(Reporter7.com 2007-04-07) Ninotchka Rosca at Boston University

For Immediate Release

Contact: Grethel Bolandrina
(508) 476-0009 Gretheline@aol.com



Boston University's Filipino Students Association invites community to April 18 event





Boston, MA: On behalf of Boston University's Filipino Students Association, Karynn Elio
extends an invitation to the Filipino American community to the BU event featuring Feminist Activist, Writer, Ninotchka Rosca as guest speaker. Set on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, @ 7 PM at the Howard Thurman Center (in the basement of the George Sherman Union) at 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215. Admission if free. For questions, concerns or to confirm attendance contact Elio at 516-661-3827. RSVP required to determine number of attendees, may be done via e-mail to karynn_elio@yahoo.com Subject: RSVP April 18 event.



About BUFSA: (From the web)The Boston University Filipino Student Association is an organization which advocates the richness and the profundity of the Filipino heritage. The mission includes the pursuit of the appreciation of Filipino and Filipino-American life by the Boston University student body, faculty, and alumni. Filipinos have an eclectic culture with extensive ties to various other ethnic groups. Through community involvement and education, FSA aims to expand the knowledge and the awareness of a cultural awakening. BU's Filipino Students Association (FSA) serves as a haven, welcoming all interested students in the celebration of culture. http://people.bu.edu/bufsa/0506/index.htm

About Ninotchka Rosca: Ninotchka Rosca is an outstanding contemporary writer, human rights activist and feminist. She is the author of six books: her short story
collections include Bitter Country and Monsoon Country; her two novels
are State of War and Twice Blessed which earned the 1993 American Book
Award for excellence in literature; and her books of nonfiction are
The Fall of Marcos and her most recent, Jose Maria Sison: At Home in
the World - Portrait of a Revolutionary. Rosca's short stories have
been included in several anthologies, among them, the 1986 Best 100
Short Stories in the US compiled by Raymond Carver and the Missouri
Review Anthology. She is a two-time recipient of the New York
Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and a frequent contributor to Ms.
Magazine, The Nation, Village Voice, Q and other US and European
periodicals.

Rosca is an internationally known activist for human rights. A
political prisoner under the Marcos regime in the Philippines, she was
forced into exile when threatened with a second arrest. Rosca has
participated in numerous world forums and conferences for human rights.
She serves on the board of the Survivors Committee, a network of former
political prisoners and human rights activists. She has also been in
leadership positions with Amnesty International and the PEN American
Center.

Rosca was a founder and the first national chair of the GABRIELA, the
preeminent women's rights organization of the Philippines. She is the
international spokesperson of GABRIELA's Purple Rose Campaign against
the trafficking of women, with an emphasis on Filipinas.

She was active in planning the UN Conference on Women which took place
in Beijing, China. Rosca is particularly concerned with women's human
rights focusing on the issues of sex tourism, trafficking, the
mail-order bride industry, and violence against women.

For her achievements, Rosca has been designated as one of the 12 Asian
American Women of Hope by the Bread and Roses Cultural Project. These
women were chosen by scholars and community leaders for their courage,
compassion and commitment in helping to shape society. They are
considered role models for young people of color, who, in the words of
Gloria Steinem, "have been denied the knowledge that greatness looks
like them."