City of Boston Proclaims Tomorrow "Riot Grrrl Day" in Honor of Kathleen Hanna

Photo by Chloe Aftel

Today, Boston mayor Marty Walsh issued a proclamation designating tomorrow, April 9 as Riot Grrrl Day in the city, in honor of Bikini Kill/The Julie Ruin/Le Tigre‘s Kathleen Hanna, as Boston.com reports (via NME). At the Julie Ruin’s performance at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre tomorrow Hanna will be introduced and presented with the proclamation by Boston’s Chief of Policy Joyce Linehan.

Linehan and Hanna have known each other for two decades, as Boston.com reports. She used to work for Sub Pop and as a manager and show promoter.

Walsh’s proclamation was partially inspired by Hanna’s Riot Grrrl Manifesto, as Boston.com reports. Part of the text reads: 

The riot grrrl philosophy has never felt more relevant, with misogyny still rampant in many cultural spaces… Riot grrrls redefine the language used against them and continue to fight the newest incarnations of patriarchy. In doing so, they ironically confirm one ex-congressman’s accidental wisdom: ‘the female body has ways to try to shut that down.’ It sure does: women’s voices telling their stories can shut that down.

Back in 2013, Walsh (who was then a state representative) proposed adopting the Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner” as the official rock song of Massachusetts. He didn’t succeed, but maybe he’ll give it another go with “Rebel Girl”?  

Read our 5-10-15-20 interview with Hanna.

Watch the Julie Ruin on Pitchfork.tv’s “+1″:

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