Michael Douglas, Matt Damon and Ghada Irani Honored at The UNICEF Ball For Their Work Helping Children Around The World

UNICEF's Next Generation Los Angeles Launch Event @ LACMA






(L to R) Ashley NYC, actor Eric Ladin (UNICEF Next Gen LA Steering Committee), actress Azita Ghanizada, Ran Aubrey Frazier (UNICEF Next Gen LA Steering Committee)

On Thursday evening UNICEF's Next Generation L.A. launch event was held at LACMA and raised funds for the organization's Colombia Project. The event was presented by Natural Child World Magazine. ‘UNICEF's Next Generation is a program funded by the support of dedicated young professionals ages 21 to 40 who believe zero children should die of preventable causes.’ The soiree was held in the modernist galleries which opened up into the patio.  It was a lovely group of people made up of young professionals, artists and philanthropists.

(L-R) attorney Danielle E. Simmons, Bettina Barrow (UNICEF) and Natalie Krinsky (UNICEF)

 

Actress and event co-host Michelle Trachtenberg

 

 

Ran Aubrey Frazier, Ashley NYC, Chelsea Peters (UNICEF Development Coordinator, Major Gifts)



Now That Trayvon Martin's Murderer Is Jailed, We Still Need To Keep This Momentum Up & Demand Justice For ALL People of Color In the U.S.!

with little pal Harmony following the March 26th "Million Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin" in downtown Los Angeles

The Washington Post published this photo of me and other activists on Tuesday from the April 9th march in downtown L.A. which demanded Zimmerman's arrest


The good people’s prayers and demands have been answered! Moving forward, now that 17-yearold Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, is finally in custody and being charged with murder, where do the millions who cried out for justice go from here? How can the millions who marched, rallied, signed petitions, made Justice themed artwork, wrote articles & blogs, prayed, called or wrote their elected officials, utilized online social networking, started or joined causes such as Million Hoodie March , Occupy, Justice For Trayvon Martin and many other movements, and cried, chanted and shouted for Zimmerman’s arrest turn this case into something bigger than one man’s arrest?

We all know this is not an isolated incident. What’s the bigger picture? Shouldn’t we reach higher?

Of course it will be a lengthy trial, so we will have a lot of times on our hands. Why not make the most productive use of that time? (more after the jump)



Take action! Stay involved! Join one of the many groups who helped organize rallies and marches. Join a local social justice group. Register to vote! Volunteer. Invite friends. Let’s turn this tragedy into a powerfully positive force that we use to accomplish our dreams of a just and peaceful society.

In spite of the condemning evidence against Zimmerman, he was initially allowed to go free. Likewise, many crimes by those in power against minorities, women and the poor go unchecked all the time! Could this case be a starting to point to reform the police departments and judicial systems that time and time against fail the Black, Brown and economically oppressed communities in this country? Many Americans know that this case can be bigger than just Trayvon Martin if the We the People make it so. With all the unrest going on in this country and in the world, this is a prime time to storm the gates and demand a real democracy!

This mobilization is about rightness for ALL the Black and Brown youth around the country who have been in the past, currently are and will continue to be victims of corrupt law enforcement and unjust court systems! We are tired of our young Black and Brown brothers being illegally ‘stop & frisked’ without cause or warrants by racist and classist police officers. We are appalled at the neo-slavery that is enforced through the prison industrial complex in the country that unfairly imprisons Black and Brown men for lengthy periods of times, making the corporations who profit off their labor rich. We are disgusted by the GOP’s war on women’s rights and healthcare, which disproportionally affects women of color and the poor. We can’t believe our ears at the racist propaganda that screams at us from far right media outlets and pundits. We cry out against the laws in Arizona that make racial profiling legal, which obviously target at our Brown brothers and sisters and mirror the Jim Crow days. We protest the exploitment, scapegoating and mistreatment of our undocumented Brown brothers and sisters. Sadly, the list goes on of the systematic oppression of people of color in the “modern” country.

It’s urgent that this momentum does not slow down, but become a massive tidal wave that smashes the system that divides people in this country instead of uniting us together.

“An injury to one is an injury to all!”

It’s important that those fighting for racial social justice become aware and fight against the alarming and growing war against women that has been waged by the Republican Party! 50% of people of color are women, so the GOP’s war on women is also a racial justice issue, especially since women of color will suffer the worst if this current assault on women’s healthcare, contraception rights, well-being and self-esteem waged by the affluent white men who run the Republican Party succeeds. All social justice movements really do need to come together ASAP!

Again, take action! Stay involved! Join one of the many groups who helped organize rallies and marches. Start your own! Join a local and/or national social justice group. Register to vote! Volunteer! Invite friends. Paint a picture of what justice means to you! Write a poem, perform spoken word! Get the message out! Let’s turn this tragedy into a powerfully positive force that we harness to accomplish our dreams of a just and peaceful society.

2012 is not the end of the world as the Mayan calendar suggests, it’s the BEGINNING of a new dawn, the people’s dawn! Haven’t you noticed that people all around the world are rising up against tyranny and economic injustice all at the same time? There is also this global human consciousness awakening that many feel happening, a universal enlightenment. So much promise and positive energy is here and awaits us. And of course, right here and NOW is the time to take a stand!

A favorite chant of mine from the Trayvon march:

“Ain’t no power like the power of the people cus’ the power of the people don’t stop! Say what? Ain’t no power like the power of the people cus’ the power of the people don’t stop!”

Justice for Trayvon! Justice for All! Justice for Now! Justice for Our Future!
I met the cutest little trooper for justice on the steps of L.A. City Hall on March 26th following the Trayvon Martin march

Dear Los Angeles, the answer is NO!

Dear Los Angeles, I need you to understand that I am not Ariel the little mermaid - I will never give up my voice like she did for the man, and for the palace. I will never give up my fins and my community to live inside your establishment. For years you have tried every trick in the book to make me sign a bogus contract, and I hope that you finally realize that I am not going to be owned like a piece of property. I would rather be homeless on the streets, and I’ve been there, then to live in a castle where I have no freedom. And just because I am a woman with no financial security, and an artist and activist who needs resources to push forward her goals, don’t expect me to go in some cage while you leech off my energy and try to exploit my message. I do not need your assistance, though I do want it. It would be nice to work together, but not at the expense of losing my artistic freedom, and my status as an independent woman. Los Angeles, you have a way of mistreating women who you desire, and I will not put up with your abuse. I knew all along I would have to leave you. Since I was a teenager people told me my heart would not be fully appreciated there, but I didn’t leave. What I learned is that in fact my heart was appreciated there, but greedy and sad forces wanted to put my light in a glass cabinet. I am a human being, not a trophy. I am a writer, not a model. I am ambitious in giving love, not in receiving false riches. I do not believe you when you tell me I have to be a good little girl, shut up, and let this moral less institution mold me to what they think will be most profitable. What you see as profitable, and what I see as rewarding, is as different as gloomy grey and bright yellow. All I physically need are four walls, a roof, and a window to look out. To be honest, I am surprised that I did not take you up on your offer to be produced; most of my girl friends would have jumped at the opportunities. My feelings were confused, and my mind told me it was the logical thing to do. But it was something in my gut that saved me. A voice inside told me to say no to temptation. My mother told me to move smart, not fast. Even when you misled me, and manipulated my feelings, it must have been a guardian angel that protected me from letting you devour me. At my most hopeless point in my stay in LA, it was the grace of God, of Mother Life, that led me to new friends in LA, and that would be the activist communities, the people who were taking action for human being equality, uplifting feminine as strong, when you tried to tell me it was weak. These friends de-brainwashed me, and reminded me that everything I felt as a innocent child was the real truth. After I became engaged in so many movements contrary to your big Hollywood machine’s priorities, my hope came back to me. My dreams became resurrected, but this time, I again believed as when I was a child that they would come true. There is no going back to behaving like your victim LA. There are good parts of you, but I will not let you bully, seduce and scare me into being a prisoner on Mt Olympus, with its brutish rulers who think they are gods. You continually threaten to “blacklist” me in the entertainment industry me if I refuse to be your slave, and you should know your fear tactics no longer work on me. Where there are good intentions, there is a way. Where there is love, there are healthy options. There are people in the industry who have not sold their soul- and they will protect me from disgruntled people who have. The only authority I acknowledge is love, light and laughter.

I miss southern California :(

As the cold weather overwhelms New York City, I feel a longing for the warmth and outside freedom I am accustomed too, and then I miss other things about California, like the upbeat and sunny energy, my friends and family, the laziness and peace, the glitz and glam, the hippies and the hype, the beach and bohos, the mellow coolness and lovely weather. I like to stay inside when it's cold, so I am turning into a hibernating bear, which is good cuz I'm getting a lot of writing done in my book, but bad because I'm not being as social as I should be. When I meet people from Cali in NYC, and they are the chill all lovin' Cali native types, I get a little (that means a lot) home sick. But then I remind myself that now is time for work, and that my business interests are more centered here in NYC, and so for now it's best to be here. And though the weather sucks in NYC (and some of the people need some major sunshine in their life!), other things make up for it. But there is only one Southern Cali in the world, and my heart will always belong to the shores and deserts of Cali. I miss how there is so much space inside and out. I miss driving in my car listening to music, and being the navigator. Sundays with my friends at the drum circle was like church. Late nights at the beach looking up at the stars. Cute cafes and coffee shops. Green this, green that. Running into people I know at the grocery store or the club. Power walking with beautiful scenery. Relaxation. BBQ every other weekend. Optimism. Up in the Hollywood Hills looking out over the bright lights. Used book stores in Silverlake, Beachwood Canyon and Los Filas. Live music all over. Shopping on Melrose or The Beverly Center. Getting lost hiking in the mountains of Malibu. Hipping out in Topanga Canyon. Like oh my gosh in the valley. Vacationing and dreams of retirement in Santa Barbara, the French Riviera of the west. I better stop writing this blog before I book a one way ticket to LAX!

Photo: Ashley- Sunbathing at Windansea Beach, San Diego, California
Video: "California Love" - Tupac