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Welcome New Members!
Loretta Haggard
Pamela Mack
Patricia Wendling
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Up Next
Wash U Owes U: Payments In Lieu of Taxes, Thurs., Nov. 14
Attainable Housing Meeting, Tues., Nov. 19
Advocacy Meeting, Mon., Nov. 25
November Black History Event: Guided Tour of the Freedom Suits Exhibit, Tues., Nov. 26
Lunch & Learn: Transforming the Criminal Legal System One Person at a Time, Weds., Dec. 4
Criminal Legal System Reform Meeting, Weds., Dec. 11
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With the 2024 election behind us, I want to thank all the WVR members who were actively involved in educating our members and supporters and encouraging them to use their voices and to vote!! We collaborated with other organizations as our members wrote postcards and shared information on voting and ballot issues, and worked the polls. I’d also like to extend a very special thank you to our Advocacy Committee and especially Michele Steinberg for her creative and updated communications.
The election was just one of the many areas where WVR has been active. Our Racial Justice Committee and the subcommittees continue to expand our knowledge of the issue of equity and inclusion. Six of our WVR leadership team members will be attending the Empower Missouri Anti-Poverty Summit on November 12-13 in Columbia, MO. We will bring back valuable information that will help support our organization’s mission.
This month many of us will celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. The holiday is a day to reflect on the history that often goes unspoken. As you gather, please consider there might be some difficult conversations. You might want to consider setting some ground rules for conversations and try to find areas for agreement. Be ready to step back and give grace to your friends and loved ones. It is also a time to honor our veterans, many of whom may not be home with their families. Please thank them for their service and sacrifice.
I look forward to seeing and meeting more of you at our upcoming programs. Please mark your calendars to join us the 2nd Thursday of the month (now through May), and also to join or renew your membership! Also, please consider making an end-of-year donation to Women's Voices to help us continue our advocacy work.
Don't hesitate to reach out to me at president@womensvoicesraised.org if you have any questions about WVR or if you have any ideas on what you'd like us to be doing. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from a shero of mine, Susan B. Anthony “Whenever women gather together, failure is impossible.”
Your ally,
Karen Francis
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WVR November Program-Wash U Owes U: Payments in Lieu of Taxes | |
Thursday, November 14, 7 p.m.
Center of Clayton
50 Gay Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63105
Read more and register here.
Despite having an endowment of $14 billion (yes, that’s billion – with a “B”) Washington University pays nearly ZERO property taxes. Meanwhile public schools just blocks away lack basic resources to meet families’ needs; needs which will only grow as climate change causes flooding, wildfires, rising food prices, and other crises.
The Green New Deal for Public Schools campaign is calling on Chancellor Andrew Martin and Washington University to commit $15M/year to support The School District of University City, St. Louis Public Schools, and these districts’ families A panel of speakers involved in this effort will share the ways this initiative would benefit our entire region and what each of us can do to help make this vision a reality for under-resourced families and neighborhoods.
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November Black History Event: Guided Tour of the Freedom Suits Exhibit | |
Tuesday, November 26, 1:30 p.m.
Law Library Association of St. Louis
10 N. Tucker Blvd., 13th Floor
St. Louis, MO 63101
The Law Library Association is located in the Civil Courts Building, between Market and Chestnut Street.
Read more and register here.
Join Women’s Voices members for a guided tour of The Freedom Suits, a special exhibit created for the Law Library Association of St. Louis by the Missouri State Archives-St. Louis. Experts on the freedom suits and on slavery in St. Louis will speak to our group as part of the tour.
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Lunch & Learn: Transforming the Criminal Legal System One Person at a Time | |
Wednesday, December 4, noon – 1 p.m.
Virtual event
Read more and register here.
Speaker: Annie Legomsky, leader, Holistic Defense Services, Missouri State Public Defender System
Annie Legomsky will describe how she saw an urgent need to tackle the root causes of people entering the criminal legal system and help break the cycle of criminalization. Her foresight resulted in statewide Holistic Defense Services. Realizing that systemic change flows out of demonstrated results, Legomsky and her team focused on providing holistic services to people in the pretrial stage of their cases and those at risk of having their probation revoked.
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Women’s Voices is a Partner in Campaign for Passage of a Clean Slate Act in Missouri | |
A “Clean Slate Act” describes legislation that would enable automated criminal record-clearing for an estimated half-million Missourians who have certain nonviolent convictions and are already eligible under current state law. Murder, sexual crimes, violent felonies and hate crimes are NOT eligible. Of persons eligible for record sealing, only 1-2% are successful each year under the current petition-based process due to cost and complexity. This process is unfair to those without financial resources, but it will still be available to those who choose it.
Legislators of both parties have recognized that the consequences of a criminal record reach far beyond the individual cost and have a societal cost. Bipartisan Clean Slate bills have been introduced and have been gaining support in the Missouri Legislature the past three years, and bills are expected to be filed again for the 2025 session.
Each year 15,000-19,000 people are released from Missouri prisons, many of them with a desire for a second chance. Despite having paid their debt to society, their criminal records follow them no matter how long they have remained crime-free, thus limiting employment opportunities, access to housing, financial assistance, and education.
Research shows that expungement of eligible records allows individuals more opportunities to support themselves and their families, allows employers to expand their workforces, and makes communities safer by reducing recidivism.
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign. Look for monthly updates in this newsletter as we provide more information about anticipated bills and their progress.
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Project 2025: What It Is & Why It Matters | | |
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Kirill Kondratyuk, a 10th-grade student with a unique international background, joined us to share his research on the threats posed by Project 2025 at the October 10 program.
You’ve undoubtedly heard about Project 2025. It’s a well-funded effort by the Heritage Foundation and 100+ partner organizations to attack overtime pay and student loan programs, dismantle the social safety net, decimate reproductive rights, undermine our economy and reshape the way our society operates. It would roll back civil rights protections on multiple fronts, eliminating DEI programs and slashing LGBTQ+ rights in health care, education, and workplaces.
Read more and link to program slides here.
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A Bounty of Treasures at the George B. Vashon Museum | |
On October 24, WVR Racial Justice Committee members and supporters were treated to an in-depth tour of the George B. Vashon Museum of African American History. Calvin Riley, executive director and founder of the museum, shared his vast knowledge, along with his collection of 10,000+ artifacts spanning 250 years of St. Louis’ African American history, amassed over 40 years. In a remarkable testament to Riley’s integrity and deep commitment to St. Louis’s Black history, he has chosen to keep these priceless pieces in St. Louis, despite being approached by many national museums, including the Smithsonian, which have sought to acquire his collection.
The museum highlights the extreme experiences African Americans had to endure in order to succeed and build a strong, cohesive Black community. It also demonstrates that Black history is St. Louis history because of the multitude of contributions made by African Americans.
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Join the Racial Justice Committee to Learn and Engage | |
On September 28, the Racial Justice Committee held a planning meeting to update the committee’s action plan for the upcoming months. Women’s Voices members have participated in several activities this fall aimed at fulfilling the committee's goals to:
- educate our members and the public about Black history and current racial justice challenges in St. Louis and;
- engage members in advocacy and actions to dismantle structural racism.
This fall, this active and engaged committee and it’s members have:
Join us later this month for a private guided tour of The Freedom Suits exhibit (details above) and make sure to stay tuned for a spring bus tour of the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood to learn about this historic, majority-Black area and some successes and challenges they face.
Read more about this committee’s work on our website. To get involved or to offer ideas for future education and engagement opportunities, please contact either Anne Litwin or Liz Sondhaus at racialjustice@womensvoicesraised.org.
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Have something to submit for Loud & Clear?
Loud & Clear is the official monthly e-newsletter of Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice and is usually distributed on the first Monday or Tuesday of the month. The general deadline for article submission is the Wednesday prior to publication. Click here to contact us about the newsletter.
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Even if you can’t come to meetings or become personally involved, your membership is important…and greatly appreciated.
Benefits of Membership
When you join Women’s Voices you:
- Make our voice stronger when we advocate with elected officials.
- Provide support to the organization by adding your name to our advocacy efforts.
- Provide ideas and suggestions to help determine how to define our positions and choose our causes.
- Participate in advocacy activities in any way that you want or is possible for you.
- Take pride in your affiliation with a strong, progressive group of women working for social justice.
- Help cover our administrative and outreach costs through your dues.
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Annual Dues:
$60 (Regular Membership)
$100 (Silver Level)
$150 (Gold Level)
$20 (Student Membership)
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New members join here
Renewing members renew here or
Send a check (payable to Women's Voices) to:
Women's Voices
698 W. Lockwood Ave.
Saint Louis, MO 63119
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