FMLA [Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance] plans to march on D.C.

The University of Southern Mississippi Student Printz ^ | April 15, 2004 | Rachel Quinlivan

[mwyounce]

For one campus organization, an April 25 march on Washington, D.C. is a way for their voices to be heard about women’s rights issues.

The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance has been raising money this semester to attend the March for Women’s Lives. The group has sponsored bake sales where they’ve sold baked goods and vagina suckers, and also buttons with sayings like “feminist,” and “until the violence stops.” The group will also be raising money during a garage sale on Saturday at 207 South 30th Ave. from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The group has so far raised enough money to send 11 people but hopes to send 15, said Jessica Collins, FMLA treasurer who is also the group’s coordinator for the march. The four spots still available are open to anyone who is interested in attending including students, faculty, staff and community members, she said.

FMLA members will make the 16-hour bus ride to Washington, D.C. with a chapter of the National Organization for Women, a workers’ rights organization and other student groups from Jackson State University, Collins said.'

“It’s going to be a bus full of feminists from Mississippi,” said FMLA President Dana Parker. “It’s going to be really interesting.

“This is a monumental march for reproductive rights, Parker said. “It’s a very important issue in our organization and our members’ lives and we just want to be a part of it.”

Parker said the pro-choice march isn’t just about abortion, but about women having the ability to make choices. Those choices include abortion rights but also adoption, good gynecological care and access to contraceptives, family planning, sex education and healthcare options for pregnant women, she said. “It’s about saving women’s lives,” she said. “It’s also about trying to prevent abortions by having better sex education and knowledge about health issues,” she said.

Leah Giamalva, a junior history major and FMLA member, said she plans to attend the march. “[The march] raises awareness about how the right to choose is being eroded,” she said.

In Mississippi, resources are limited for women, Giamalva said, including the ability to have an abortion but also access to contraceptives.

Parker said she thinks the march will motivate FMLA members. “A lot of the younger feminists have been waiting to be an active part of the women’s movement, and this march is a key opportunity to put our beliefs into action and to be active and involved in … voicing our opinions to our government,” she said. “It’s being active nationally and bringing back the ideas and enthusiasm to the local area.”

In addition to the garage sale, the group is also taking donations.

[mwyounce]

What is a vagina sucker? Never mind... forget I asked.

[Viking2002]

The group has sponsored bake sales where they’ve sold baked goods and vagina suckers, and also buttons with sayings like “feminist,” and “until the violence stops.”

And I'm sure that the turkey baster kit is a big seller among the 'do-it-yourself' crowd. LOL

[JOE6PAK]

Let the games begin!

[Blue Screen of Death]

There is no point in raising awareness unless you also teach people to connect the dots while herding cats and seeking closure.

[onedoug]

March for Murderous Women’s Lives

[nothingnew]

FMLA

Feminist Muff Lappers Alliance.

FMCDH

[grellis]

...isn’t just about abortion, but about women having the ability to make choices.

Keep your knees together or have a baby, ladies. The time to make a choice about having a baby is when your pants are still on.