Nearly a year after the fall of Roe v. Wade, the fight for abortion access, dignity, and power is raging on in most states nationwide. Activists, medical practitioners, and legal experts are working in concert to safeguard in-clinic and medication abortion and to keep pregnant people and those taking abortion care into their own hands from being criminalized. In this webinar recording we will discuss the ongoing organizing efforts within the reproductive justice, health, and rights movements. This session is designed to build narrative power by centering the voices and experiences of movement workers on the frontlines who will share stories about the successes, opportunities, and threats they face.

Panelists are:

Rafa Kidvai, Esq. is the Repro Legal Defense Fund Director at If/When/How. Prior to joining If/When/How, Rafa was a public defender at the Legal Aid Society’s Brooklyn Criminal Defense Practice, Legal Fellow at Court Watch NYC, and Equal Justice Works Fellow in the Sylvia Rivera Law Project’s Immigrant Justice Project. Rafa attended CUNY School of Law and Hampshire College.

Lindsay Rodriguez has created and cultivated an unwavering voice at the National Network of Abortion Funds by building and leading a brilliant all-star team as Communications Director. She co-chairs Liberate Abortion’s Narrative and Culture Change Committee, bringing 10 yrs of abortion fund leadership expertise to messaging. Now in Denver, still Texan to the roots, Lindsay enjoys nachos, drinks, and books on patios. She rants on Twitter, baby talks to her dog and 2 cats, and watches, like, A LOT of TV.

In her role as Grassroots Organizing Coordinator at Feminist Women’s Health Center, Kristen Baker develops organizing strategies and activities in collaboration with Reproductive Justice centered organizations in the South. This work includes advocating for progressive legislation that promotes reproductive freedom, coordinating voter registration and civic engagement activities, state and local legislative advocacy, and working to center our community in all of those efforts.

The moderator of this session is Shanelle Matthews.

Shanelle Matthews collaborates with social justice activists, organizations, and campaigns to inspire action and build narrative power for social justice and liberation. She is the communications director for the Movement for Black Lives, founder of Radical Communicators Network (RadComms),—a global community of practice for social movement communications workers, and former faculty of Resistance Narratives at The New School. In the fall of 2023, she joins City College at the City University of New York as their incoming Distinguished Lecturer. She is co-editor of a forthcoming anthology that details world-building narrative campaigns and strategies led by social movement communications workers in the 21st century.

 

Sponsored by:

Ipas