MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2018 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Dawkins, Turner-Ford, Jackson (11th), Blackmon, Barnett, Blackwell, Burton, Caughman, Dearing, Frazier, Horhn, Jackson (32nd), McMahan, Norwood, Simmons (12th)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION DESIGNATING MARCH 2018 AS "WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH IN MISSISSIPPI" WITH ITS THEME "NEVERTHELESS SHE PERSISTED: HONORING WOMEN WHO FIGHT ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN," CELEBRATING THE 38TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOMEN'S HISTORY MOVEMENT.
WHEREAS, March 2018 is National Women's History Month with its theme "Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women." The 2018 National Women's History theme presents the opportunity to honor women who have shaped America's history and its future through their tireless commitment to ending discrimination against women and girls. From spearheading legislation against segregation to leading the Reproductive Justice Movement, our 2018 honorees are dismantling the structural, cultural, and legal forms of discrimination that for too long have plagued American women; and
WHEREAS, the 2018 Women's History Honorees:
· Susan Burton: Ms. Burton is Founder and Executive Director of A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project. Her nonprofit provides women ex-offenders a home and helps them stay drug-free, find work, and reunite with family. The organization has provided direct service to over 1,000 women. Ms. Burton was inspired to start the organization after serving multiple drug sentences and turning her life around;
· Margaret Dunkle: Ms. Dunkle played a key role in the implementation of Title IX, guaranteeing equal opportunity to women and girls in education. Her groundbreaking 1974 report documenting discrimination against female athletes became the blueprint for the Title IX regulations on athletics. In 1975, Ms. Dunkle became the first Chair of the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education;
· Geraldine Ferraro (1935-2011): Ms. Ferraro was a politician, three-term Congresswoman (D N.Y. 1979-1985), and first woman major party candidate for Vice President (1984). President Clinton appointed her U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights where she served from 1993-1996. She also served as Vice Chair of the U.S. Delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995);
· Roma Guy: Guy is a leading LGBT and women's rights activist. She co-founded multiple organizations, including the Women's Building, La Casa de las Madres, SF Women Against Rape, and the Women's Foundation of California. Ms. Guy was one of the LGBT activists featured in the 2017 miniseries When We Rise. She is also an advocate for women's access to health care;
· Saru Jayaraman: Jayaraman is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. She is a leading advocate for restaurant workers, fighting for guaranteed sick and safe leave and an end to the two-tiered minimum wage (a victory ROC has already won in seven states);
· Christina Jimenez: Jimenez is Executive Director and Co-Founder of United We Dream (UWD), the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. She was part of the team that led to the historic victory of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. In 2017 Jimenez was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship "Genius Grant";
· Marty Langelan: Langelan is a leader in the global effort to end gender-based violence and is an expert in nonviolent intervention methods; her intervention toolkits are now used around the world. She pioneered feminist self-defense training, organized the first D.C. city-wide campaign on street harassment, and developed a comprehensive program for ending harassment on public transit;
· Pat Maginnis: Maginnis is considered the first abortion rights activist in the U.S. She founded the Society for Humane Abortion in 1962 and the Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (the predecessor to NARAL) in 1966. She and two colleagues (known as the Army of Three) illegally mailed kits and information to women seeking abortions. At age 89, Ms. Maginnis remains politically active;
· Arlene Mayerson: Mayerson is Directing Attorney of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). She has been a leading force behind groundbreaking legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Handicapped Children's Protection Act. Ms. Mayerson has contributed to many key disability rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court;
· Jill Moss Greenberg: Moss Greenberg is a lifelong feminist activist, committed to ending social and educational inequity. She served as National Director of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) where she spearheaded efforts to address intersecting forms of discrimination. Ms. Moss Greenberg also served as Founding Executive Director of the Maryland Women's Heritage Center;
· Pauli Murray (1910-1985): Murray was a groundbreaking women's rights and Civil Rights Activist and Attorney. She coined the term "Jane Crow," articulating the combined sexism and racism faced by African-American women. Ms. Murray served on the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and was a Co-Founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW). In 1977, Murray became the first black woman to be ordained as an Episcopal Priest and she was among the first group of women to become Priests in that church;
· Elizabeth Peratrovich (Kaaxal-gat) (1911-1958): Peratrovich was a Civil Rights Activist on behalf of Alaska Natives. She was a leader in the Alaska Native Sisterhood and led the fight against the pervasive discrimination and segregation faced by her community. Ms. Peratrovich is credited as the leading force behind passage of the Alaska territory's Anti-Discrimination Act in 1945, the first such law in the U.S.;
· Loretta Ross: Ms. Ross is a Feminist Activist and Leader in the Reproductive Justice Movement. She was the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for Human Rights Education and Co-Founder and National Coordinator for the Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. In the 1970s, Ms. Ross was one of the first African-American women to direct a rape crisis center;
· Angelica Salas: Salas is Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and is a leading spokesperson for federal immigration policy reform. In California, she helped win in-state tuition for undocumented students and established day labor job centers that have become a national model. Ms. Salas is a coalition builder, connecting diverse groups at the state and national level;
· Linda Spoonster Schwartz: Ms. Schwartz is a Vietnam Veteran and Activist for the rights of women veterans, testifying more than 24 times to Congress on women veterans' issues. She served as Connecticut's Commissioner Commandant of Veterans Affairs and was appointed by President Obama to serve as Assistant Secretary of Veteran Affairs for Policy and Planning; and
WHEREAS, American women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural and social role in every sphere of the life of the nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home. American women have played a unique role throughout the history of the nation by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force of the nation. American women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic and cultural institutions in our nation; and
WHEREAS, American women of every race, class and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways. Women's history becomes a story of inspiration and hope, a story of courage and tenacity, and a story of possibility and purpose. Women's history is our nation's story. It is the story of how women built communities and inspired and nurtured dreams and how they will continue to do so; and
WHEREAS, to emphasize the role of women in our state, the Legislature in 2001 established the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women to advise and consult with the Legislature and the executive branch on policies affecting the political status and other concerns of women in Mississippi; and it is with great pride that we recognize women who serve as role models in pioneering Mississippi's future:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby designate March 2018 as "Women's History Month in Mississippi" with its theme "Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women," celebrating the 38th Anniversary of the Women's History Movement.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be forwarded to the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women to observe appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.