|
January 30, 2019 | Deeds Digest No. 132
|
|
Hello #Changemakers!
This past weekend, I was thrilled to be invited to keynote an event aimed at educating and motivating young women and men to fight against menstrual inequity.
I have to admit that this is an issue I had not thought much about until it was brought by to my attention by a young woman named Nadya Okamoto, who I met at a conference in California several years ago. At the time, Nadya was only 17 and she shared with me how her inability to access menstrual products while living in a shelter had created shame and trauma for her and her younger sister. She helped me to understand that every day, across the country, there are numerous young women and young trans men who do not have access to needed menstrual products, resulting in absenteeism from school, negative impact on grades and the shame and stigma that follows.
Since then, Nadya has gone on to Harvard University, has run for Cambridge City Council, has written a book and has co-founded an organization, "Period", that seeks to promote menstrual equity policies at the local and state level. The conference that her team organized this past weekend in New York, PeriodCon, was one in which young people from across the country (and even from other countries!) came together to learn why menstrual equity matters and how they can get involved in passing proactive policies to address it.
Because of Nadya's mentorship (yes, we older folks can definitely be mentored by you #Changemakers!), Menstrual Equity now forms an important part of our FEMZ legislative agenda here at Deeds Not Words. This session, some of our Deeds' chapter members will be coming together with Period chapter members to advocate for eradication of the pink tax as well as for the creation of a pilot program in public schools to demonstrate how negligible the costs are when equipping school restrooms with access to free menstrual products and to measure anticipated improvements to absenteeism that follow availability of menstrual products to students who need them. Below, in our "Be Inspired" section, you'll see what the Period Corpus Christi chapter accomplished on their own campus, a model some of our student #Changemakers are working to replicate on their own campuses.
I am inspired by Nadya and her "never quit" attitude. Her resilience is profound and inspiring. YOU possess that same resilience, #Changemaker! And I can't wait to work alongside you as you effectively channel it into making change!
Much love,
-wendy
|
|
|
Notes From the Field
Hello, my name is Samantha Rucobo and I am currently a public relations major at El Paso Community College. I am in my second year and so appreciative of having the opportunity of being the Deeds Not Words campus organizer at the college. El Paso is a really unique close-knit community and will thrive even more with the Deeds presence.
I'm really excited to hit the ground running and to learn from all the powerful women on the Deeds team. Deeds Not Words will be the first organization of its kind at EPCC and will shed light on important issues we are facing at the campus and in our community that we hope to impact as #Changemakers this semester through our Deeds' "capstone project," which are planning to undertake in collaboration with UTEP. It really is a great time to get involved, and I am so thankful to be part of the change that we will bring about.
Samantha Rucobo
Campus Organizer
|
|
|
Howdy #Changemakers!
Students are losing faith in a system that’s supposed to protect them, and Betsy DeVos' plan to unwind Title IX's hard fought protections are a large part of why that's happening. Among other things, the proposed rule change would limit claims of sexual assault under Title IX to only those that occur on a university's actual campus, would increase the burden of proof required to be met by a survivor and would require that a survivor face her/his alleged perpetrator in a Title IX hearing and be subjected to cross-examination by the alleged perpetrator.
That's why we are working hard on two fronts, both of which could use your help:
1) We are working at the state level to re-institute the Title IX protections that will be stripped if Betsy DeVos' proposed rule goes into effect (we'll have more on these efforts and how you can help in next week's Digest).
2) We are encouraging women across our state and across our country to submit comments to Betsy DeVos about why her proposed rule changes are bad for survivors and create a safe haven for future perpetrators who will feel free to commit assault, knowing they will not be held to account. Learn more here about the proposed rules and why they are bad for survivors. And please go here to submit an official comment telling Betsy DeVos that you disagree with her proposed rule changes. Today is the LAST DAY to comment!
We've got a full agenda of meaningful work ahead of us here at Deeds Not Words!
Andrea Reyes
Policy and Advocacy Coordinator
|
|
This Week's #Changemaker:
Alice de Rivera
In 1904 Stuyvesant High School, an accelerated academics school, was established as a standard training school for boys. Even though several schools in the area had been co-ed since the late 1940s, Stuyvesant remained an all-male institution until 50 years ago this month when a female student from a neighboring school in Brooklyn, Alice DeRivera, filed a lawsuit against The Board of Education after she was rejected from the school due to her gender.
Rather than defend itself in court, The Board of Education instead sided with DeRivera's lawsuit and demanded Stuyvesant end its gender-based discriminatory admissions policy. While DeRivera ultimately did not attend Stuyvesant because her family ended up moving to upstate New York that same summer, her lawsuit paved the way for twelve girls to attend Stuyvesant in the fall 1969 as the first class to include female students.
After the 1969 school year, female admissions at the school dramatically rose to 223 the following year, and today, young women make up about 40% – 45% of the student body. While DeRivera may not be an alumni of Stuyvesant, her willingness to point out institutional injustices has impacted generations of young women who have graduated from the school. We are inspired by DeRivera's courage to step up and challenge the status quo!
|
|
|
|
