Please visit the Internships and Jobs link for more info about the Job Announcement

SAVE THE DATE FEBRUARY 16TH!

3RD ANNUAL LEGISLATE THIS!

This event will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church

265 Washington ST SE Atlanta, GA

VISIT WWW.LEGISLATETHIS.ORG FOR MORE INFO!

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, SisterLove, Inc., and SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW!

Health Care is a Human Right

December 2, 2009

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, SisterLove, Inc., SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW! support comprehensive health care reform that ensures the provision of affordable, accessible, and quality health care that is equitably distributed and centers the needs of women of color, their families, and communities.  As a reproductive health and justice organization committed to realizing health care for all regardless of race, gender, class, age, sexuality, ability, HIV, or immigration status, SisterSong believes that women have a right to bodily self-determination including the right to have a child and dictate the circumstances under which she will give birth, the right not to have a child utilizing all methods to prevent or end a pregnancy and, the right to parent our children with the social supports necessary.  Realizing that these human rights cannot be fully achieved until health care is accessible, affordable, and quality of care and health outcomes improve, we demand reform that truly improves the lives of women and their families.

We believe that such a full range of comprehensive, including coverage for family planning, midwifery services, abortions, prenatal and postnatal care, and preventive services should be afforded to all women. Currently, women of color have difficulty accessing these services, particularly abortion services, for a number of reasons including costs.  Under the Hyde Amendment, federal funds cannot be used to access abortion services. However many impoverished women are denied their full range of reproductive health options when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. As we move toward a universal health care system, we recognize that communities of color are disproportionately uninsured and underinsured and have worse health outcomes relative to white women, particularly in the South. Black women and Latinas make up more than 30% of the uninsured in states like Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. And those who have insurance often pay higher premiums than their white counterparts. These factors contribute to health care disparities as well as the overall quality of life for many women of color and their families.  These realities and dangerous public policies have endangered the lives of women and will continue to compound the health care disparities that currently impact communities of color if serious and effective health care reform is not achieved.

We demand that health care reform be financed and delivered equitably based on the principle of non-discrimination that enables the participation of all individuals and communities, provides access to medically relevant, bias-free information, ensures transparency of institutions and processes, and has effective mechanisms to hold both
private sector and government agencies accountable.

We will no longer be rendered invisible.  We will no longer be silent.

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Health Care is a Human Right: Talking Points

YES to a public option!
Say NO to Stupak-Pitts language
YES to immigrant inclusion!
YES to abortion coverage for all women!
NO to gender discrimination!

The status quo is unacceptable!
No to the status quo

SUPPORT a public health insurance option

* The absence of real competition in the health insurance marketplace, particularly in southern states, has “led to growing insurer profits, increased costs and reduced coverage for enrollees, an epidemic of deceptive and fraudulent conduct.” As a result, competition is diminished and premiums have increased without a corresponding increase in benefits.   It is imperative that the new health care system encourages real market competition by including a public health insurance option which makes quality health care accessible and affordable to all regardless of race, class, gender, ability, sexuality or immigration status.

In Arkansas, 75% of the market is dominated by 1 insurer (BCBS AR)
In Georgia, 61% of the market is dominated by 1 insurer (WellPoint)
In Louisiana, 61% of the market is dominated by 1 insurer (BCBS LA)
In Alabama, 83% of the market is dominated by 1 insurer (BCBS AL)

OPPOSE any language consistent with the Stupak-Pitts amendment

* The Stupak-Pitts amendment is the most visible manifestation of gender discrimination within the proposed health care reform
* Women of color and immigrants would be disproportionately affected by the Stupak-Pitts amendment  since they are disproportionately poorer and less likely to afford abortion care out-of-pocket which puts them at risk of seeking alternative methods that are not supervised by a physician and are less safe.
* This amendment threatens to make the provision of women’s constitutionally protected right to abortion unavailable undermining more than three decades of work advancing women’s rights to a broad range of reproductive health choices.  Do not allow new anti-abortion restrictions to be added to the healthcare reform bill by Congress.

SUPPORT undocumented immigrants and legal permanent residents inclusion in health care reform

* Increased participation in the exchange will make insurance cheaper for everyone. Policies that do not allow undocumented persons to use their own money to buy insurance through the exchange are discriminatory, short-sighted, and will undermine the entire health care reform effort.
* Any restrictions to access to public health care programs and services will not only negatively affect the health of immigrant women but also the health of their children, their families and their community.

SUPPORT health care reform that reduces health care disparities and human rights violations among women of color

* Since nearly one quarter of women of color are uninsured, health care reform must improve the capacity of women of color to afford quality and accessible health insurance and decrease health disparities.
* According to the Kaiser Foundation “Women of color fared worse than White women across a broad range of measures in almost every state, and in some states these disparities were quite stark.”
* Women of color are more likely to need publicly funded reproductive health and family planning services
* Women of color are twice as likely to have no health insurance
* Women of color, particularly African American women, are more likely to be infected and affected by HIV/AIDS

Official call for submissions: got art? Spark Youth & Reproductive Program wants YOU!Send us your works of art and get published! Were looking for: * art * rants * poems * paintings * collages * photography * essays * haiku’s * sketches * thoughts * questions * watercolors * favorite quotes * words of inspiration * organizing tools and tips for lgbt youth of color in your area * your personal stories and more! * Why? Because we haven’t seen anything quite like this before! lesbian, gay, trans, bi, queer and same gender loving young people in the South deserve resources and information that makes sense for us, for our families, our communities, our bodies and our relationships! Details: Please submit art work, photos, writings and more about your experiences being an lgbt, queer/trans, same gender lovin or questioning youth of color in the south! we wanna know: -what keeps you strong? -what kinds of relationships do you dream of? -how you take care of yourself (physically, mentally, spiritually)? -who are your communities and what’s wonderful about your communities? -what would you need to have the relationships you dream? -what does love look and feel like to you? Submission Info: To submit: email gabriel@sparkrj.org subject line=Art Submission Age range: 16-24 Deadline: August 21, 2009 For more info visit: www.sparkrj.org/what< Disclaimer:

• not to send original as we cannot send submissions back to them

• please do not send photos revealing their faces if they don’t want to be identified or they are under 18 and don’t have a signed photo release form from their guardian

• something friendly about we believe in putting out oppression free materials so we will not except any material that is racist, homophobic, makes fun of or degrades women, people with disabilities, poor/working class people, people living in rural communities, transgender people or anything that could hurt or harm any member of an oppressed community (eli, we may or may not wanna put this in the flyer. we can make it more simple and short and just direct people to my cell, email or website for more information)

——————————————————– Criteria For ART Submissions: Please send us what you got but don’t send us your original or one and only copies! We won’t be able to send them back!
Don’t forget to include your name on your works of art if you send us anything. For all stories, quotes, poems, essays, rants, inspirations and all other written forms of materials: they should be no more than 300 words.

For all photograph images: if possible, jpegs are preferred. You may scan in your photographs or mail in copies as well. If you are under the age of 18 and showing your face or the faces of others, we will need a consent form from a parent or guardian for all people featured in your photograph.

For all painting, watercolors, sketches, pastels, charcoal works etc, again, please do not send us any original work unless you’re ok not getting it back. All submissions should be no larger than 8 x 11 1/2 in size.

Please make sure before send in your submissions that your contact information is printed and written clearly if you wish to be notified when the zine is published!!!

This zine will be made free to groups, individuals, businesses, organizations and services all over Georgia so please make sure you use a name attached to your work that you want out in the world.

And finally, the Youth & Reproductive Justice Program seeks to do all our work from an oppression free space. Meaning, we know that racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, sizeism and other forms of oppression exist in the world and are real. We ask that you send art that is coming from an oppression free place as well. For example, please do not send in art that puts down people of color, women, lesbian, gay, bi, transgender folks, poor or working class people, fat folks or people of size and people with physically or mental disabilities. Our goal is to provide something honors the individuals and communities that are too often put down or silenced.

We reserve the right to make editorial edits but will do our best to maintain its original form.

Thank you for checking us out! We know you have experiences, stories and or art that is worth knowing about. YOU are the expert of your own experience and YOU are who we want to hear from!!!

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions!

Thank you!

the YRJ Crew

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YOUTH AND REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE ZINE PROJECT!

What The Heck Is The YRJ Zine?

The Youth & Reproductive Justice Program Zine is working to this summer to create a DIY (do it yourself) mini-magazine that will be jammed packed with information put together by and for lesbian, trans, bi, gay, same gender lovin, queer, youth of color.

Who’s It For?

Front and foremost this zine is for lesbian, trans, bi, gay, same gender lovin, queer, youth of color in Atlanta and Georgia. Friends and people who love and support queer/trans youth of color are welcome help us put this together, distribute the zines around town and to their friends and spread the word.

We also want the zine to be something that parents, educators, service providers and other allies to find useful and exciting too!

What’s Gonna Be In It?

So much good stuff! This publication will include stories, art, organizing tools, community resources, information about sex, dating, communication, relationships, sexuality, gender identity and more!

Who’s Making this Thing?

We ALL are! The YRJ program is currently made up of queer/trans folks, mostly people of color and all between the ages of 18-29. We are youth Facilitation Crew members, program interns and staff. Over the summer we’ve been meeting regularly, running around handing out Let’s Talk About Sex Survey’s and hosting events to get input from YOU, our community. Every answer to a survey question, group exercise, story share and piece of art contributed by you helps us get closer to creating an amazing, ground breaking work of art/resource.

By doing this project we hope build community, find out what kinds of resources are here in Atlanta and Georgia for queer and trans youth of color, find out where people are getting sex, sexuality, sexual health and relationship information from, take leadership from queer and trans youth of color and MAKING WHAT WE NEED.

Umm…Why?

Because nothing like this exists yet! Because we deserve resources and information that makes sense for us, for our communities, our bodies, our relationships! Because the Zine will be sex positive, non-shaming and making sense for more than one community. Because the Zine will be honest and real, affirming and validating and you don’t have to be actively having or wanting sex to use the zine

How Can I Be A Part Of This?

-Join SPARK’s Mailing List to stay connected to the YRJ Program and the Zine Release Party!

-Fill out a Let’s Talk about Sex survey!

-Come to an Art Party

-Get in touch with us to talk more!

-We are looking for art, writing, poetry, photography by local queer and trans youth of color that is about love, relationships, bodies, sex, intimacy and gender and sexuality to go into the Zine!

To learn more or find out how to submit art/work, contact us at gabriel@sparkrj.org or kate@sparkrj.org 404.532.0022 YRJ Program P.O. Box 8551 ATL GA 31106

COMING TO YOU IN FALL OF 2009……STAY TUNED!

Are You Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Gay, Queer, Same Gender Lovin or Questioning & Can’t Find Sex or Sexuality Information That Makes Sense for You or Your Community? Do you know what you would want or need to have the kinds of relationships you dream of?

Young people all over are rising up, leading & fighting for rights, respect & resources!

August 10th, 6-8pm at YouthPride!

www.youthpride.org 1017 Edgewood Avenue

One Block from the Inman Park/Reynoldstown Marta Station…join us to talk about sex, sexuality, sexual health and relationships, facilitated by folks like you… The Youth & Reproductive Justice Program at SPARK Reproductive Justice Now is creating a zine by and for southern queer & trans youth of color & we need your input!

What the heck is the YRJ zine?

The Youth & Reproductive Justice Program is putting together a DIY (do it yourself) mini-

magazine that will be jammed packed with information put together by and for lesbian, trans, bi,

gay, same gender lovin, queer, youth of color. The publication will include stories, art, organizing

tools, community resources and information about sex, dating, communication, relationships,

sexuality, gender identity and more! Food will be served & space is limited so RSVP by August 7th! To RSVP or for more information, contact gabriel@sparkrj.org or call 404-423-4015

We are deeply saddened and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider in Wichita, Kansas.  As one of the handful of doctors who provided late-term abortions in the U.S., Dr. Tiller was constantly harassed, threatened, and survived a shooting by an anti-abortion demonstrator.

We join activists, organizations, and providers across the country and specifically in the South and South East to stand with our comrades in the Midwest, as many of our states have very similar stories to tell when it comes to reproductive violence and oppression.  We condemn the oppressive normalized violence that our communities endure; from protests outside of clinics, shootings, stalking, to the daily overt and covert messages that abortion is wrong or shameful.

We call on our allies and partners in other social justice movements to not shy away from abortion and join us in connecting abortion and reproductive justice to all of our struggles.  There is not one issue that abortion is not a part of because at its core the fight over abortion access is about control over our bodies, sexualities, reproduction, families and communities.  Controlling our reproduction is about controlling populations, neighborhoods and communities in many of the same ways that police brutality, prisons, militarization, the gender binary system and economic exploitation operate. These systems are rooted in control, power and political, material and economic gain.

As a reproductive justice organization, we understand abortion to be an integral part of reproductive justice and know that women of color across the board bear the brunt of the impact from the abortion debate.  Abortion cannot be separated from sterilization, unsafe forms of birth control, birthing, adoption, foster care, family, sexual violence, parenting, pregnancy, sexuality and sex.  Abortion is a women of color issue and cannot be separated from sexual violence, police brutality, health care, domestic violence, war and militarization, racial justice, gender justice, environmental justice and poverty.

We cannot continue to allow abortion to be stigmatized and framed as a polarizing issue, divided by “pro-choice” and “pro-life;” or peg abortion as a “women’s issue.”  We know that abortion and all of the conditions (i.e. oppression; violence, militarization and war; money and wealth; access to food, water, air, health care, good and safe schools; etc…) surrounding the decision (or need) are far more complicated and real.  We acknowledge that our lives are incredibly complicated and can never be boiled down to “right and wrong” and that for many of us “choice” has never existed.

The murder of Dr. Tiller is painful, scary and enraging; and again, places many of us at the mercy of a criminal justice system that we know to be corrupt, yet oftentimes is our only option.  We hold the complexities and contradictions of the loss of a doctor who spent his life providing desperately needed health care to women; with the push to seek justice from a system that has been responsible for, perpetuates and acts in collusion with innumerable forms of violence against our communities. How do we, as a mourning community, advance conversations about alternatives to imprisonment and true transformation of those who cause great harm?

We invite hard, continued and broader conversations about Dr. Tiller’s murder, abortion, and reproductive justice across our movements.

We continue to work for a world where we can truly create safety, care, healing, wellbeing and liberation for all of us.

In struggle,
SPARK Reproductive Justice Now

Last night over 150 activists, joined in our collective pain,  resolve, and  strength to mourn the loss of slain provider, Dr. George Tiller. Representing clinics, people of faith, activists, and beyond, we showed the power in being visible even when acts of terror, like this murder, demand our silence.

Many thanks to Dianne Mathiowetz, Laura Anderson, and Rev. Anthony David for being bold, courageous, and willing to share their moving words and calls to action.

Click here to view pictures taken of the night. If you also took photos, please share them paris@sparkrj.org.

Tremendous thanks goes to Sarah Meng, one of the main organizers, who helped pull this together.

The love notes that you wrote are on their way to local clinics with your warming and encouraging words to our brave providers and clinic workers who provide necessary reproductive health care to Georgians.

Please utilize the resource list that listed ways for folks to get involved. The fight continues!

Tonight!  Atlanta Vigil for Slain Abortion Provider,

Dr. George Tiller

Woodruff Park * 7pm - 8pm

Vigil for Slain Abortion Provider, Dr. George Tiller

Tuesday June 2*7PM* Woodruff Park

Yesterday morning while attending church service in Wichita, Kansas, heroic abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller, was shot and killed. This is horrible news and a blow to women’s reproductive health care in this country. Dr. Tiller was one of very few doctor’s who provided late term abortions for women.  Dr. Tiller was often the only option for women seeking this particular type of care- women facing one of the hardest decisions facing their bodies and pregnancies.
Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go to   Dr. Tiller’s family, his clinic family, and the women of Kansas and beyond. Our thoughts are also here in Georgia and the South, where access to abortion care is limited and our amazing providers and tireless clinic staff, even in the face of real danger, give compassionate, necessary care for women. Thank you for all you do!

Anti-choice violence is back and in full force. Many of us have been fearful of the violent back lash after the election of a pro-choice president. During the Clinton administration, anti-choice attacks on providers and clinic workers increased 5 times.

In these times, when it is hardest to be visible- when visibility feels like a risk to safety- it is most important that we join as a community to amplify and demand reproductive justice now. Attacks to providers and clinics, threaten lives, make access to basic healthcare impossible, and silences women and our communities.

Join us Tuesday June 2nd 7pm at Woodruff Park for a Vigil in Remembrance of Dr. George Tiller. We will peacefully join together as a community of activists seeking answers, comfort, and to collectively think about our next steps.

Question: What are YOU doing with your summer???
Answer: Gettin involved this with the Youth & Reproductive Justice Program’s Youth Facilitation Team!

SPARK’s Youth & Reproductive Program is HIRING!
Up to 5 PAID positions for lesbian, bi, trans, gay, queer, questioning and same gender lovin folks who are 24 and under.

The application is due by 5pm Tuesday, May 26th.  Please contact Gabriel at: gabriel@sparkrj.org or 404.423.4015 with questions or if you need assistance filing out the application.

Click Here To View The YRJ Job Description and Application

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