Jollene Levid, secretary general, GABNet
secgen@gabnet.org
tel: 323-356-4748
NEW GABNet CHAIR-ELECT IS WORLD-FAMOUS HIP HOP ARTIST; 10TH CONGRESS UNVEILS PLAN OF ACTION AGAINST SEXISM, MILITARISM AND TOWARD INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
SAN DIEGO, CA, 1 September 2008 – The 10th Congress of GABNet USA elected its new national council and laid down the new focus and direction for the largest and oldest continuously operating all-women's organization led by women of Philippine ancestry. Members from seven cities attended the three-day gathering.
Candice "Kuttin Kandi" Custodio, world-famous hip hop artist, was voted GABNet National Chair-Elect. Her formal oath-taking will take place at an event to be designated by the organization.
Kuttin Kandi, as Ms. Custodio is known in the hiphop communty, is a world champion hiphop dj and a renowned spoken word artist. She is one of only half-a-dozen female dj's who "battle" in both national and international competitions. More importantly, Ms. Custodio is a committed activist and community organizer who utilizes hip hop to educate, build solidarity, create awareness and fight for social justice, especially among the youth. She was recently a 2007 Black Lily Music and Film Festival Recipient alongside Jill Scott and Toshi Reagan and received the Social Change in Music Award.
"I am extremely honored to have been given this opportunity," said Ms. Custodio, "I have been involved with GABNet as a supporter and a member since 2000 and I look forward as National Chair-Elect to join my sisters in the struggle and usher in a new era of activism for the organization."
As National Chair-Elect, Ms. Custodio continues GABNet's tradition to cull exceptional women leaders from a variety of women's sectors; they include the novelist Ninotchka Rosca, union organizer Clytie Causing and Professor Annalisa Enrile.
GABNet member Rebecca Dean saw Ms. Custodio as the "perfect" choice. "Kandi is a tireless activist who has always brought GABNet's work for women to the public," said Ms. Dean, "from the stages of hip hop to the community and to class rooms, Kandi has always encouraged us all to feel the joy of resistance."
Catherine Judge, another Congress attendee, said, "we as an organization are very excited about Kandi's new role. As an artist who combats misogyny, sexism and racism, Kandi demonstrates the kind of alternative feminist culture which GABNet has always represented and instilled in its members. We know that she and the newly elected national board will continue to stregthen women's work and put it always front and center."
Ms. Custodio heads an impressive national council that includes union organizer Jollene Levid as GABNet secretary-general; Executive Director of the University of California San Diego Women's Center Emelyn de la Pena as campaign director; youth organizer Ivy Quicho as organizing director; writer and paralegal Olivia Quinto as education director and civil engineer Laureen Abustan as finance director.
The National Council will have a term of two years during which it will lead GABNet in mobilizing women to intensify the Purple Rose Campaign Against the Trafficking of Women and Children; to protest US militarism and expose its devastating effects on women; and to defend defenders of women's rights and freedoms around the world.
The National Assembly also approved the 2nd North American Consultation of Women of Philippine Ancestry and expressed its determination to support the embattled Muslim women of Mindanao, Philippines, in their struggle for peace and equality in the face of the global war on terror. The National Assembly also affirmed the right of women to self-organize and to govern themselves, in the face of a resurgent patriarchal tendency that refuses to recognize either the validity of women's issues or the specific characteristics of women's oppression.
From engagement in the discourse of and mobilization for immigration reform, to developing women's contingent for anti-war mobilizations, to unleashing a massive campaign to free Philippine Congresswoman Liza Maza from attempts by the Philippine military to jail her; to the vigil for the GABNet 3 who were targeted by the Macapagal-Arroyo government for their consistent support for the Philippine national democratic movement; and to building solidarity work with allies to fight for issues ranging from women's reproductive rights and justice for political prisoners, the chapter reports presented at the Congress by members demonstrated the astonishing expanse and creativity of women's work as practiced by GABNet.
"GABNet is confident that it will be around another two decades," said outgoing chair Dr. Annalisa Enrile as the National Assembly drew to a close. "It has never and will never compromise its character as an organization of militant anti-imperialist women who believe that no genuine change can happen without women's emancipation."
