City officials, community members, students, activists and even jail inmates are all taking part in various events in Berkeley and other parts of the Bay Area today as part of an international campaign against domestic violence.
The One Billion Rising campaign is meant to call attention to the statistic that one in three women and girls worldwide will be beaten or raped in their lifetimes, according to organizers.
In Berkeley, a group of Berkeley High students plan to gather at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, 2151 Martin Luther King Jr Way., at 3:30 p.m. UC Berkeley law students will gather in the Steinhart courtyard of Boalt Hall at 5:30 p.m. and Graduate Theological Union students in the Pacific School of Religion Quad, 1798 Scenic Ave., Berkeley, from 5:15 to 5:35 p.m.
See the complete list of Berkeley events here.
In Oakland, supporters will will gather at the downtown Frank H. Ogawa Plaza at 4 p.m. for a call-out and an opening dance performance ceremony, followed by a march from 4:30 to 5 p.m. From 5:15 to 7 p.m. the group will have dance performances and speakers, ending the event with some ecstatic dancing with with two DJs. All ages are invited. Participants are asked to wear the "V-Day" colors of red and pink.
An "Only in Oakland" performance and gathering at the First Presbyterian Church, 2619 Broadway, Oakland, from 7 to 9 p.m. is sold out, according to the organizers.
Local residents and businesses have organized several viewing parties. See the complete list of Oakland events here.
Many of the dances at One Billion Rising events will be to the song "Break the Chain," the anthem for the One Billion Rising campaign. An instructional video is attached above.
Information about other Bay Area events related to the campaign, as well as live video feeds of One Billion Rising events going on around the world, can be found online at www.onebillionrising.org.
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