VIDEO: Kirbie Platero: Champion for New Mexico's Youth

As we gear up for this week's Gloria Awards, where we have the privilege of honoring grassroots women activists and philanthropists who ignite change in communities nationwide, we wanted to share the inspiring story of one such awardee from last year's gala: Kirbie Platero.

At just 20 years of age, mother, artist, and full-time youth activist Kirbie is living proof that the future of the reproductive justice movement is alive and kicking – and in good hands.

The 2009 recipient of the Marie C. Wilson Young Woman’s Leadership Award, Kirbie has played a leading role in the comprehensive sex ed movement in New Mexico. An outspoken member of Ms. Foundation grantee group Young Women United, Kirbie helped lobby the departments of health and education in her state, as well as the Albuquerque Public School Board, to adopt standards calling for medically accurate, comprehensive sexuality education – leading the way for New Mexico to eventually become the 15th state to refuse federal abstinence-only funding.

A survivor of sexual assault as a child, and now raising a young son born in 2007, Kirbie’s life circumstances haven’t always been easy. But what this video below makes clear is how powerfully she’s translated her own experiences into a passion for providing others with the resources they need to make informed and safe decisions about their own lives.



Please join us in paying tribute to yet another amazing group of grassroots women activists like Kirbie at this week's Ms. Foundation's 22nd Annual Gloria Awards: A National Salute to Women of Vision, Thursday, May 20 in New York City. Purchase your seat online now! And stay tuned for more powerful stories to come as we share the voices of our 2010 awardees.

Another Voice on Young Women and Reproductive Justice

In an article in the Indypendent, Kasia Gladki -- a part-time web and media assistant with the Ms. Foundation and a freelance multi-media producer -- adds her perspective on the race, age, and class questions raised by a recent Newsweek piece on reproductive justice (see an earlier post on this topic by Ms. Foundation's Desiree Flores).

Gladki's article condemns the limited perspective that continually sidelines the voices, passion, and amazing work of women of color and low-income women and weakens the debate within the reproductive rights community.

It wasn't only younger women that were disregarded by traditional organizations like NARAL. The reality is that any constituency that doesn't fit the feminist profile defined by white, upper-middle-class champions of the 1970s women's movement is excluded from the discourse… Women of color and low-income women were simply absent from NARAL's study and the subsequent debate.

She challenges traditional reproductive rights organizations to engage these powerful women, heed their voices, and truly acknowledge their role as committed advocates; because only then can the movement counter a right-wing backlash and remain a vital force in the fight for reproductive justice.

As the dynamics of race, class and labor in America continue to change, it's imperative that the voices of minority and low-income women be heard in the reproductive-rights debate. Only then will the movement reflect all the dimensions of justice that belong to a feminism for our times.

Amen.

Responding to Newsweek: Young Women Lead a Vibrant Reproductive Justice Movement

The title of a recent Newsweek article alone -- "Remember Roe! How can the next generation defend abortion rights when they don't think abortion rights need defending?" -- would ruffle the feathers of most reproductive rights advocates; the argument within has set off a flurry of discussion and counterpoint nationwide.

In "Remember Roe!" Sarah Kliff makes a disconcerting assertion that young women of the post-Roe v. Wade generation are apathetic towards reproductive rights and therefore, potentially responsible for current and future rollbacks. Our experience with advocates across the country paints a very different picture -- particularly when you start asking the question, "Which young women?"

For over 20 years, the Ms. Foundation for Women has witnessed firsthand the innovative leadership of women in their late teens, 20s and 30s who are directing organizations and using creative, community-based strategies to increase the number of people voting for reproductive rights. With these women we have worked to build a broader, more diverse constituency for reproductive rights, health and justice, supporting local and state groups led by and for young, low-income women and women of color. Groups like Choice USA or Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) in Denver or advocates like Kirbie Platero of Young Women United in Albuquerque, New Mexico who represent a passionate, talented and vibrant movement for reproductive health, rights and justice.

These young advocates are increasingly successful because they understand that one size does not fit all -- that past "tried-and-true" approaches to reproductive rights advocacy might not speak to everyone, especially today. They're creating new strategies that meet their communities where they are at. They're bringing people traditionally written off as unlikely allies or lacking political power into the reproductive rights movement. They're making links between abortion rights and issues like sex education in schools, jobs, LGBTQ equality and the environment. And they're broadening their messaging to go beyond "pro-choice" or "pro-life" in order to reach many more people for whom these terms are outdated.

For example, in November 2008, COLOR helped defeat by a slim margin a Colorado state ballot initiative on fetal personhood by launching a Spanish-language media campaign that tailored messages to a Latina/o audience and building partnerships with labor and racial justice groups to expand the base of support for reproductive justice in that election and beyond.

Young women -- and their families and communities -- still care intensely about reproductive rights, they just need to be engaged in new ways. And we must support their efforts now more than ever -- not only in election years. Young women and the organizations they lead need serious, ongoing investments that will enable them to conduct community organizing and advocacy on a far bigger scale than what they've had the capacity to do thus far. Indeed, it's well past time that we all place our trust in young, low-income women and women of color whose strategies and solutions will ensure the reproductive rights movement is relevant, strong and sustainable for generations to come.

Desiree Flores
Program Officer
Ms. Foundation for Women

Ms. Foundation Celebrates Sotomayor Confirmation

The Ms. Foundation for Women celebrates the historic confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the next Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, truly a defining moment for the nation. In particular, we commend the leadership of both President Obama and the U.S. Senate in increasing the diversity of our nation’s highest court. We believe that Judge Sotomayor’s life story, her deep involvement in her community, and her strong commitment to public service will inspire countless young women of color across the country to fulfill their aspirations and reach their dreams.

Sara K. Gould
President & CEO