About this Event
To prepare for the SBDP's upcoming Dyke Herstory Dance Tour, join us at Oakland Public Library: César E. Chávez Branch for an evening of storytelling from local Dyke icons: Judith Smith and Dr. Laura Rifkin!
When: June 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Where: Oakland Public Library: César E. Chávez Branch (3301 E 12th St, Oakland)
This event is free to attend! If you’re able, we invite you to make a donation to support DYKON Story Hours and the ongoing research for The Dyke HERstory Dance Tour. Your support helps sustain this work over time!
You can contribute here: fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/sarah-bush-dance-project!
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DYKON= Dyke Icon
The word dyke has a complex history. Once used as a slur against lesbians, it has been reclaimed by many as a political and chosen identity across queer communities. Today, people who identify with the term include lesbians, trans dykes, nonbinary people, masc and femme identities, and others who feel connected to the word’s history and cultural significance.
As we develop the Dyke HERstory Dance Tour, Sarah Bush Dance Project is committed to engaging this history with care, curiosity, and openness. We recognize that the word carries different meanings and experiences for different people.
DYKON Story Hour is intended as an inclusive, intergenerational space for listening, storytelling, and dialogue. Our goal is to honor the many people and communities who have shaped dyke culture and queer history in the Bay Area, while making room for conversation about how language, identity, and community continue to evolve.
Judith (Judy) Smith has was born in CO with a passion for horses and nature. A champion equestrian, she became disabled in a car accident at age 17 and has since used a power wheelchair. In 1983 she fled CO winters for Berkeley—the epicenter of the disability rights movement. She got an immersion course in activism and rabble rousing from iconic disability leaders like Judy Heumann and Ed Roberts. She came out shortly after moving here and added LGBTQ+ issues to her activism.
Through twists and turns of good fortune, she met women who led her to improvisational movement, martial arts, Zen Buddhism and most importantly, contemporary dance. Judith’s life career was as a Founding Member and Director of AXIS Dance Company, one of the world’s first and most celebrated ensembles of dancers with and without disabilities. She has been a driving force in building the dance and disability field and creating opportunities for disabled dancers.
Since retiring, Judith continues to be involved in the dance field. An environmentalist at heart, she is passionate about being in nature and making sure people with disabilities have nature-based opportunities. She leads accessible nature and birding trips with Golden Gate Bird Alliance and BORP Adaptive Sports and Recreation Program. Judith currently serves on Golden Gate Bird Alliance DEI Committee and East Bay Regional Park District’s Public Advisory Commission. She volunteers with several animal welfare and wildlife rescue organizations doing transport for injured animals. She continues to be an activist for disability inclusion and accessibility in all parts of her life and interests.
Laura Rifkin, Ph.D., is Director/Faculty Emerita of the Recreation Therapy Program with an emphasis in Expressive Arts at San Francisco State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Integral Philosophy focused on peacemaking, along with master’s degrees in Recreation Administration and Organizational Development and Transformation. A published author, educator, consultant, artist, and community leader, her work has centered disability justice, LGBTQ history, accessibility, and creative approaches to social change.
Throughout her career, Dr. Rifkin has helped launch numerous groundbreaking initiatives. In the 1980s, she co-founded the Wry Crips Women’s Theater Group, the Bay Area’s first theater group for disabled women; co-created a Comprehensive Special Needs Services model for the Gay Pride Parade with Jill Lessing; and co-founded the Bay Area Pirates, a lesbian wheelchair basketball team, with Patty Overland. She was also an early member of AXIS Dance Company and associate producer of The Way Home, a film exploring women, race, and culture.
In 2007, together with Jill Lessing, she co-created Fabled Asp (Fabulous/Activist Bay Area Lesbians with Disabilities: A Storytelling Project), documenting forty years of disabled lesbian herstory in the Bay Area through archives and exhibitions at the San Francisco Public Library. She also originated the idea of designating 2010 as “The Year of Honoring Disabled Lesbians,” which received proclamations from Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and the State of California.
In 2010, she was honored by the GLBT Historical Society as one of 25 outstanding GLBT leaders and received a Local Hero Award from Bank of America.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Oakland Public Library: César E. Chávez Branch, 3301 East 12th Street, Oakland, United States
USD 0.00
