It’s that time of year again…time to head to Western Mass for the 26th Annual Civil Liberties and Public Policy (CLPP) Conference: “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom.” With over 150 speakers and 75 workshops, it’s a 3-day conference held at Hampshire College sponsored by CLPP and Population and Development programs. Activists, writers, students, professors and leaders will discuss strategies for enacting social change to ensure reproductive justice.
From CLPP’s website:
[The conference] will highlight successful examples of activism and discuss how struggles for reproductive and sexual rights are intricately linked to movements for economic, social, and environmental justice. Topics of workshops and strategic action sessions include abortion access in the U.S. and internationally, climate justice, anti-foreclosure activism, media making and storytelling, the politics of population control, and organizing around the 2012 elections.
20-week abortion bans, mandatory transvaginal ultrasound laws, personhood laws, slutshaming, contraception restricitions — we’ve never seen such an incessant barrage of attacks on reproductive justice at the federal and state levels. It’s important to arm ourselves with information and connect with other feminists so we can return to our communities, ready to take a stand.
I went last year for the first time. I was absolutely blown away to be surrounded by such motivated and inspiring activists in a nurturing environment. It rejuvenated my activism with renewed vigor.
Can’t make it to the conference?? No worries…follow along as I’ll be live-tweeting and blogging from the conference all weekend starting Friday evening. You can read my posts here or follow my live-tweets at @OpinionessWorld. You can also follow all the tweets from the CLPP Conference at #CLPP2012.
So whether you’re attending the conference or following along virtually, get ready for a weekend of feminist badassery!
The Opinioness 
Fantastic, Megan!!!! I hope the conference is as awesome as it sounds like it will be — we need more conferences like this and more public outcry and more collective actions to combat these fascist moves toward governmental ownership of women’s bodies. It is unequivocally unacceptable. I’m enjoying seeing the women legislators fight back with equally ridiculous (yet somehow not?) legislative efforts. It’s interesting in light of all of these efforts in the U.S. to legislate the teaching of creationism, outlaw hand-holding in Tennessee schools, and legislate away women’s corporeal sovereignty (wow, I can’t believe I’m actually writing those words…), Canada is now seeing the Tory government under Stephen Harper open up debates about abortion rights again — all this after Harper gave an interview on national news with Canada’s most famous anchor, Peter Mansbridge, just last spring saying that he would NOT open up debate again about multiple issues, including the death penalty (Canada doesn’t have it), and abortion rights (which Canada has). What a liar, and often called Canada’s own “George W. Bush.”
Can’t wait to read your tweets and hear more about the conference!