After more delays than we thought possible, the iPhone and Droid apps are finally here! You can download them here: http://www.ihollaback.org/share-story/.

The story was picked up by the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/nyregion/08hollaback.html) and we've sold over 300 apps since Monday. We're using the proceeds from the apps to fund an SMS texting service so people without smartphones can hollaback on-the-go too.

It goes without saying that none of this would have been possible without your donation. THANK YOU.

We're now running another campaign to raise funds to support our growth internationally. We're getting 2-3 requests per week to start Hollabacks. As you can imagine, it's incredible and overwhelming. Our team is struggling to keep up, but committed to not slowing down the pace of progress. This is where you come in. Will you consider making another gift at my.ihollaback.org? We've only got eight more days to go, and we need your support.

THANK YOU in advance for your continued support.

Emily

The deadline for the Justmeans Paperless Challenge is Wednesday the 15th, and Hollaback! is so close to winning! We got another 60 votes just today! But we're not there yet, and we need your help to slide into home plate.

To help us reach our goal, we are giving away FIVE Hollaback iPhone 3G covers. To enter:

1. Vote for Hollaback!: http://www.justmeans.com/contestidea...
and comment on why street harassment matters or why Hollaback! rocks.

2. Link to the competition on your facebook or twitter page, using this link (http://www.justmeans.com/contestidea...) and our handle. We are @ihollaback on twitter, or Hollaback! on facebook.

The Justmeans Paperless challenge a competition to celebrate nonprofits that are overhauling fundraising campaigns that just end up in the recycling bin in favor of digital campaigns - like Kickstarter! Since you made our campaign such a success, we were hoping you would pitch in again and make this campaign a success, too. If we win, we'll use the funds to overhaul our website (and say goodbye and good riddens to pepto-bismol pink).

Remember: the deadline is Wednesday, and we can't do it without you! Seriously. It's impossible. So stop reading and start voting! Your actions will build a safer world (with better design and more features).

So we finally spoke with Apple, and yes, they were worried we were going to use it to start a revolution. No joke. They are requesting some changes to our "End User Agreement" that won't really affect the end user's experience, and then we'll be good to go.

The good news is that while Apple has been dragging it's heels, our pro-bono Droid developer has completed the Droid app! We'll be launching the Droid and iPhone apps at the same time, most likely by the end of summer.

Also, your iPhone covers went in the mail last week, so if you haven't received one and you donated $50 or more, please reach out to me. My email is holla at ihollaback.org.

Thanks again for your support!

You must be asking yourself this by now. Our developers told us it would take Apple 3-5 days, but it's been two weeks. According to the 1400 message boards we've been on, it happens. I think they might be worried we're going to use the app to start a revolution. ;)

Good news is, we don't need Apple to have a good time and celebrate what's coming. Come to the launch and get a sneak preview highlighting what's to come. Kickstarter donors get in for $8 instead of $12 as a special thank you. Details are here: http://bit.ly/HOLLAday

We also had a most excellent Op-ed come out about the project in the New York Daily News today by Rebekah Spicuglia, "Stopping subway creeps? There's an app for that: A smart new way to fight back with your iPhone" Check it out: http://bit.ly/holladailynews

Thanks for all that you've done to make this happen. We are so close!
Emily

Almost a month exactly after you guys (all 356 of you!) donated, I'm proud to say that our iPhone app has been submitted to Apple for approval. Our launch party is on July 8th at Southpaw in Brooklyn. As a special thank you to our Kickstarter donors, tickets will be $8 at the door instead of $12. Information is here: http://bit.ly/HOLLAday

If you are in the NY area, I hope you can make it and celebrate! We wouldn't have been able to do it without you.

Keep on holla'ing,
Emily

Well folks. I'm sorry. It's a sad day... for turds everywhere!

WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! Together we raised over 13,500, $1000 over our goal.

Today we celebrate and salute you. YOU donated, YOU thought about donating, YOU wanted to donate, YOU told your friends, YOU blasted your networks, YOU blogged about it, YOU stood up and said NO, I won't sit idly by anymore, YES it is time for some change, YES I WANT TO HELP. So congratulations for supporting this kick-ass, international MOVEMENT. You just made history! And it's not over yet. This is just the beginning. So hollaback and let us know how you want to keep helping!

And most importantly, THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Today is a good day. Music, credits, victory dance, and CELEBRATE.

Stay tuned for details on our launch party, scheduled for July 8th.

HOLLA!

Don't worry! The iPhone is only the beginning. We are starting with the iPhone, but we're already talking to developers about how to integrate SMS texting into our map. We're also actively recruiting pro-bono developers to make Blackberry and Droid apps after we get the kinks out. As for the location, we are beta launching it in NYC but we'll be taking it worldwide within a year.

This is your movement and we promise that this is only the beginning.

We've got one more day to go! The project closes at 5pm EST sharp Friday. If you haven't already: tell your friends, considering increasing your donation, and cross your fingers!

We just had a conversation with our developer (pictured below) who gave us a progress update on the iPhone app and showed us what it looks like over Skype. We are in the process of moving things around and adjusting colors, but after spending the past year planning to bring this into fruition we are tickled pink with the progress. Take a look and tell us what you think:

You Hollabackers are trailblazers, and the world is watching you do it. In the next four days, email, facebook, and tweet why the Hollaback movement matters you, and why everyone should donate. Donations are tax deductible.

Hey Kickstarters! Your donations have helped raise over $4,000 -- AMAZING.

With exactly two weeks to go, here's our challenge: we need to raise another $8,000 or we don't get any of the funding. Without funding for the iPhone app, this may mean a delayed launch. A delayed launch means a delayed movement. A delayed movement means more harassment and assault. Now is the time to be impatient. Please send this to your friends and family and ask for their support. All donations are tax deductible.

Every donation matters, big and small. So far in the campaign, we've had three donors give $1000 or more! These folks are HOLLAheroes. We've also had many donors who have only been able to give $5. One of these donors is a college student studying graphic design and a survivor of rape. She said that Hollaback meant so much to her because after she was raped, everyone told her she "had it coming." While she only had $5 to give, she is donating her to time to Hollaback doing graphic design and has committed to giving more before the campaign is over in two weeks. She is not only a donor, she is one of the thousands of reasons the Hollaback movement is important.

We have the power to end street harassment. Now, let's get this funded so we can start holla'ing back! Send the link out to friends and family today: we only have two weeks to go.

Emily

PS: Check out this awesome article on Hollaback in CNET: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20004626-1.html...

First, I want to thank our first 45 backers for believing in this movement. You guys were bold. You donated even though we were still far away from our goal. You did it because you know an end to street harassment is possible. We couldn't agree more.

Second, I wanted to share with you one of the best interviews I think I've ever done. It's for the American Prospect, and it answers many of the big, important questions that's we've spent a lot of time thinking about over the past five years. See the interview here or below.

Hollaback Moves Forward
The new executive director of Hollaback talks about helping the movement go forward with a new mobile app, and a new mission.

Lewd shouts on the street, grabby hands on the bus: Most women familiar with city living know what it's like to be harassed by strangers. Want revenge? Emily May is on a mission to make sure there's an app for that.

May just took the helm as executive director of Hollaback an organization offering women and LGBT people a bold way to respond to street harassment. The concept -- which blossomed in New York City and spread worldwide -- is simple. If you're harassed, Hollaback. Take a picture of the creep, write a quick story about it, and post it online. That way the world knows you don't have to stand for it.

May co-founded Hollaback five years ago. Now she's back as the organization's executive director and is working to bring the movement into 2010. A new, streamlined website will reorganize Hollaback from disparate local efforts into a cohesive, global one. And there's a Kickstart campaign to help fund a mobile-phone application that will enable women to Hollaback on the go.

TAP talked to May about street harassment and using technology to empower women, one Hollaback at a time.

If a guy hollers at me on the street or on the subway, I usually just roll my eyes and hope he'll get hit by a truck or burst into flames. How do you convince women who ignore the catcalls to take a stand and Hollaback?
This is all part of violence against women. Like the rape-crisis movement, and like the workplace-harassment movement, we're not going to be able to end street harassment until women have a meaningful platform [with which] they can start to tell these stories and document them in a meaningful way. And Hollaback isn't just about telling stories. It's about documenting them so we can have a map, and we can really look at this as a society and say that this is not just a problem. This is of epidemic proportions.

You're now the executive director of Hollaback, but you co-founded it in 2005. What motivated you to start it in the first place?
It started as a conversation among friends. Basically, we were all pissed off. Most problems in the world, whether you want to fix them or not, have some kind of solution. With street harassment, if you walk on, you feel victimized. If you yell at the guy, you put yourself in danger. And of course, if you tell the police, they don't care. So when it happens to you three, four times a day, it really starts to weigh on your life. It changes the way you live your life, the clothes you wear. More than anything, we all wanted a response to street harassment that felt good.

How exactly should we define street harassment?
It's a sticky question, and I know that everyone wants an easy answer on that. Street harassment is really up to the women themselves. It's not my job to decide what hurts a woman when she walks down the street.

So the line is where it creeps someone out?
I've decided [it's harassment] if it's not just annoying, if it's scary -- but where that line between annoying and scary is depends on what your life experience is. We have a lot of women who are extremely affected by street harassment because they are survivors of some other form of violence against women. Street harassment, to them, feels like ripping a scab off.

And why does anyone have to push that line in the first place, right?
Exactly, and you know, for some women, even something like "Good morning" is too much. The world I want to create is a world where people can say, "Good morning," and the implication isn't that it's sexual.

I just moved to D.C. about a year ago. What do you say to people who warn that this kind of thing comes with the territory of living in a city?
They've been saying that for a long time, like being in the workplace. People used to say, "You're in the workplace. You're going to get harassed. That's your decision, and you should just put up with it." A lot of people think harassment is the price we pay for living in the big city. I think that taxes are the price that we pay.

OK, but as frequently as I'd like to give street harassers a piece of my mind, I think we all worry about our safety. How is Hollaback working to end objectification without making women feel like they're at risk?
Our model has always encouraged people who didn't feel comfortable taking a picture to submit a written story when they get back home. Now, we're launching an iPhone app and a mobile texting application to allow women to report on the go.

I bet new technology makes that a lot easier?
We found that one of the main reasons that women don't Hollaback is because by the time they get home, they just kind of want to forget that it happened. The real fierceness of Holla-ing back is that it's in the moment. We're using mobile technology and launching an iPhone app at the end of June. And we'll post the harassment online, so people can go and look. We're also planning on bringing the maps to legislators and to use them for public-service announcements and community education.

What about men? They aren't featured on Hollaback -- though there are a few photos of men posted on your site. Why don't we see men taking part?
When we're talking about street harassment, we're talking about sexual harassment. We're targeting a power dynamic, so we're not looking at men harassed by women -- to the extent that it may happen -- because it's not the same degree of power dynamic. We do look at, for example, gay men, who are harassed by other men, but we've received very few posts over the years. It tends to be an issue that women are most affected by.

That's certainly not surprising. One last question. On your website, you mention that replacing sexism with racism is not a "proper Hollaback." What have you done to combat stereotypes that men of color perpetuate sexual crime?
That was a huge issue for us when we launched, and we were really concerned that a latent racism would come out in the way that women reported their stories. What we found was that, like all forms of violence against women, street harassment cuts across lines of race, and it cuts across lines of class. It's not one kind of guy doing this. It's a certain type of every type of man. We do aggressively take all racial identifiers out of our language. It's just not relevant to the story; this is an across-spectrum issue.

The NYC News Service covered our project! Check out the story titled "Phone App Targets Sex Harassment" and video here.

Also, a guest blog post that I did for the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault on the Hollaback movement and new iPhone app was released today. To check it out, click here.

Our project continues to gather momentum, and we have 24 Kickstarter supporters to prove it. There is a psychology to Kickstarter -- the first half of the funding is a lot harder to raise that than the second half. Those of you who have already donated are leaders in the movement to end street harassment. But we aren't there yet. Be a HOLLAhero and help make this project happen by telling your friends about us too.

HOLLA!

Because we are certain that you Kickstarters are going to bring us across the finish line, we've already started working on our iPhone app! This is a sneak preview - it isn't final - but it'll give you a sense of the direction we are moving in.