This past weekend, nine members of the Majority Leadership Alliance of ETSU went to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Young Women’s Leadership Conference and Congressional Day of Action.
This was the third annual conference held by the Feminist Majority Foundation. All the participants presented a feeling of excitement, a strong sense of activism and a desire for change. Schools from all over the country were present. Some spoke of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which are fake clinics that pose as comprehensive women’s health clinics for crisis pregnancies but offer no actual services or referrals, whose only response to the students who went undercover was “abstinence only.”
“The conference was a really great experience,” said English major Allison Morris. “I have learned so much; I feel very inspired to go out and make a difference for women locally and globally.”
During the open plenary, icons like Dolores Huerta spoke as one of the century’s most powerful and influential women in the labor movement. She was recently depicted and celebrated in W Magazine, and she is the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America and much of her work has been geared toward achieving justice for migrant farm workers around our country.
Lilly Ledbetter, an equal pay advocate, also spoke about her recent experience with President Obama and being able to walk down the red carpet with him as he ratified the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on January 29. These speakers were followed by a workshop series, one included Campus Organizing 101: Basics of Feminism Activism.
I participated in this workshop and was overwhelmed by the setbacks that other FMLAs at other universities had experienced. At Wake Forest University of North Carolina, the FMLA has tried to work with the art department but has experienced some resistance. I shared how last spring our Women’s Studies department, FMLA, Tri-Iota and the art department brought a show to our Slocumb Galleries called “Philipina as Artist and Feminist.” The shock was evident, and I was very proud of our program and the accomplishments of ETSU.
The second day brought a whole new set of global issues that are impacting women around the world. Susan Williams, associate director at the U.S. Department of Justice on Violence against Women, gave some statistics such as the one that states 300,000 college women are raped yearly. She also explained that from 2005 to 2007, a woman is three times more likely to be killed by her partner.
The Feminism Without Borders morning plenary on Sunday included speakers such as Dr. Sima Samar, who flew from Afghanistan to discuss the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the status of women currently in Afghanistan. Her teenage daughter, Tamana Naveed, also spoke about the conditions in schools for young girls in the war-torn country.
“It was amazing to learn about women’s rights issues around the world,” said early childhood development major Heidi Davis. “I gained a better understanding of the issues and I have been inspired.” This weekend was definitely a celebration of the accomplishments of feminism up to now, but it also illustrated that there is still so much work to be done.

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