Leah627
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This is my second year back at Hampshire College, for what is, in my mind, one of the most empowering weekends of the year. This conference, entitled “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom,” and sponsored by the Civil Liberties & Public Policy Group (CLPP), brings together student and community activists from around the country to share their stories, build the movement for reproductive justice, and, as Marlene Gerber Fried put it, “to re-charge and inspire each other.” In the following series of posts, I will feature notable words, moments and ideas from the 30th Anniversary of the CLPP Conference.
Since this conference is hosted by Hampshire College, I thought it fitting to start with some inspirational words by CLPP student organizers.
What is the point of looking at your cervix? The point? I can’t really put feminist self-help aside, because it’s what drives me every day . . . women must be given the opportunity to see themselves and participate in their health care. I know women who have given birth and their male medical practitioners have seen their cervix before they have . . . [women must] have agency over what enters our bodies and what does not. We all should have a choice in that matter. We must celebrate what so many religions and societies and groups have deemed as dirty and sinful and shameful, because when I see my cervix I feel joy.
-Tina Oza, on the importance of self-help and self-exams
Reproductive justice inspires me because it encourages people from within the movement to . . . challenge their own thinking. Choice isn’t enough—many lack the luxury of choice. We are here to have discussions, to hear from others, to share our expertise, and to challenge our own thinking . . . I see the movement’s eternal self-reflection as reproductive justice’s strongest asset.
-Micaela Linder
One of the most exciting things about the CLPP conference is its investment in youth, and the power it allows young people to claim in the reproductive justice movement. I have not once felt excluded, belittled, or delegitimized as a teenaged activist in the movement. If anything, young people here are treated with the highest degree of enthusiasm and respect. We are recognized as the future of the movement, and the inter-generational conflict that has pervaded the feminist movement for generations seems conspicuously absent, replaced instead by mutual appreciation.CLPP has changed my life. I was too worried about being accepted into this college society to say the four words I really needed to say: “I had an abortion.” My activism has been a way for me to channel my emotions into something important for millions of people…breaking [that silence] has made me the women I am today. We can’t accomplish anything alone in silence . . . [this movement] is built from stories from the front lines, from people who have had abortions, from immigrants . . . whole, real people…
-Ellen Green
The words of these student activists indicate that my peers and the next generation of activists and leaders have much to offer. I feel heartened in the knowledge that the struggle for equality and justice will be energized, and not forgotten, as our generation takes the reins.
Stay tuned for more updates from the CLPP 30th Anniversary Conference!
