V-Day Annual Report 2021 | Page 2

WELCOME TO OUR 2020-2021 ANNUAL REPORT

In the face of the Covid-19 global pandemic that ripped through the world and shed light on inequity across all cultures , grassroots V-Day and One Billion Rising activists pushed boundaries and engaged in dialogue , with art and activism always at the forefront . They rose against a wave of right-wing nationalism , white supremacy , colorism , fascism , xenophobia , misogyny , femicide , homophobia , transphobia , corporate greed and climate destruction . As they rose , they centered the voices and experiences of the most marginalized . They met the moment by escalating the urgency with which they fought for gender , climate , economic and racial justice .
V-Day ’ s new VOICES project had our vast global network buzzing with excitement to see and hear the new artistic piece that will emerge in 2022 , centering Black women ’ s voices from across the Diaspora at this critical time in our history as a planet .
For over 20 years , V-Day unleashed vast grassroots , anti-violence work on college campuses and in communities – visionary work that has been survivor-led and focused , all the while revealing the power of art and activism to change culture and systems . Beginning with and inspired by The Vagina Monologues , new artistic works , films and campaigns have emerged from this movement – from Afghanistan Is Everywhere , The V-Day Safe House for the Girls in Kenya , The Indian Country Project , The Missing and Murdered Women in Juárez campaign , and Any One of Us : Words From Prison , to Swimming Upstream , the City of Joy and V-World Farm in Congo , the documentary films Until The Violence Stops and City of Joy , Artistic Uprising events in NYC and on the US / Mexico border , the V20 series of short films , and now VOICES .
The Covid-19 pandemic ’ s impact on communities of color worldwide and the uprising for racial justice in the United States and across the globe inspired us to build on our years of work of amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and creating spaces for them to be seen and heard to do even more to center the voices of artists and activists who have for too long been pushed to the margins . In this time of reckoning , it was clear to us that the voices of Black women artists need to take center stage in a sustained and focused way . We announced on October 1st , that The Vagina Monologues would take its bow and exit the V-Day campaigns , remaining a play , but no longer done as a part of V-Day .