Part of our feminist, activist work is taking the time to celebrate our successes and share them with one another. In the spirit of the holiday season, we’re looking back at 2011 and all of the amazing accomplishments Third Wave and its grant partners have made this year.

Brown Boi Project – published the BBP Health Guide, Freeing Ourselves: A Guide to Health and Self-Love for Brown Bois, a vital tool for masculine-of-center people of color.

Chicago Abortion Fund – succeeded in removing anti-choice billboards that targeted women of color in Chicago.

Choice USA – hosted Destination 2012, a grassroots organizing and leadership development conference for young reproductive justice activists. The conference included presentations from Loretta Ross of Sistersong, Gloria Steinem, and Shelby Knox.

COLOR (Colorado Organization for Opportunity and Reproductive Justice) – held their sixth annual Latina Health Summit, educating 150 young Latinas and their families about reproductive health and justice.

Colorado Anti-Violence Project – is celebrating 25 years of envisioning queer liberation this year; their youth project, Branching Seedz, also co-organized the second Trans & Queer Youth Media Track at the Allied Media Conference this year.

Gender Just – created the Fellowship for Gender JUST Youth Leadership and Organizers, which brought four young activists together to creatively engage their communities around gender justice.

JASMYN (Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network) – threw their fifth annual Coming Out Day Breakfast, which hosted community members, small business owners, and corporate partners dedicated to LGBTQ youth.

Justice Now – premiered the first video in their new series on the history of sterilization in prisons (check it out here).

Kalpulli Izkalli – celebrated fifteen years of holistic, natural healing with their fifth annual Anniversary Celebration and Community Healing event.

Khmer Girls in Action – launched their new Youth at the C.O.R.E. (Creating Opportunities and Resources for Empowerment) Campaign, which centers young people’s wellness in community decision-making.

Media Literacy Project – spread the word about media justice and wireless policy as LGBTQ issues at the National Conference on Media Reform.

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health – mobilized hundreds of people during their second Latina Week of Action for Reproductive Justice through a blog carnival, internet activism, and an auction.

New Voices Pittsburgh – won the 2011 YWCA Racial Justice Award for Community Engagement for their active work around reproductive justice for women of color.

Power U – held their first community forum to address the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Pipeline and prevent the racialized incarceration of youth of color.

SPARK Reproductive Justice Now – lobbied the Georgia state legislature and defeated an anti-choice “Right to Life” bill that disproportionately targeted women of color.

St. James Infirmary – kicked off a new media campaign, raising public awareness about sex workers’ rights and fighting the stigma attached to sex work.

Sylvia Rivera Law Project – educated the public about trans* issues through their various events, including a Coffee Talk series, a Summer Health Series, and teach-ins at Occupy Wall Street.

Women with a Vision – won a victory for sex workers’ rights through a legislative action that ended the “Scarlet Letter law,” which required sex workers to register as sex offenders in Louisiana.

Young Women’s Empowerment Project – led a march through Chicago to protest the city’s treatment of homeless, homefree, and street-based youth. The march was part of a broad campaign including a self-care guide, a Street Youth Bill of Rights, and posters.

Young Women United – defeated five anti-choice bills in New Mexico that threatened the reproductive health and freedom of women and families.

Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition – celebrated seven leaders in philanthropy, the third sector, and the corporate world who are supporting leadership development and HIV prevention for young women of color.

Third Wave is proud to have been able to support the incredible activists within the organizations above do work to fight to end discrimination in their communities. We are excited to continue to uplift young feminist voices working towards gender justice  in the year ahead.

Policies and decisions about reproductive health have profound effects on communities — impacting the civil rights and physical health of women in America.

National organizations concerned with these issues will convene in Albuquerque Sept. 26-30 to discuss the future of reproductive health and justice issues as part of the Reproductive Justice Network Annual Meeting. The conference is hosted by three New Mexico organizations: Media Literacy Project, Young Women United and Kalpulli Izkalli. The Reproductive Justice Network is an initiative spearheaded by the Third Wave Foundation, and is designed to support the work done by and for young women of color, trans- and gender-nonconforming youth under 30.

“Communities have been left out of mainstream reproductive rights conversations,” says Mia Herndon, Third Wave Foundation executive director. “What Third Wave decided to do, is to really center the voices of those communities that had a great deal of reproductive health disparities, but who had yet to be in the leadership of the solutions to shift those disparities.”

The reproductive justice movement believes that justice will only be achieved when everyone has the power and resources to make healthy, informed, non-coerced decisions about their bodies, sexuality and families.

The reproductive justice framework also recognizes that all individuals are part of families and communities, and gears decision-making toward strategies that support the inclusion of women.

“The welfare of our mothers, sisters and daughters has become less and less of a priority in New Mexico,” says Media Literacy Project Executive Director Andrea Quijada. “If families are the cornerstone of community and women are the cornerstone of the family, we will not see a healthy New Mexico until we prioritize the status of women here.”

And reproductive justice issues, Young Women United Executive Director Adriann Barboa notes, extend beyond traditional questions of family planning.

“Women are the highest uninsured population in our state,” Barboa says. “Reproductive justice looks at all aspects of a woman’s health, from access to quality and safe care, to her economic means to care for her family. It’s time that those most impacted by these issues are at the center of creating the solutions.”

The Reproductive Justice Network Annual Meeting and Third Wave Convening will be held at Hotel Albuquerque Monday, Sept. 26 through Friday, Sept. 30.

For further information or to arrange press credentials for the conference, contact Hakim Bellamy at 505.828.3388 or hakim@medialiteracyproject.org.

DHS’ DECISION TO UNILATERALLY MOVE FORWARD WITH SECURE COMMUNITIES PUTS WOMEN IN DANGER

Immigrant Rights and Women’s Rights Groups Denounce the Decision Nationwide

On August 5th, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would unilaterally terminate all contracts with states and localities in an attempt to further implement the “Secure Communities” program nationwide, despite calls for the agency to suspend the program. Immigrant rights and women’s rights organizations strongly oppose this unilateral decision by DHS, before the local hearings on Secure Communities’ effects have even taken place. DHS’ announcement demonstrates that the hearings are a farce, and that DHS is determined to implement Secure Communities, regardless of public opposition or its demonstrated impact on survivors of crime. We continue to oppose Secure Communities and any law that encourages ICE to transfer its responsibility to local law enforcement. Secure Communities undermines local law enforcement’s commitment to community policing, which puts immigrant women, their families, and their communities in danger.

Since its introduction, the “Secure Communities” (abbreviated “S-Comm”) program has been opposed by local and state civic leaders, elected officials, law enforcement agents, religious leaders, and human rights advocates. S-Comm forces local law enforcement agents to act as an arm of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by detaining persons who are arrested, but not charged with a crime, so that they can be processed for deportation. Since implementation began, more than one million people have been deported under S-Comm, the vast majority of whom have no criminal history, despite DHS’ claims that the program targets individuals who are dangers to society. Instead, the program promotes racial profiling, destroys families, and undermines community relations with police that are essential to public safety. Continued ambiguity on the part of DHS regarding S-Comm has led to the Office of the Inspector General to initiate an audit into this controversial program.

S-Comm puts survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault at increased risk. It is threatening the progress our country has made in the last three decades to bring violence against women out from behind closed doors by making women afraid to call the police for help, for fear of arrest and deportation if they are undocumented. The program encourages violence against women and destroys the community trust in law enforcement that is necessary for safe neighborhoods for all members of a community, regardless of immigration status.

Immigrant women are increasingly breadwinners and often provide more stability for their family. Yet they are criminalized, and sometimes brutalized, for trying to keep families safe and healthy. Immigrant mothers, who are simply working to make ends meet, are bearing the brunt of these anti-immigrant policies. They risk being arrested for walking their kids to school, they must worry about who will provide care for their children if they are suddenly detained or deported, and when families are indeed separated by deportation, the well-documented psychological effects on both parents and children continue to devastate families for years.

Immigrant communities and women’s rights advocates are coming together to oppose the deeply problematic “Secure Communities” program. We pledge to speak out during DHS community hearings on S-Comm, and at other local, state and national public events. We urge local and state leaders to join us in declaring S-Comms unsafe for women and children.

ASISTA Immigration Assistance
Break the Chain Campaign
Casa de Esperanza
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
National Day Laborers Organizing Network
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Opportunity Agenda
Rights Working Group
STITCH
Third Wave Foundation

Crystal

Amelia

Cassidi

Sade

Emily

• We hope you’ll read, share, and add your own story, using the hashtag #whatitreallytakes.
• You can also post our report and infographic on abortion access to your blog, or Facebook Wall, or send it to someone who needs it.
• You can support a network of young feminist activists who are working across the United States to remove these barriers to access and ensure our reproductive freedom for generations to come by making a gift to Third Wave.

]]> http://www.thirdwavefoundation.org/whatitreallytakes-reproductive-justice-in-action/feed/ 0 http://www.thirdwavefoundation.org/what-it-takes-your-stories-of-abortion-access/ http://www.thirdwavefoundation.org/what-it-takes-your-stories-of-abortion-access/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:28:46 +0000 Melissa Gira Grant http://www.thirdwavefoundation.org/?p=2420

I had to think about ALL of these things on the list. I rode a bus, didn’t have insurance or that much cash, didn’t want my up right right wing roommate to find out, didn’t have a cell phone

(Video by Strong Families, a project of Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice and in collaboration with reproductive justice organizations around the US)

Today at The Frisky, Adriann Barboa (director of Young Women United) offers a smart take on how we can support young parents in our communities:

When I see the dismal statistics and negative images our communities are bombarded with, I wonder how many of the negative outcomes are caused not by the age of the parents, but by the stigma heaped on them and the isolation that results? We all know there is nothing inherently wrong with giving birth at 18. Humans have been doing it throughout time; President Barack Obama’s mom did it, every 30-year-old I know has a mother who was “young” by today’s standards.

In a generation, the “proper” age to become a parent has changed. Economic security sure helps in raising kids. Having a partner does too. But 40 percent of babies in the US are born to mothers who are not married, and their ages range across the board. The Great Recession has taught us many things, including that we can’t count on financial security at any age.

Maybe instead of a National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, with statistics and images that demonize young parents, we could have a National Day to Support Young Parents? We could have a day when service providers, teachers, ministers, and the media celebrate all of the great achievements by young parents and their kids. We could enjoy a day when we are honored for all we have taken on, and all that we have succeeded in doing, when the folks around us ask us how they can best support us, instead of telling us what we should have done differently.

Supporting young people’s decisions to parent is a critical piece of ensuring reproductive freedom. In recognition and in celebration of Mother’s Day, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) launched their campaign What’s the Real Problem?. “We’ve been challenging the stigmatizing narratives that paint young mothers as irresponsible, hopeless, and drains on the state,” writes Verónica Bayetti Flores, senior policy analyst at NLIRH. “Young women who choose to become mothers continue to be human, and deserve as much opportunity to lead fulfilling lives as women who delay their pregnancies or choose not to parent at all.

Thanks to Dom Brassey at Tides (who is also a proud Third Wave Board member) for her inspiring announcement, complete with videos featuring some powerhouse poets and activists, like this one:

If you’d like to nominate a young activist who inspires you, check out the full details (and videos of free speech activist Mario Savio, for which this award is named) over here.

Khmer Girls in Action (KGA) empowers young women of Cambodian and Southeast Asian descent in Long Beach, California to be leaders within the reproductive justice movement. KGA’s members learn the necessary educational tools and organizing skills to create positive change in their communities, including participatory research as a tool for organizing and action.

This Spring, KGA is kicking off a listening campaign to share the results of their first Participatory Action Research project on immigrant and refugee rights, reproductive justice, health, and safety. The youth members of KGA designed the study and carried out the research, collecting findings related to how young people in the Khmer community in Long Beach face harassment and discrimination, and how they are taking leadership to change it.

Check out their survey and share their video PSA.

This weekend Third Wave and our Reproductive Justice Network will be out in full force for the 30th anniversary “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice” conference, held by the Civil Liberties and Public Policy program at Hampshire College. For three days, social and reproductive justice activists from around the US converge on Amherst, MA for workshops and informal opportunities to network and build connections across the issues they’re most passionate about. For those who can’t attend, be sure to follow along with the conference liveblog.