabulous, sure, but don’t get me wrong—it’s also hard work.  But that’s what Sins is about as a performance project and a disability justice movement-building organization: collaboratively building an approach towards increasing accessibility, towards making a space where we can co-exist as uniquely embodied subjects as we work to maximize our own skills—as they are—and develop them as such in a way that is sustainable, accountable, responsible, and interconnected.  Whew.  Might sound ambitious, and it certainly is but that’s the kind of hard work of historical pains and revolutionary pleasures.”

—Brooke, Intern @ Sins from June 2011 – June 2012.

Above: Sins Summer Interns 2011, with co/founders Leroy Moore and Patty Berne.

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