6

letter continued from p. 3

was

The Newsletter for February great!!! I really enjoyed reading it. The articles seemed more newsy. The poems, reviews, personal articles were all noteworthy.

The April-May issue was "Out of Sight"! I mean to say you sisters are taking care of business in the true sense of the word. The article entitled "Occupa- tion: Ornament" written by Sarita Johnson, and the article written by Storme Webber both touched on issues of racism and how racism affects us both in a subtle and blatant manner. These articles have forced me to take a second look at my white counterparts' patterns of behavior when I am in their presence.

The articles on the Ollie's and Amelia's affairs are important for Black womin to read. I seldom go to Ollie's, but I will on occasion go to Amelia's. Because of the articles in the News- letter, I will discontinue going until the demands are met.

Womin, one of the ways we can support each other's struggles is through the Newsletter, but only if womin continue to write, So "write on." Send in your articles. I want to know you.

Delcina

OLLIE'S BOYCOTT UPDATE

Ollie's, a Last Novem-

In our April-May issue of ONYX, we called for a boycott of women's bar in Oakland, CA. ber, six black women were clearly racist treatment. made by the women involved, are part of the ONYX staff.

subjected to Demands were many of whom

Most of these women met with Ollie and presented her with a list of demands. At that Novemeber meeting, Ollie agreed to meet all of these demands.

The boycott came about due to Ollie's failure to carry out the demands that were agreed upon back in November. Several times during the month of April, informational pickets were present in front of Ollie's to discourage potential customers from patronizing the bar and educating them around what the issues were that created this current stand.

The status of the boycott at press time is as follows. ONYX is attempting to negotiate a settlement with the owners of Ollie's with the assistance of two Pacific Center personnel who are acting as mediators. The Pacific Center in Berkeley is a gay mental health agency. We will do our best to keep you updated. We thank you for your interest and sup- port of the boycott.

A WOMAN'S PLACE

BOOKSTORE AND INFORMATION CENTER

From the Woman's Place collective:

I.C.I.--A Woman's Place, a feminist bookstore and information center in Oakland, California, has been through a seven month long dispute over ownership and control of the bookstore and the conduct of the collective memebers. We're glad to announce that this dispute has been resolved as of April 15, 1983, by a decision of three women arbitrators.

The decision awards management of the bookstore to Keiko Kubo, Jesse Meredith, Darlene Pagano, and Elizabeth Summers, who are to immediately incor- porate the business. These four will leave the corporation, two within one year and two within two years. Alice Malloy, Carol Wilson, and Natalie Lando are to immediately dissassociate from the business and are awarded the equivalent of one month's pay. Each side is awarded $2,000 towards legal expenses from the bookstore's assets. Copies of the de- cision are available at a Woman's Place.

We consider the arbitrator's award to the departing collective members to be mini- mal. We would like to make additional payment to them, but can make no concrete statement until we thoroughly evaluate the bookstore's financial condition.

We are relieved to put this dispute behind us, and are working to put the arbitrators' order into effect immed- iately. We are also focusing our energies on the survival of A Woman's Place as a fiscally sound, diverse, creative femin- ist bookstore and information center. We have dropped the "I.C.I." portion of our name because So many people found it confusing; the initials stood for "Infor- mation Center Incorporate," which we'll continue to be.

We're discussing plans for promotion and outreach, fundraising, renovating the premises, and expanding community involvement.

We need the support and energy and "matronage" of the bookstore community to make all this happen. We have alot of work ahead of us. Please come see us, and help us continue and expand A Woman's Place as an asset of the women's community.

A Woman's Place collective:

Darlene Pagano

Elizabeth Summers Jesse Meredith Keiko Kubo

ATTENTION ARTISTS/PHOTOGRAHERS

ONYX needs your black and white artwork and photographs. Call and leave a mes- sage for Marlene or Sarita at 540-0671.