Yasmeen Hassan, the new Global Director for Equality Now recorded a video to thank us, the Browncoats, for our support over the last 6 years.

She talks about some of the work that EN has done recently, and the strides made in equality for women and girls in such places as Libya and Brazil.

The video is a strong reminder of why we support Equality Now.

Among the over 30 auction lots are an incredible Evil Willow print and a gorgeous Willow entwined print, each signed by Joss Whedon, Jo Chen & Alison Hannigan.

The auctions are now live, and will end on 5 November 2011.

Click here to go to the auctions.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the items up for grabs…

• Screen-used Reaver Throwing Razor ball weapon – This is an actual prop from the filming of Serenity, and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Prop Store of London
• MF-813 Flying Mule Studio Scale Replica from QMX – thisis an exact studio-scale replica of the Flying Mule as seen in the movie Serenity. Measuring 14.5″ x 10.75″ x 4.5″, the Mule is a highly-detailed model, hand painted to match the movie vehicle right down to the emblems and decals, and is part of a limited edition of 1000.
• Jayne Cobb Pin-up Girl Quilt – If Jayne’s mom sewed, this is surely the quilt she’d make for him! Twelve pin-up girls float above a starry sky in this quilt: a space babe, Sheena with a big knife that Jayne would love, a girl on a motorcycle, and others, none exactly alike.
• Autographed program from CSTS Los Angeles signed by Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Jewel Staite (Kaylee) and Melinda Clarke (Nandi).
• Signed Alliance Bank Note – This officially licensed Serenity Alliance bank note has been signed by Ron Glass (Shepherd Book), Jonathan Woodward (Tracy), Nectar Rose (Lenore, the love bot), Sonny Rhodes (singer of the Firefly theme song) and Michael Fairman (Niska).

And that’s just a small taste of the huge range of items generously donated by Can’t Stop the Serenity supporters!

The auctions will begin on Wednesday 26 October, and end on Saturday 5 November, and are proudly hosted by Fanporium Auctions. Proceeds will be donated to Equality Now.

If you want to win some awesome prizes, we’ll soon be launching our Global Auction for Equality Now. There are some fantastic goodies up for grabs, and you won’t want to miss your chance. We’ll have more news on this soon, so keep your eyes peeled on www.cantstoptheserenity.com, and on our Twitter and Facebook.

Have you heard about our Art Contest? We’re reaching out to all the creative folks out there to design a logo for next year’s events. Our Art Contest has been running since 2009 and has discovered some amazing artists. This year’s contest will run until 14 October, so if you’ve got the creative spirit, get your entries in soon! The winning design will be featured on our website, merchandise and more!

Now, we promised you Jossy goodness and here it is! In case you missed this last week, we’ve released this year’s awesome event introduction video! If you were able to make it to a Can’t Stop the Serenity event this year, you may have had the opportunity to see this year’s video. But if you missed out, not to fret! You can watch it now on our YouTube Channel. This year’s intro was packed to the brim with big damn heroes. We’re extremely honoured to have received a very special contribution from Joss, who has inspired us once more to continue to fight the good fight for equality. Other special guests include artist Jason Palmer, writer Jane Espensen, actors Tahmoh Penikett, Claire Kramer, Eliza Dusku, Dichen Lachman, Summer Glau and a host of Browncoats from across the globe! Watch it now!. You can get your hands on the Joss Whedon designed Equality Now shirt (as worn by Joss in the video) for just $20 from the Equality Now Online Store.

FInally, we’d like to thank all of the wonderful people who have volunteered to coordinate Can’t Stop the Serenity at a global level in 2012. Our fabulous local event organisers are pouring over the applications as we speak, so that we can bring you the best team possible in 2012.

And don’t forget, registration for 2012 events is open, so why not grab some friends and start planning a Can’t Stop the Serenity event in your area?

This year’s intro was packed to the brim with big damn heroes. We’re extremely honoured to have received a very special contribution from Joss, who has inspired us once more to continue to fight the good fight for equality. Other special guests include artist Jason Palmer, writer Jane Espensen, actors Tahmoh Penikett, Claire Kramer, Eliza Dusku, Dichen Lachman, Summer Glau and a host of Browncoats from across the globe!

The global team would like to offer our special thanks to all those who contributed to the video, and to Liam Merrick for pulling it all together.

Check out our YouTube Channel for more videos, including past Global Intros from 2008, 2009 and 2010.

We’re tallying up all the donations from this year’s events to announce the 2012 Global Donation Total and have news about our forthcoming auction! So keep your eyes peeled here, on Twitter and on Facebook.

In the meantime, don’t forget that you can still get your hands on a Joss Whedon designed Equality Now shirt! If you attended a CSTS event this year, you will recognise it as the one Joss wore in his video message (and if you missed out, we’ll be posting the video here in the next few days). And now you can one of your very own! They’re just $20 from the Equality Now Online Store.

And last but not least, thank you to all of the wonderful people who have volunteered to coordinate Can’t Stop the Serenity at a global level in 2012. We’re in the process of finalising the applications for Global Team roles, and will have more news in coming days.

Registration is open now, so you’ve got plenty of time to start planning a Can’t Stop the Serenity event for 2012. All the information you need to get you started can be found in the Events section on the menu above.

Most CSTS events are known as “Screening Events” where Joss Whedon’s “Serenity” is shown on the big screen in conjunction with auctions, raffles, contests, merchandise sales and other multimedia (pending licensing arrangements). If you’re unable to organize a Screening Event (due to funds, location or proximity to other Browncoats), an Affiliate event may be the answer. This can be any kind of event, such as a BBQ, dance party, or trivia night. The choice is yours!

Once you’ve decided, you can begin planning at once. Take advantage of Event Resources to help you and your team with the planning process.

Next, you need to tell the Global Team about your plans so that you can become an official event. This year, there is a two step registration process – Pre-Registration and Registration.

Being an official CSTS Event means that you become part of the wonderful CSTS community which comes with some amazing perks. We’ll help you raise money for Equality Now by providing access to official CSTS merchandise and items from our wonderful sponsors to use as auction/raffle/contest prizes, assist you with promotion, give you access to our forums to talk with other organizers who have come before and continue to triumph and your event’s charitable donation will be added to the 2012 Global Donation Total. Plus you’ll get the support of other shiny people who are traveling this journey with you! In other words, you get a lot.

But most importantly, you’ll be helping raise awareness and money for Equality Now so that they can continue their work to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. 2012 marks Equality Now’s 20th year, and we hope that you will all join with us as we help celebrate Equality Now’s achievements and continue to push for change.

“There are two ways to fight a battle like ours. One is to whisper in the ear of the masses, try subtlely and gradually to change the gender expectations and mythic structures of our culture. That’s me. The other is to step up and confront the thousands of atrocities that are taking place around the world on an immediate, one-by-one basis. That’s a great deal harder, and that’s Equality Now. It’s not about politics; it’s about basic human decency” – Joss Whedon

Recently, we sent out some questions over the Cortex and received some fantastic interview responses (we’ll be posting these soon!). Our very first response was from Heather in Maryland, who wrote “It was part of learning about CSTS that led me to learn about Equality Now. Some of the articles they’ve linked to show that women the world over still suffer terrible injustices for no other reason than their sex. Nobody should be put in a position where they’re treated as inferior by anybody – no matter their sex, their race, their religion, or their sexual preferences. By fundraising for Equality Now, CSTS does its part to bring us to a future that’s fairer for everybody.” It’s responses like this that keep us motivated, and inspired this contest.

So, what do you need to do to enter the “Words have the Power to bring about Equality” Writing Contest? We’re asking you, our fantastic CSTS supporters, to write a short piece (500-1000 words) on why you support Can’t Stop the Serenity and Equality Now.

And what are the prizes? Well, you’re in for a treat! We have a major prize plus three runners up prizes up for grabs. The major prize winner will receive a hard cover set of The Softwire series (4 books) signed by author PJ Haarsma, a $75 Amazon giftcard, a CSTS 2011 shirt and patch, plus a copy of Architects of Peace: Visions of Hope in Words and Images by Michael Collopy and Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World by Jane Bresken Zalben. Runners up will also receive a CSTS 2011 shirt and patch, plus a collection of fantastic books.

Entries should be sent to info@cantstoptheserenity.com, and must be received no later than 11.59PM PST on 30 September 2011 to be included for consideration. The global CSTS team and Kids Need to Read folks will compile a shortlist of submissions, which will be presented to you all to vote on between 7-14 October, with the winning entries announced on 16 October 2011.

We look forward to reading your entries! Now… pick up that pen, and start writing. Because words truely do have the power to bring about equality.

There are two ways to fight a battle like ours. One is to whisper in the ear of the masses, try subtlely and gradually to change the gender expectations and mythic structures of our culture. That’s me. The other is to step up and confront the thousands of atrocities that are taking place around the world on an immediate, one-by-one basis. That’s a great deal harder, and that’s Equality Now. It’s not about politics; it’s about basic human decency. – Joss Whedon

To encourage more folks to follow our twitter feed and Like our facebook page, our Global Steering Committee Chair has pledged 5c to Equality Now for each CSTS twitter follower and CSTS Facebook Page like we have on 30 September (up to $500).

So…
If we have 4000 @CSTS twitter followers on 30 Sept, that’s a donation $200 to EN.
If we have 4000 CSTS facebook page likes on 30 Sept, that’s a donation $200 to EN.

We need your help to promote this far and wide! Follow/Like us and spread the signal!