Powerful women are powerful
A newly formed group called the Michigan Women’s Power Assembly is kicking off tomorrow with a daylong meeting in Detroit. Their focus is to “broaden and update the women’s movement and tackle public policy assaults on women’s rights.
The event will take place this Saturday, June 16th from 8 am to 5 pm on the campus of Wayne State University at the McGregor Conference Center and is open to the public. Registration is $20 and includes lunch and childcare. Scholarships are available. Register at www.miwomenspowerassembly.com. The Facebook page for the group is HERE.
The meeting couldn’t be more timely given the odious War on Women being waged in our state Capitol right now. In a perfect bit of fortuitous timing, state Representative Lisa Brown (she who dared to utter the forbidden word “vagina” on the House floor) will speak, as will state Representative Rashida Tlaib.
“Michigan is failing women. From stalled equal pay legislation, the banning of public domestic partner benefits, restrictions on health care and much more,” said Desiree Cooper, women’s rights activist and founder of Detroit Snob. “This is the inaugural meeting of a core group of women who want to ensure our voices are heard.”The group expects to expand its reach beyond traditional women’s issues and affiliations to encompass women involved with social, economic and environmental justice, healthcare access and education.
The event began to take shape last fall, when a group of friends shared concerns about the direction Michigan was going and knew they had to do something. They questioned how the climate for women had gotten so bad. There are only 4 women in the Michigan Senate, and 27 female representatives in the Michigan House. In this legislative session alone, over 140 bills have been introduced that directly affect women’s rights in Michigan. It became obvious to this group of friends that more women’s voices needed to be a part of the decision-making process in Michigan.
This group of 7 women saw incredible opportunity to make positive change at both the state and local levels and began brainstorming solutions. Pairing their organizing and event planning skills with their political savviness, these women have spent the last 9 months talking to other women around the state about what’s important to them and the tools they need to be better advocates for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Through this process, they created the Michigan Women’s Power Assembly, designed to lift up the voices of women affected most by the decisions of our elected officials. The MWPA is for activists, volunteers, community leaders, elected officials, and women who want to address the issues that affect their lives. From environmental justice to healthcare; from economic justice to education; from gender-based violence to reproductive rights, the MWPA planning team is connecting women across race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, income level and geography to give them the tools to run for office and work in their communities on the issues that impact their lives on a daily basis.
For more information about this event, contact Dessa Cosma at 231-631-4469 or email at Dcosma@progressiveleaders.org.
[Image credit: Michigan Women’s Power Assembly, used with permission.]
