I Don’t Wanna Be Called Yo Mamma
Who: Reconstruction Room
What: Don’t Call Me Mother, curated by Ellen Placey Wadey
When: Wednesday, June 3, 8:00 p.m.
Where: Black Rock bar, 3614 N. Damen Ave. – FREE
When Morley Safer interviewed Helen Mirren on 60 Minutes, he asked, “Do you ever regret not having children?” She answered, “No. Absolutely not.” Did Safer ever ask that question of a male interviewee?
In typical Rec Room fashion, the upcoming event on Wednesday challenges our dominant culture – this time questioning why our society doesn’t like to think about women who choose not to have (or didn’t get around to having) children, and are as happy as a dry baby’s butt with their decision.
“We’ve got the virgin narrative, the thank-god-I-found-a-partner-before-I-got-too-old-to-have-babies narrative, the infertility narrative, the single-by-choice mother narrative, the all-became-right-with-me-and-the-world-when-I-had-my-child narrative and the adoption narrative all firmly established with a spot on our how-to and even literary bookshelves.”
Statistics show the numbers of women not having kids are significant and rising, but it’s still hard to find books on the subject. Props to the Rec Room brains for birthing this topic into light. Readings by Lisa Alvarado, Carl Marcum, Allison Gruber, Miki Howald, Kelly Kleiman, Sadie Pfannkuche, and Ellen Placey Wadey – all unafraid to stand up and be counted as childless and guilt-free, proudly reporting, “We’re not broken. We’re not selfish. Don’t call us mother. We’re fine with it.”




Title:
What: Neighborhood Writing Alliance Gala
Wednesday night, the anthology The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry presented the Chicago reading of its ongoing national tour, in collaboration with the Guild Complex, Letras Latinas, and Poetry magazine, at Pilsen’s Décima Musa, which is a fantastic space—high ceilings, stucco walls, tall plants, Frieda Kahlo images, and, my favorite, the unicorn statue rearing on top of the piano. Surroundings aside, the real delights of the evening were the three readers from the anthology, Rosa Alcalá, Kevin A. González, and Carolina Monsivais, who read their own work and selections of other poets featured in The Wind Shifts. The ever-delightful Johnny Vázquez Paz emcee’d, lending her sass and enthusiasm, and completed the evening by reading a poem by Brenda Cárdenas.
Who: Zach Dodson, Gina Frangello, Kyle Minor, & Kathleen Rooney




