Emerging Voices
Our voices matter. For too long, the narratives and expertise of young queer and trans people of color in the South and Midwest have been ignored or talked over. URGE showcases young content creators and storytellers who have the opportunity to gain skills in writing for a variety of blogs and media outlets, creating engaging digital content, while using social media to amplify their work. EmURGEing Voices highlights the views of young people on issues related Reproductive Justice and gender equity. Explore their work here.
Alabama Keeps Pushing Buttons, But We’ll Keep Pushing Back
On Thursday, March 7th, after weeks of public hearings and a vote through the Alabama Senate, the Alabama House made a final vote passing SB1 a.k.a. the “anti-absentee voters bill.” This bill makes it a felony to assist with “distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting, prefilling, completing, obtaining, or delivering” an absentee ballot for anyone apart from …
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Across Time and Space: The ‘Lesbian Continuum’ and The Color Purple
Trigger warning: sexual assault, homophobia, gender-based violence, child abuse My favorite part of being a Comparative Women’s Studies major has been discovering the intersections between my lived experience and academic scholarship. Learning new language to describe my lived experience has me often exclaiming, “so this is the term that describes what I have been experiencing!” …
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History may be a study of the past, but its importance lies in the present.
Feb 27, 2024
/ Margaret B
/ Our Folks
February is Black History Month, which means many people, organizations, and companies are highlighting Black voices and telling their stories. Depending on your perspective, this can manifest in different ways. For many people, this means taking a step back and amplifying Black perspectives or highlighting their stories. Classrooms, workplaces, and even businesses are spending extra …
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We Need To Give the “Bootstraps” Narrative the Boot
Since September 2023, I have been juggling three part-time jobs. I took on these responsibilities because I didn’t have another choice. After spending a year and a half churning out hundreds of job applications and preparing for hours of interviews, not getting any offers left me exasperated. I knew I had to earn income in …
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Weathering the Storm: Mutual Aid Amidst the Emerging Climate Crisis
In the early morning of January 8th, my mom warned me to be careful coming home from work that night. There was an 80% chance of severe thunderstorms and winds were expected to kick up to 25 MPH by the time my shift ended. Just over five minutes after I clocked in, I overheard my …
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We’ve still got a dog in the fight
Jan 23, 2024
/ Shakristal W
/ Our Folks
In the fight for reproductive justice, don’t be so quick to dismiss the South. I was born and raised in the South. My memories are filled with mocking and berating of our culture and upbringing, contempt poorly disguised as curiosity, jokes made at our expense constantly. The South looms large in the general public’s mind …
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How Roe’s Non-Anniversary Looms Large Over the 2024 Election
Jan 22, 2024
/ Margaret B
/ Our Folks
Today has become known as the second Roe ‘nonanniversary’, commemorating the 2022 overturning of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion on the federal level. However, in 2019, three years before Roe was even overturned, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the right to an abortion was to be enshrined in …
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Transgender and Nonbinary People Deserve a Voice in the Fight for Reproductive Justice Too
Jan 19, 2024
/ Shakristal W
/ Our Folks
Since the federal right to abortion care was overturned in June 2022, conversations surrounding abortion care have primarily focused on the reversal as a ‘women’s issue.’ It is commonly misunderstood that cisheterosexual women are the only ones who seek abortion when, in fact, as many as 16% of people having abortions in the US …
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At the Intersection of Fatness & Reproductive Justice
I am fat and I have been fat for a very long time. According to some people, the word “fat” is the very worst thing we could be. I admit, sometimes I have thought that, too. In an extremely fatphobic society, who would want to submit themselves to additional marginalization? I am fat, but sometimes …
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