The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 30      August 20, 2007

 
500 attend national women’s
rights conference in Michigan
 
BY MAURA DELUCA  
DEARBORN, Michigan—The annual convention of the National Organization for Women (NOW), held here July 14-16, drew around 500 people. Women came from the Midwest and Northeast, as well as other parts of the United States and from Canada.

NOW is the largest feminist organization in the United States.

Forty-five workshops covered topics ranging from women’s portrayal in the media, to defending affirmative action, to running for political office. Sessions of the Young Feminist Leadership Institute took place throughout the convention.

Most panelists promoted electing Democrats as a way to advance struggles for women’s equality. Many spoke in favor of Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm addressed the conference, along with other elected officials who are women.

For some like Summer Burgess, a sociology student at a community college here in Dearborn, the convention was a new experience. “Seeing how unfair everything is with women’s rights and being tired of sitting back is what brought me here,” she said. “I’m realizing that as a group we’re more effective than trying to fight on an individual level.”

Several workshops centered on a woman’s right to choose abortion. “All of the gains women have won have been through mass movements in the streets, not through the goodwill of elected officials,” said Diana Newberry, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, during the discussion period in one such workshop.

At a workshop titled “Comprehensive Immigration Reform: A Feminist Issue,” Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health in New York City noted the importance of linking the fight for women’s rights to the struggle for immigrants’ rights.

NOW vice president Olga Vives spoke in favor of “comprehensive immigration reform that is fair and provides a path to citizenship.” She added, “NOW is not for illegal immigration.”

Women from Michigan spoke about the fight to reverse a 2006 ballot measure that banned public institutions in that state from having affirmative action programs.

A referendum in South Dakota last November defeating a statewide abortion ban was noted at a workshop on Native American women, as well as in the final plenary session.

Women also spoke about actions they’re helping organize, such as a July 28 immigration rights rally in Morristown, New Jersey, and abortion clinic defense in Alabama from July 14-22.

Maura DeLuca is a sewing machine operator and member of UNITE HERE Local 155 in New York. Diana Newberry contributed to this article.  
 
 
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