Feminist Events Calendar

January:
-22nd: 32nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

February:
-14th: V-day
-14th-21st: National Condom Week

March-Women's History Month:
-1st: International Women of Color Day
-8th: International Women's Day
-22nd: Back Up Your Birth Control Day

April:
-8th: Feminist Leadership Institute
-9th-11th: National Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conference
Register Today!

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Send a Roe v. Wade Anniversary ecard today!

Commemorate the 32nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Tommorrow, January 22nd, marks the anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, and its 32 years of saving women's lives. The right to a safe and legal abortion is far from secure, however, in fact Roe v. Wade currently hangs by a razor-thin 5-4 margin in the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court almost overturned Roe v. Wade in 1992. The possible retirement of multiple Justices could allow the Court to be packed with anti-abortion Justices who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, relegating women to back alley abortions.

In recognition of these dangers the FMF has re-launched its Never Go Back campaign with a new 2005 Campus Action Kit and updated Never Go Back website. On the website you can find printable versions of the kit materials, including factsheets and a sample letter to the editor, as well as other information and action ideas that you can use on your campus this month and in the months to come. Visit NeverGoBack.org and take action today!

New V-Day Materials
Go to the Program Materials section of Feminist Campus to view and download all of the factsheets for our current campaigns, including new handouts for February on Violence Against Women.

Spelman College (GA)
Spelman is credited in the Christian Science Monitor this month with inspiring a new 12-month campaign by the black women's magazine, Essence, to challenge the prevalence of misogyny and sexism in hip-hop lyrics and videos. The publication's crusade, dubbed Take Back the Music, seeks to inspire public dialogue via magazine features that offer a range of perspectives on the entertainment industry from inside as well as outside observers.

The Monitor reports that, "The magazine's staff was galvanized by a much publicized incident at Spelman College in Atlanta last year in which students protested the appearance of the rapper Nelly for a fundraiser on campus." These students were members of Spelman College's FMLA.

As part of its campaign, Essence will host a "Take Back the Music" Town Hall Meeting at Spelman on Feb. 25th. The FMLA hopes to be a part of the continuting dialogue on campus and in the larger community.

"It's a major project in terms of getting young people - white or black - to take these images seriously in a generic culture that exploits and objectifies women," says Beverly Guy-Sheftall, director of the Women's Research and Resource Center at Spelman, and co-author of "Gender Talk." Find out more...

City University of New York
Three members of the FMLA affiliate, Hunter Women's Rights Coalition, at the City University of New York (Maggie Abrego and Kate Mikuliak, co-presidents of the group, along with group member Leona Bessonova) were chosen as Young People for the American Way Fellows and attended a summit in Washington, DC this past weekend. In the small group of students chosen to be 2005 Fellows were other members of FMLAs and affiliate groups from across the country, including: Sara De Felice, President of Cleveland State University's Student Women's Association, Mitchell Fagan from Cornell University's Students Acting for Gender Equality, and Veronica Stoler, president of University of Central Florida's FMLA.

FMF Campus Program Director Nominated for Young Woman of Achievement Award
Crystal Lander, Campus Program Director for the Feminist Majority Foundation, was nominated for a Young Woman of Achievement Award, given by the Women's Information Network (WIN). WIN established this award to honor Washington area, pro-choice, Democratic women, 35 years or younger; who, through their career and/or their activism, make great contributions to our community.

Illinois Legislature Passes Bill to Protect Gay Citizens from Discrimination
January 19, 2005--The Illinois legislature approved a bill last week to amend the Illinois Human Rights Act to include protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit. The Chicago Tribune reports that the passing vote of 65-51 in the Illinois House was the result of urging from several African-American legislators who likened the legislation to that which was considered and passed decades ago during the civil rights movement. More

Members of Congress Discuss Impact of Social Security Reform on Women
January 19, 2005--Led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), 36 women members of Congress sent a letter to President Bush in response to President Bush's remarks on Social Security last week. The Congresswomen expressed their concern about the ways Social Security privatization would negatively affect women, who make up almost 60 percent of Social Security beneficiaries. More

Harvard President Under Fire for Sexist Remarks
January 18, 2005--Harvard President Lawrence Summers is under heavy criticism for suggesting at an academic conference that women have less innate ability to perform in science and mathematics than men. He also downplayed the role discrimination and social factors play in explaining the dearth of female professors in science and engineering at major universities, according to the Boston Globe. "It's so upsetting that all these brilliant young women [at Harvard] are being led by a man who views them this way," said Nancy Hopkins, a biologist at MIT and a conference attendee who walked out of Summers' talk, according to the Globe. Summers has defended his comments, saying that he was merely suggesting that the role of discrimination and innate abilities of women and men in the sciences need further research, according to the Associated Press. More

More Feminist News

Iraqi Female Candidates Targeted for Violence
January 19, 2005--Women in Iraq are putting their lives at risk as candidates for political office in the upcoming elections. According to the LA Times, most of the female candidates are running in secret because women have been particularly targeted by religious fundamentalists. One female candidate was killed near her home in December and another survived an assassination attempt while her son was killed, reports the LA Times. As a result, several of the female candidates are sending their families out of Iraq for safety before the elections take place on January 30. More

More Global Feminist News

Global Conference
The Feminist Majority Foundation's National Collegiate Global Women's and Human Rights Conference dates have been changed to April 9, 10, & 11, 2005!

The conference will connect the dots between the need to build a national constituency to increase international family planning and health funding aid, to ratify international treaties for human rights and the environment, to combat sweatshops, and to promote non-violence and peace. Register Today!

Take Action to Save Roe v. Wade
The FMF has re-launched its Never Go Back campaign with a new 2005 Campus Action Kit and updated Never Go Back website. Visit the website or click on the links below to use the new kit to take action on your campus this month.

• Start out with some of these Roe v. Wade Activism Ideas.
• Spread Awareness with our three new factsheets: Access Denied, Think Again, and Barriers to Choice.
• Use this sample Letter to the Editor as a template for a letter to your own campus or local newspaper.
• Download and print the Never Go Back petition.
• Purchase additional materials for your Roe v. Wade Anniversary activities.

New ePSA from Advocates for Youth
Advocates for Youth has announced the launching of their Emergency Contraception ePSA (electronic public service announcement) called Emergency Contraception: A Puppet Parable of Politics & Polemics. View it online at http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/ec/

2005 COOL Idealist Conference
Students and Youth: Are you going to the 2005 COOL Idealist Conference at the University of California, Berkeley from March 18-20, 2005? FMF Campus Organizers will be there presenting workshops and tabling.

Register for the 2005 COOL Idealist National Conference at http://www.idealist.org/conference2005.

Find a feminist internship or post-graduate job!

Job Search Tips:

• Do you know how to write a great cover letter? Cover letters are a very important part of your job search. A good cover letter highlights things from your resume and describes how you match up with the job being advertised. Feature only the strongest points in your cover letter, as the letter should be no longer than one page. Take your time to make it your best work!

Each issue will have new tips to help you succeed in finding a feminist internship or job. Have a great tip for this section? Submit it to campusteam@feminist.org!