Posts Categorized: Civic Engagement
Black Students Need a Safe Campus
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To be honest, I had a great post in mind for today pertaining to love and fat bodies. Had it perfectly crafted, ready to lament of the realities of the subject and how people could look at it from a new, healthier perspective. But then my heart shattered in two and I had to follow my heart. Trigger warning in advance for uncomfortability, white supremacy, racism and the dehumanization of Black college students. If you’ve even been remotely following the news, you would know the immensely scary and heartbreaking wave of social justice unrest that the University of Missouri (or so affectionately called Mizzou) has been enduring for the past 48 hours. It all began when black graduate student Jonathan Butler went on a hunger strike a week ago at… Read more »
Political Representation or the Lack Thereof
Hillary Clinton, Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal, and Carly Fiorina are the only people running for a presidential nomination who are not white men.* That’s 4 of 21. That’s 19%. There are 2 women running for president. That’s not even 10%. A recent photo series by British Elle awesomely illustrates the gender disparity in politics by taking pictures from different political happenings and taking all the men out. So often I hear people asking why it’s taking too long to make long term change in how our country deals with racism and sexism. I just want to show people these numbers. White men seem to continue benefit under the laws because they are the ones writing the laws. They wouldn’t even consider passing laws banning erectile dysfunction medication under the same… Read more »
Alabama Continues to Make it Harder to Vote
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Thinking of voting in the state of Alabama? Better have a photo ID. And if Governor Robert Bentley has his way, the Alabama Black Belt might find soon be devoid of Driver’s License Offices altogether. In the aftermath of Alabama’s recent budget debate, which carried such controversial decisions as shuffling money from education to fund the prison system and raising taxes on things such as cigarettes, pharmaceuticals and retirement homes, Bentley decided that the worst possible thing he could do would be to raise any direct taxes, especially the state’s extremely low property tax. As a trade-off, Bentley plans to close a number of state parks, something that had been discussed at great length during the budget gridlock earlier this year, as well as 31 driver’s license offices (all conveniently located… Read more »
3 Reasons Why Voting Rights are a Reproductive Justice Issue
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. The Voting Rights Act (VRA) was enacted in order to prohibit election regulations that would prohibit anyone from voting due to their race. A very important part of the act required jurisdictions with a history of discrimination in voting to get federal approval for any changes in their electoral laws and regulations before they can take effect. In 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States gutted the VRA by removing the requirement that applied to jurisdictions with a history of discrimination. In 2014, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced legislation to help strengthen the VRA. This legislation is incredibly important especially as we see voter disenfranchisement laws increasing. By restricting the right to vote – from… Read more »
Flyover States Matter
With all of the recent news coverage of Indiana’s new “religious freedom” law and the imprisonment of Purvi Patel for having a miscarriage, we have an opportunity to look at how people across the country view Reproductive Justice in the Midwest. Unfortunately, the conversation has been going in the same direction we usually see when problematic things happen in a red state. This scenario leads us to a discussion about flyover states, what it means to work for change in them, and how national organizations can support people on the ground. Too often we run into the problem of local organizations not having the funding or resources to handle these fights alone. However, national organizations in some cases are either unwilling or unable to offer the support that is needed… Read more »
Hey Congress, We See You
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This week it looked like Congress was poised to pass a bipartisan bill, the Justice for Trafficking Victims Act (JVTA). However, after the bill made it out of the Judiciary Committee and before the Senate could vote on the bill it became clear that it included a prohibition on funding for abortion services. There has been a lot of finger pointing from both sides of the aisle about who is at fault for not acknowledging this harmful language. What we do know is that the bill from the last Congress did not include the language prohibiting funding for abortion services. Democrats claim that Republicans added the language and negotiated in bad faith. Regardless of where the blame lies, what we do know is that no bill is safe from unfair… Read more »
Student Activists Lobby in Texas for Trust, Respect and Access
Young Texas students learned how to call upon their government representatives when they took to the state Capitol to lobby for a package of reproductive healthcare bills. Activists from all over Texas gathered at the Capitol February 26 to speak out against a set of proposed bills that would severely limit a person’s access to sex education, abortion and other healthcare needs. Armed with a new campaign aimed at putting trust, respect, and access back into the hands of Texans, students met individually with state senators and representatives to inform them of the policies regarding reproductive rights. The tiered campaign has three elements, the first one being trust; trusting Texans to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions, including the time and spacing of their children. Under the trust tier also… Read more »
Taking Root through Civic Engagement
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This past weekend, I attended Take Root: Red State Perspectives on Reproductive Justice. It’s a conference held in Oklahoma dedicated to outlining and working through the struggles of RJ activism in unfriendly environments. As was expected, the conference was excellent, the panels were very informative, and this year they had the largest number of attendees yet! One panel I attended that I really thought was interesting was called RJ and Civic Engagement. The question it raised was, “How do we develop and support effective reproductive justice activism and civic engagement?” The panelists all spoke on effective RJ campaigns they have been a part of, and the strategies that led to that success. The first thing they talked about was the definition of civic engagement and how to accomplish it, in… Read more »
We Need More Women in Government
Across the world, women make up less than 25 percent of all national parlimentarians or congressional representatives. Women are rarely elevated to a role of Head of State. As we examine political leadership roles in different countries, one might expect that the United States would have some of the highest levels of women as political leaders. This is because we might like to believe that our society has moved beyond sexism, and that we see equality in our political system. However, many would be easily surprised by what they would find with such a search. The United States currently has 79 women out of 432 total seats in the US House of Representatives, good for 18.3 percent. We also have 20 women out of 100 total seats in the US… Read more »
The 2014 Election: Your How-To Guide
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Happy Election Day, folks! It’s time to head to the polls and do your civic duty for the good ol’ U S of A. If you weren’t planning on voting, we explain a little more why it’s so important that young people vote. If you’re still a little unsure, or maybe you’ve already decided to vote, we detail just how easy it is. Make sure to share this with your friends, family and peers to spread the word: our votes matter, but in order for them to actually make an impact, we need to actually vote! Why you should vote? But I really don’t care… I don’t have to vote, right? Millennials often get a bad reputation for being “lazy” and “uncaring.” Older generations love to say that we’re apathetic… Read more »