Thank you to everyone who attended the Women’s Law Project Masked Ball gala!
In these strange and harrowing times, it was a delight to spend an evening with like-minded advocates like you to celebrate this year’s victories and plan for the challenges ahead.
If you missed the program featuring special guest Professor Dorothy E. Roberts, or wanted to see it again, you can watch the video:
Note: The first 10 minutes or so is pre-roll, so feel free to skip ahead!
After a brief introduction by WLP board member Kelley Hodge, WLP Executive Director Carol Tracy shared her vision of this historic moment, followed by Professor Dorothy E. Roberts, who laid out a brilliant thesis on the history of reproductive justice and how this framework developed by Black women can move us forward into a more equitable future.
From Professor Roberts’ remarks:
“Now more than twenty years have passed since Killing the Black Body was published and all the devaluing ideologies, laws, and policies I wrote about not only persist, but in some ways have expanded in new guises to inflict even more injury on even more women and their families and communities.
But there’s hope.
The exciting rise of reproductive justice activism has provided a new framework and potential for resistance, and over just this past summer there were uprisings around the work demanding abolish and defunding, not just reform, of police. Although the protests were triggered by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, they called for abolishing the racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist and classist structures that dominate our unequal and inhumane society. That combination of frustration and hope marks our time, doesn’t it?”
After the keynote, Jill Morrison, executive director of the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program at Georgetown Law, shared her perspective on lessons learned from time she spent discussing life and the law with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
As WLP Director of Policy & Advocacy Amal Bass emphasized in her remarks, our work can only go so far without people like you raising your voices and demanding action from our elected representatives.
So once again we thank you. We literally couldn’t do this work without you.
Looking ahead to 2021, we have our work cut out for us. If you aren’t already, please follow us on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
We hope you enjoy the holiday, and stay safe!
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
November 2020: Our physical offices are still closed due to the pandemic but we are OPEN and working to serve your needs. Contact us here.
