Posts Categorized: Civic Engagement
Menstrual Transphobia: Women Aren’t the Only Ones with Periods
Increased awareness and support against period poverty and stigma in recent years is liberating periods — but not for trans individuals. As we enter a new era of feminist history, the menstrual movement (the movement to increase access to period products and combat the harmful stigma surrounding periods) has gained a lot of attention. Since the movement is crucial for the advancement of gender equity, activists and supporters have fervently advocated for policy changes (requiring free period products in public facilities/schools, removing the Tampon Tax, and allowing better access to affordable healthcare just to name a few) and created community resources to ensure that no person has to live in period poverty or with stigma. Despite the rise in interest and discourse around the subject, inclusive language remains a struggle,… Read more »
Learning to Truly Love
“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth. Love is as love does. Love is an act of will–namely, both an intention and an action.” – bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions. This summer I found myself having seemingly challenging internal and external conversations about love, what it actually is, and what it looks like when enacted. I deem these conversations challenging because that is exactly what they were in all of their essences due to the vulnerability, raw compassion, and overall perception shift they activated. At the height of my summer, I began reading a series of works by some of my own personal and most beloved Black revolutionaries and writers in an effort to become more… Read more »
What Do Voting Rights & Reproductive Justice Have In Common? Everything
My grandmother, Lizzie Mae Kelly, fought for her rights. In 1965, she marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late, great Rep. John Lewis from Selma to Montgomery, but not before she was beaten on Bloody Sunday. Through it all, she, like so many other Black women, persisted…
Young Voters Surge at the Polls Across the Nation
WASHINGTON Young people (18-29) voted in record numbers in the 2018 midterms, and tipped the scales in crucial races in a year of narrow margins, according to a new report from URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, “The Young People’s Election: Casting Votes. Building Power.” Highlights include: Young people registered to vote at record rates with early voting for young adults surging 188 percent since the 2014 midterm elections. Nationally, voters aged 18 to 39 tripled their early voting rate since 2014; in Texas and Georgia, the number of early young voters doubled from 2014. One-third (31%) of young people (18-29) turned out to vote in the 2018 midterm election, up from 21% in 2014, representing the highest level of participation among youth in the past quarter-century. “The 2018… Read more »
URGE Texas Drops Off 1500 Postcards to Senator Cornyn in Support a Clean DREAM Act
URGE advocates, All Above All, Jane’s Due Process, NARAL Texas, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, TEA Fund and the Lilith Fund delivered 1500 postcards from Texans who support a clean DREAM Act by the end of the year. With 800, 000 DACAmented families hanging in the balance, we joined United We Dream’s Day of Action to ensure that every immigrant family is protected and live with dignity. To learn more about our work to defend DACA: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/opinion/letters-the-editor-dec-2017/0jAlYQ4anOJbi2ONtFBGLK/
URGE at Texas State Host Lotería Night
Advocates at the Texas State University hosted a Lotería night to push our anti-border wall resolution campaign. They started raising awareness of our concurrent and upcoming campaigns on the Hyde Amendment, and a clean DREAM Act.
The Power of the Vote: How We’re Making Sure Young People are Heard on Election Day
During this election season, we’re engaging with cities in Alabama, Texas, and Ohio to ensure voter registration numbers among young people are the highest they’ve ever been and to get out the vote, ensuring youth voices are heard at the polls. Take a look at the teams, successes, and future goals for the canvassing teams in: Tuscaloosa, AL; Birmingham, AL; Denton, TX Houston, TX; Bowling Green, OH; and Toledo, OH. Alabama Our southern canvassers have knocked on 5,033 doors to educate people in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham about the dire need for comprehensive sex education in public schools. Every year, the lack of evidence-based, medically-accurate and LGBTQ-inclusive hurts students and their ability to have healthy relationships–with themselves and others. Our canvassing team identified over 80 people who wanted to get involved… Read more »
2016 Gloria Steinem Membership Conference
This year’s Gloria Steinem Membership Conference was a largest to date, with over 120 participants from all of our states convening on Capitol Hill. After an epic night at the Generation 2 Generation Awards, we hosted skills workshops and panels at the conferences that included many great guest speakers like abortion doulas, reproductive rights lawyers, and religious-affiliated activists. We heard from the LGBTQ Task Force, Catholics for Choice, RCRC, All Above All, National Women’s Law Center, and a host of others. Their discussions on birth control access on campus, the right to parent, the intersection of spirituality and reproductive justice, and more invigorated everyone. Rounding out the conference was a lobby day on Capitol Hill. Forty-five meetings were scheduled to advocate for the Real Healthy Youth Act, a bill that… Read more »
NVRD a success at GSU!
URGE @ Georgia State University had a successful National Voter Registration Day as they led a coalition of several campus groups to get students ready for the election. Their organizing efforts have even attracted national attention! Chapter VP Dave Churvis is now working with the Secular Coalition of America to help develop a toolkit for voter engagement for their national groups.
Civic Engagement
Young people don’t vote. At least that’s what the media says. Well, it’s not true. Just look at the last two presidential elections and you can see that young people make a big impact. People ages 18-29 make up 24% of the voting-eligible population in the United States. That number gets larger every year, as more of our generation reaches voting age. We are the most civically engaged generation in history, and we know we have the power to make real change. CLICK HERE TO CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION We have the right to elect representatives who will fight for our rights in our cities, states, and in Washington, DC. We demand a say in what policies will govern our bodies, families, and communities. That’s why URGE works to mobilize… Read more »
