US Holocaust Museum Clearly Defines Holocaust For Trumpsters

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“Millions of other innocent civilians were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis, but the elimination of Jews was central to Nazi policy. As Elie Wiesel said, ‘Not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims.'”

Millions of Americans were astonished that on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, President Trump made no mention of Jews. The position of the new administration seemed to be that many suffered under the Nazis and there is no reason to highlight the suffering of the Jewish people. 

Washington DC's US Holocaust Museum felt compelled to issue a statement. “The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators … Nazi ideology cast the world as a racial struggle, and the singular focus on the total destruction of every Jewish person was at its racist core,” the statement reads.

Opening Ceremony NYCB Collab With Justin Peck Was Perfectly-Timed Trump Protest

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Opening Ceremony NYCB Collab With Justin Peck Was Perfectly-Timed Trump Protest

Opening Ceremony designers Humberto Leon and Carol Lim have always politicized their fashion. Six months ago, they registered people to vote at their New York Fashion Week show. We knew that the designers intended to present their new collection in advance of New York Fashion Week, working on a third collaboration, choreographed by Justin Peck of the New York City Ballet and titled 'The Times are Racing'. 

Little did the artists know that at the same time protesters were fighting their way towards New York's JFK airport to protest the Trump administrations poorly-executed ban on refugees and even green card residents from seven primarily Muslim nations, their show would hit the Lincoln Center stage in a resounding third ballet, uplifting style chorus designed to support the protesters with slogans reading 'Defy,' 'Protest', 'Unite' and 'Fight'. These pieces make up the brand's Action capsule, presented as a see-now, buy-now collection and they served as a celebration of New York City's melting pot status.  Read on in AOC Salon. 

Kate Gilmore & Karen Heagle Depict Women's Power Structure Anger In 'Stomp'

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Writing for Artnet, Blake Gopnik stopped by New York's On Stellar Rays gallery to catch Kate Gilmore's Stomp, performed Saturdays and Sundays, 4 to 6 pm. until February 19, 2017. Dressed in red sweatsuits and Kodiak construction boots, every few seconds three young women stamp and slap and punch out out their anger at the status quo. The sounds of their anger make the entire gallery echo with their ritual designed to dismantle the power structure. 

The stompers are juxtaposed against the backdrop of Gilmore's friend artist Karen Heagle's works on paper that "depict still life, landscape, portraiture and animal subjects. Her work often reflects autobiographical symbolism thematically focused on memento mori, feminism, sexuality and queer identity."

The New Yorker writes that the women's combat boots and brass knuckles had succeeded in chipping away only small bits of red enamel; Gilmore herself spent a week "attacking a fourth cube with a sledgehammer", on view in an adjacent room. The artist and her performers are protagonists, channeling the emotion, fury, and frustration in America's unsettling political moment -- one that threatens to dismantle political rights for women, the LGBTQ community and people of color gained over the last 50 years. Meanwhile, Heagle summons her "inner Ovid", comments New York Magazine, "giving us a scary menagerie of birds tearing at flesh".

'The Grief Which Has Not Yet Come May Be Avoided' by Karen Heagle

Picasso's Le Rêve Headlines Blockbuster UK/France Marie-Thérèse Walter Years Exhibit

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Pablo Picasso, Le Rêve (The Dream) (1932). Private collection, image ©Succession Picasso/DACS 2017.

Tate Modern has joined the Picasso Museum in Paris in a "once in a lifetime" exhibition that will focus on some of the biggest masterpieces created by Pablo Picasso at the height of his passionate and psychologically challenging love affair with Marie-Thérèse Walter.

Picasso met Walter during his marriage to his first wife Olga Khokhlova, a Russian ballerina and mother of his son Paulo. In a chance encounter in front of Paris' Galeries Lafayette department store, Picasso, then 45 first saw the model at age 17. Their relationship lasted nearly a decade, and in 1935, Walter gave birth to their daughter, Maya Picasso (later Maya Widmaier-Picasso). 

The exhibition featuring more than 100 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper will launch at the Paris museum in October and move to London in March 2018. 

A show superstar will be the 1932 masterpiece Le Rêve (The Dream), in which "a luminous Walter sits on a red armchair with her left breast exposed; her eyes closed and her head titled to one side, she’s smiling in reverie, writes ArtNet. 

Le Rêve has never been shown in the UK. It was sold in 2013 by Las Vegas casino powerhouse Steve Wynn to hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen at a price believed to be the highest price paid by a US collector for an artwork. 

Previously, AOC explored Picasso's relationship with women -- and its intersection with global politics, including the Republican War on Women in America. With the arrival of President Trump, this essay is more timely than ever. It was inspired by comments a 61-year-old Picasso told Françoise Gilot in 1943, and I wrote it a few weeks before heading to Washington DC on April 7, in a rally that supported Planned Parenthood. 

"Women are machines for suffering," Picasso said. "For me there are only two kinds of women: goddesses and doormats." 

Picasso Believed Women Were Goddesses Or Doormats | Sound Familiar? AOC Women's News

‘LES DEMOISELLES D’AVIGNON’ BY PABLO PICASSO

TrumpTracker: Melania Trump Fronts Vanity Fair Mexico As Mexicans Demand Boycott of American Goods

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TrumpTracker: Melania Trump Fronts Vanity Fair Mexico As Mexicans Demand Boycott of American Goods

As part of her Dujour interview with Mickey Rapkin, Melania Trump was aggressive in batting down comparisons with her then presidential candidate husband with Adolf Hitler, prompted by her GQ interview:  "We know the truth. He's not Hitler. He wants to help America. He wants to unite people."

The people of Mexico don't agree, as they launch a boycott against American-made products in protest against Trump's executive order to start building yet another wall on America's southern border. The administration made news yesterday, threatening to impose a 20% tariff on goods made in Mexico entering the US. 

Circulating back to America's new First Lady Melania Trump, Mexican author and columnist Guadalupe Loaeza said: "It's a lack of sensitivity on the part of the publisher. I started reading this and I couldn't finish. I didn't want to know anything about the wife of our country's No 1 enemy."

Step 2 For Pussyhat Power: How About Yarnbombing America From Sea To Shining Sea?

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Step 2 For Pussyhat Power: How About Yarnbombing America From Sea To Shining Sea?

Put the word 'resistance' into Google News this morning and the headlines tell a vivid story:The #Resistance and Russia; National Parks and NASA 'Resistance' Launches on Twitter; The Resistance will be Tweeted; Protesters Climb DC Crane, Call for Resistance to Trump.

In the ultimate accomplishment -- a salvo to US President Donald Trump, who insists falsely that he's had more TIME magazine covers than anyone (Nixon wins) -- pink Pussyhats are on the move, straight on to the cover of this week's TIME. 

Natalie Portman Channels Demi Moore With Hew Own Pregnancy Photo For Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue

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In what will surely become an iconic photo, a pregnant Natalie Portman channels the 1991 photo of a naked and pregnant Demi Moore, shot for Vanity Fair's August issue. Portman joins Emma Stone, Lupita Nyong’o, Amy Adams, Natalie Portman, Ruth Negga, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Aja Naomi King, Janelle Monae, Greta Gerwig and Dakota Johnson on the cover of Vanity Fair's March 2017 Hollywood issue, also shot by Annie Leibovitz.

Vanity Fair acknowledges the inspiration, writing that while "the reference is clear, the moment is Portman's alone."

How sad that this cover was shot before the November 21 March for Women. Imagine if we had one or two Pussyhats anchored by those vivid red and pink hues.  Read my new article: Step 2 For Pussyhat Power: How About Yarnbombing America From Sea To Shining Sea?

Did Trump Affect Cuba's Decision To Cancel Collaborative Show With The Bronx Museum

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The National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana has -- for the present -- pulled out of a collaborative exibit with the Bronx Museum. The planned initiative called 'Wild Noise', opening February 17, was to include works from the Bronx Museum that traveled to its sister Havana institution in 2015, coupled with 60 works by Cuban artists coming from Havana to the Bronx.

The Bronx museum's executive director, Holly Block said: her Cuban counterparts at the National Museum did not say whether their hesitation stemmed from fears about possible diplomatic uncertainties under a Trump administration. “We didn’t get a no from them but we also didn’t get a final yes,” Ms. Block said. “So we decided that in good faith we’re going to do this exhibition instead.”

There is a high probability that the Cuban government is concerned about whether state-owned art works from Cuba could be endangered with a possibility looming of a seizure of them by the US federal government. Such an action might be taken to satisfy legal claims by Cuban Americans seeking payment for unsatisfied judicial claims connected to property confiscated in Cuba after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

Angelina Jolie Named Beauty Ambassador Of 'Mon Guerlain', Will Donate Salary To Charity

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Angelina Jolie stepped out of the shadows on Monday, as Guerlain Parfumeur announced that the actor would be the face of its new fragrance, Mon Guerlain. The contract was actually signed back in December 2015, while Jolie was directing 'First They Killed My Father' in Cambodia, birthplace of Jolie's first son, Maddox.

The partnership is Jolie's first beauty ambassador contract in 10 years, and Angelina will donate all the profits of her contract to unspecified charities. 

“We create perfumes for the women we admire,” Jacques Guerlain said in a statement, whilst the brand’s master perfumer Thierry Wasser said he drew inspiration from Jolie to create a fragrance expressing the “notes of a woman”.

Besides her work as an actor, filmmaker and mother of six, Angelina Jolie is a special envoy of the UN Refuge Agency and co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.

Women of Color Deliver Staggering Turnout For The Women's March & Strong Intersectionality Message

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Women of Color Deliver Staggering Turnout For The Women's March & Strong Intersectionality Message

There is no doubt that Saturday's global Women's March events were the largest one-day demonstration in political history. The stunning turnouts worldwide made it clear that women -- and in particular women of color -- will be leading the opposition to President Donald Trump.

Veteran feminist writer Rebecca Traister pegged the crowds in America: it drew somewhere north of 680,000 to Washington, D.C., 750,000 to Los Angeles, 400,000 to New York City, 250,000 to Chicago, 100,000 each to Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, the Twin Cities, and Portland Oregon; and crowds of thousands to smaller cities, including 11,000 to Ann Arbor, 5,000 to Lexington, Kentucky, 8,000 to Honolulu, and 20,000 to Houston. There were 2,000 protesters in Anchorage, Alaska, and 1,000 in Jackson, Mississippi. Demonstrations took place on all seven continents, including Antarctica.

Protest Events Send Trump To Inauguration As We Prep For Saturday Women's March

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Protest Events Send Trump To Inauguration As We Prep For Saturday Women's March

January 19 National Mall Peace Ball

It's difficult to get coverage on pre Saturday Jan. 21 marches with the Inauguration of Donald Trump dominating Friday's coverage. A major event happened in Washington last night, one with many more celebs and performers than any Trump event. The Peace Ball was hosted at the freshly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture was organized as a progressive alternative to Trump events around the city.

Overwhelming Crowds Turnout For Women's Marches Across America

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Massive crowds at the Washington, DC Women’s March

Overwhelming Crowds Turnout For Women's Marches Across America

March portion of Chicago Women's march canceled after 150,000 pack event; march will go on Chicago Tribune

Safety concerns have closed the march portion of the Chicago event. An original crowd estimate of 20,000 was raised to 50,000 this morning. At about 11 am this morning, 150,000 had already reached the rally and Chicago police notified organizers that they were not prepared to protect a marching crowd this size. The rally will continue.

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC at 2pm Saturday, the size of the march is estimated to be 500,000 against an original estimate of 200,000. Currently the march is still scheduled to move, but safety concerns are rising.

Madonna As 'Statue of Liberty' By Michael Forbes Joins Marilyn Minter At Brooklyn Museum Jan. 19

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Madonna As 'Statue of Liberty' By Michael Forbes Joins Marilyn Minter At Brooklyn Museum Jan. 19

The black eye is perfect because this is how we feel. Madonna is never one to walk away from controversy, and she was quick to share this new artwork by Scottish artist Michael Forbes. The artist portrays a caricature-like image of the President-elect as 'King Kong Trump' sitting on the head of our beloved Statue of Liberty, personified by Madonna. The human rights icon is holding a sign saying 'Not My President' -- a declaration that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million Americans. 

"After Madonna posted it on Instagram my phone has been ringing repeatedly with people telling me about it," Forbes told the BBC.

(. . . }

Madonna will join artist Marilyn Minter tonight on the eve of the presidential inauguration at a SOLD OUT event at The Brooklyn Museum. 

The two fearless feminist provocateurs will talk art, culture, feminist, and the current state of affairs in America and around the world. Writes the Brooklyn Museum's website: Connecting Madonna, an artist, activist, and philanthropist, with Minter, whose work explores cultural perceptions of women, this unprecedented conversation will highlight the impact of female artists within broader culture and social change. Moderated by poet, essayist, and playwright Elizabeth Alexander and by Anne Pasternak, Shelby White and Leon Levy Director of the Museum.

Tonight's historic event is part of A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism at the Brooklyn Museum, a yearlong series of exhibitions and programs celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

FEMEN Activist Grabs Trump's Crotch At Madrid's Statue Unveiling

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Oh dear Goddess! Donald Trump must be seething. Perhaps his children can keep the president-elect from seeing this FEMEN activist grabbing the crotch of his highness -- sorry -- his likeness unveiled today at the Museo de Cera Madrid.  FEMEN is known in the women's rights community for its topless protests 

The unnamed FEMEN member shouted "grab patriarchy by the balls," as she ran towards the statue of his highness and grabbed him by the balls.  

Denouncing Trump, 'NASTY WOMEN' Art Show Raises $50,000 for Planned Parenthood

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Millions of American women loathed Donald Trump more than they thought possible, when the president-elect interrupted Hillary Clinton in the third presidential election, saying that she was "such a nasty woman". 

Educated women, in particular, have been seeking revenge ever since -- and we won't be stopping any time soon. Taking down Planned Parenthood is a prime agenda item of the incoming Trump Administration, even though 50% of Trump's own voters don't want this critical organization supporting poor women defunded. 

Nearly 600 self-proclaimed 'NASTY WOMEN' showed their art at the Knockdown Center in Maspeth, Queens, January 12-15. Over $50,000 was raised in support of Planned Parenthood, in the first stop of what will become a global tour for the show. Future stops include San Diego; Lubbock, Texas; Brussels; Memphis, Tennessee,;and Melbourne, Australia. 

After meeting its goal for Planned Parenthood, the NASTY WOMEN show donated $8,200 raised by the $20 general admission tickets in support of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, the New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Defense Fund, and Sister Song. 

Alicia Keys On Makeup Free & Abolishing the Electoral College vs Melania Trump's White House Glam Room

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Alicia Keys Fronts 'Keys To Success' By Paolo Kudacki For Allure Magazine February 2017

It's fascinating the Alicia Keys has led the 'no makeup' look, although she assured readers in Feb. 2017 Allure that she also won't be a slave to not wearing makeup either. It all depends on Alicia's mood. 

She is a 15-time Grammy winner. To put that in perspective: Adele has ten; Taylor Swift, ten also; Mary J. Blige, nine; Rihanna, eight. Sometimes—rarely—in this world, prizes get awarded in a way that is commensurate with achievement, thank Allah, Jehovah, and Zeus. (Those are in alphabetical order, by the way; I may be a Christian, but if another guy’s deity wants to do me a solid, I’m very grateful. I do wish the entire panoply of gods could get together and stop my friends from using reply all. That’s what I pray for; I figure it’s an easier lift than universal amity or abolishing the electoral college.) On that topic, who could forget Keys’s impassioned performance of “Superwoman” and “In Common” at the Democratic National Convention last summer? The first song was dedicated to the “Mothers of the Movement,” a group that advocates for police reform and gun-violence prevention. The second one was a call to, in her words, “stand together and be united.” Keys’s deep disappointment with the election results is palpable. 

Keys' comments resonate in back to back posts -- the second one being about the White House glam room for America's next first lady Melania Trump.  AOC and I personally are working hard not to trivialize Melania Trump before she has a chance to open her mouth on America's behalf. 

Yet, for her biggest PR story to be about her upcoming glam room, as nearly 50 members of Congress say they will boycott the Trump presidential Inauguration and Trump & Putin might as well open a joint Twitter account as of today, Melania rings pretty darned hollow in her ivory tower. Goddess give us strength! ~ Anne

FKA twigs Is Creative Director On Nike Women's 'Do You Believe in More?' Spring 2017 Campaig

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FKA twigs Is Creative Director On Nike Women's 'Do You Believe in More?' Spring 2017 Zonal Strength Tights Campaig

How about this idea for fixing America's schools. I'd be really interested in bringing in our young creatives and everybody over age 30 has to take notes. Oh, and let FKA twigs organize the panel with a few of her friends.

50 pilot schools must be created to support their vision. Get Bill and Melinda Gates. They now admit their mistakes in education reform. I am blown out of the proverbial water with much of our young talent. And all the backup materials are about discipline, discipline, discipline, confidence, self-trust.

Ivanka Meets Queen Rania, Insists Her Primary Role In DC Will Be Wife, Mother & Advocate For Women & Girls

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Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan's commitment to girls' education runs very deep. Asking two weeks ago if the future is still female, Forbes writer Beth Doane profiled five women leaders, including Queen Rania. And there is exciting news to learn that Queen Rania has joined Michelle Obama's Let Girls Learn initiative, recently profiled here on AOC.

In these days before Donald Trump's inauguration as President on Friday November 20, and theWomen's March in DC on Saturday, November 21, women's rights are in a state of undefined flux in the new Trump administration -- one that is fundamentally opposed to feminism and any formalized commitment to women's rights as part of its legislative agenda.

We will see which Trump appointees stand for an expansion of women's rights at home and abroad versus those who seek to redefine them in a way that rolls back the clock.

Many women's groups and female leaders will be leaning on Ivanka Trump to persuade her father to veto key pieces of Republican legislation unless the proverbial add-ons are removed. Whether she is up to the task -- or her father has the stomach for the fight -- remains to be see. In my own view, the odds are against us. ~ Anne