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Welcome New Members
Andrea Kintree
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Up Next
Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force
Weds., Nov. 8, noon
The Case for Reproductive Rights as Religious Freedom
Thurs., Nov. 9, 7 p.m.
Advocacy Committee
Mon., Nov. 13, 1 p.m.
Racial Justice Committee
Fri., Nov. 17, 1 p.m.
Volunteer Opportunity: North City Photo ID Project
Weds., Nov. 29, 5:30 p.m.
Tues., Dec. 6, noon
Kirkwood for Everyone (Attainable Housing Task Force)
Thurs., Nov. 30, 7 p.m.
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Women's Voices Welcomes Friends and Neighbors
A Women's Voices member recently emailed me expressing her support for the land acknowledgment read at every WV program. She also asked what WV does to provide more tangible support for indigenous people. Since November is Native American Heritage Month, her question is both timely and thought-provoking. As an education and advocacy organization our role is to increase awareness through education about important social justice issues for every oppressed group and to advocate for policy and legislative changes. In September, we hosted Galen Gritts, registered member of the Cherokee Nation, who shared his experience as a Cherokee in St. Louis.
On behalf of Women’s Voices, I worked on the St. Louis Racial Equity Summit’s speaker selection committee which emphasized broadening the summit’s focus to include American Indians and other historically marginalized groups. The summit will host an Indigenous People’s Roundtable featuring local activists and educators who will discuss relationship building with local Native communities. I encourage you to watch the recorded session once it is available on YouTube.
There are a number of other ways to deepen your understanding and support indigenous people. View the online exhibit, “The Land Carries our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans” at the National Gallery of Art. Attend online events and support the National Museum of the American Indian. Learn more about Native Americans and Missouri through Missouri Humanities. Support Native American Communities through advocacy organizations and native owned businesses. And consider adapting your Thanksgiving to honor Indigenous people by including the real story at the root of the holiday and the Native American culture and foods that are so central to our celebration.
~ Liz Sondhaus
| | | The Case for Reproductive Rights as Religious Freedom | | |
Thursday, November 9, 7 p.m.
In-person program at The Center of Clayton
50 Gay Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63105
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., program begins at 7 p.m.
Read more and let us know you're coming here.
Did you know that reproductive freedom is closely associated with religious freedom? This past January, a lawsuit was filed by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the National Women’s Law Center, on behalf of fourteen Missouri clergy from seven faith traditions. The lawsuit seeks to strike down Missouri’s abortion ban as a clear violation of the church-state separation provided in Missouri’s Constitution.
Americans United’s Vice President of Outreach and Engagement, Brian Silva, will discuss the current status of the lawsuit, and its religious freedom foundations. Some of the clergy plaintiffs, including Women’s Voices member Rev. Cindy Bumb, will also join us.
Co-sponsors:
| | Encourage Voter Registration & Help Combat Disinformation | We are thankful for the opportunity to come together and effectively combat disinformation. | | |
What you can do right now:
Personalize and mail your family and friends our greeting cards preprinted with the seven steps to protect yourself from disinformation. You can use the sample writing scripts we provide.
Sign up on our website.
We are all in this together, and together we can come together to secure our shared future.
| | | Volunteer Opportunity: North City Photo ID Project | | | |
Choose between two dates:
Wednesday, November 29, 5:30-8 p.m./
Tuesday, December 5, noon-2:30 p.m.
Central Reform Congregation
5020 Waterman Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63108
Please register here.
Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity that makes a difference in people’s lives Volunteers are needed to help underserved groups get IDs.
The Women’s Voices Racial Justice Committee and the Ashrei Foundation are co-sponsoring two training sessions to prepare volunteers to help people obtain identification documents in the North City Photo ID Project. Many Missourians cannot readily produce the proof of identity documents and navigate the systems required to obtain an ID, disproportionately impacting communities of color, the elderly and homebound, people navigating residential instability, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals. Possession of a valid photo ID is not only necessary to access a multitude of services, including health insurance, housing, employment, banking/credit, and public benefits, but is now required to vote in Missouri.
We hope you will consider coming to a training session and getting involved.
| | | Join Us for Giving Tuesday, the Global Day of Giving on November 28, 2023 | |
Women's Voices will participate in Giving Tuesday on November 28, 2023 and we need your help! On Giving Tuesday, people all around the world come together to tap into the power of human connection to strengthen communities and change our world. Women's Voices connects people in the St. Louis Region as a part of this movement. On Giving Tuesday, we encourage you to give generously to Women's Voices and other causes that are close to your heart.
Here is how you can get ready to give:
1. Mark your calendar for November 28th.
2. Give. On November 28, make a gift to Women's Voices.
You can also support our organization by becoming a member.
3. Spread the word. Encourage your friends and family to join you in creating real impact on November 28 by sharing what our mission means to you and why you support our organization.
Let’s rally together to build stronger communities.
| | | Clean Slate Benefits Extend to Families | |
Clean Slate. Two Words. Stable Families.
Those two words are about thriving families, productive lives, and safer communities.
Those two words can have generational impacts on thousands of Missouri families.
Those two words describe legislation (a Clean Slate Act) that would make criminal record clearing automatic for certain nonviolent convictions, and create an automated process to do so. Those two words do NOT include murder, sexual crimes, violent felonies or hate crimes.
Nearly half of American children have a parent with a criminal record. Criminal records can follow one for life, and can sentence families to poverty with a multiplier effect for decades.
Many family members, especially children, are traumatized by the incarceration of a family member and long to be together again. For the incarcerated who have had the continued support of family members, the goal of reuniting with loved ones is powerful. Release from incarceration should be a joyful one.
For many families, reality quickly sets in. 80% of landlords screen out applicants with criminal records. Families face eviction or are denied housing when a formerly incarcerated family member returns home. Family reunification is made difficult if the returning adults cannot live with their family. Employment obstacles make it difficult to pay child support, housing costs or otherwise provide for their families.
Passage of a Clean Slate Act is not a panacea. Those who are eligible for record clearing must remain crime-free for a set number of years. However, a Clean Slate Act would provide hope to the half million Missourians who are currently eligible. Most importantly, the children of current and future eligible individuals, finally free to build a future, will be more likely to grow up in a household with a productive working parent as a role model in their lives.
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign. The Racial Justice Committee’s task force on criminal legal system reform is focused on making 2024 the year the Missouri Legislature passes a Clean Slate Act. Look for monthly updates in this newsletter with more information on the proposed legislation and on its progress.
Read more about Clean Slate and about how Women's Voices is supporting this initiative on our website. And for more information about joining the task force, contact Mary Schuman or Susan Glassman, co-chairs, at criminaljustice@womensvoicesraised.org.
| | | Fighting Efforts to Dehumanize and Erase the LGBTQIA+ Community | |
At the October program, Elizabeth J. Fuchs, from the Sexual Health and Gender Center at Washington University in St. Louis led a panel discussion to discuss efforts to combat the assaults of state legislatures on the LGBTQIA+ community.
Michaela Joy Kraemer, trans advocate shared information shared details about her lived experience, as well as her work as former executive director of the Metro Trans Umbrella Group.
Dr. Jeremy Goldbach and Dr. Paz Galupo of the Sexual Health and Gender Center joined the conversion to share details about their work at the center and how it supports the LGBTQIA+ community.
Read the full program summary here.
| | | Women's Voices Members Respond to Injustice! | | | |
Karen Coulson, in her letter to the Webster-Kirkwood Times, encourages Kirkwood to implement recommendations from their newly completed housing study to ensure that children, heroes and parents can choose to live in Kirkwood.
Doreen Dodson, in her letter to the Webster-Kirkwood Times, urges readers to seek facts when forming opinions about Kirkwood schools.
Ruth Ehresman, in her letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, writes that St. Louis leaders should work together to address the needs of the unhoused.
Ellen Gough, in her letter to the Webster-Kirkwood Times, urges Kirkwood to create of a variety of housing to address the needs of the community.
Women's Voices members and NCJWSTL leaders, Nancy Litz & Ellen Alper call out Congresswoman Cori Bush for failing to unequivocally condemn terrorism and those who perpetrate it in their letter to the St. Louis Jewish Light.
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Have something to submit for Loud & Clear?
Loud & Clear is the official monthly e-newsletter of Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice and is usually distributed on the first Monday or Tuesday of the month. The general deadline for article submission is the Wednesday prior to publication. Click here to contact editor Laura Rose.
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Even if you can’t come to meetings or become personally involved, your membership is important…and greatly appreciated.
Benefits of Membership
When you join Women’s Voices you:
- Make our voice stronger when we advocate with elected officials.
- Provide support to the organization by adding your name to our advocacy efforts.
- Provide ideas and suggestions to help determine how to define our positions and choose our causes.
- Participate in advocacy activities in any way that you want or is possible for you.
- Take pride in your affiliation with a strong, progressive group of women working for social justice.
- Help cover our administrative and outreach costs through your dues.
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Annual Dues:
$60 (Regular Membership)
$100 (Silver Level)
$150 (Gold Level)
$20 (Student Membership)
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New members join here
Renewing members renew here or
Send a check (payable to Women's Voices) to:
Women's Voices
7401 Delmar Blvd.
University City, MO 63130
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