2009 Conference Recap

Over 1,000 reproductive justice doers and thinkers came together for the 2009 CLPP Conference, From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom, in Amherst, MA on April 3-5, 2009. Activists, students, and community members gathered to share experiences and knowledge, inspire one another, and build our movement for social change. Participants and speakers traveled from all over the United States including the northeast, New York City, Washington DC, Georgia, Florida, Chicago, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, California and Washington. Speakers came from as far as Mexico, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Sweden, Poland, Nigeria, the Philippines and Malaysia to participate in and contribute to this transnational event.

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Weekend Events

The conference featured over 65 workshops throughout the weekend, including workshops on community transformation and wellness, abortion access and funding, family creation, contraceptive methods and safety, the state of sexuality education, community accountability, tools and skills for organizing, transgender health and rights, mothers' rights, harm reduction, HIV/AIDS in the US and internationally, and the state of the movement.

Over 120 speakers and presenters included:

Community organizers, policy analysts, students, sex educators, program coordinators, political analysts, health care providers, youth activists, youth workers, queer activists, religious leaders, social workers, midwives, environmental activists, and peace activists.

Breaking Silences: An Abortion Speakout

Friday night featured Breaking Silences: An Abortion Speakout. People who have had abortions came together to share their stories and experiences in a safe and supportive environment. An audience of nearly 700 received these stories.

Speaking Out for Reproductive Freedom

The Saturday morning plenary showcased 30 speakers, performers and leaders in the international reproductive justice movement. Video from the Saturday morning plenary is now available! Watch it here - click below to see Marlene Fried from CLPP, Colleen Thompson from the Brooklyn Young Mothers' Collective, Cara Page from Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective, Priscilla Huang from NAPAWF, George Williams from Veterans for Peace, Agniva Lahiri from Network of Asia Pacific Youth, Kenyon Farrow from Queers for Economic Justice, and Shira Erlichman's performance.

Catch more videos from the Saturday and Sunday morning plenaries on our YouTube page.

Linking Movements

The conference closed Sunday morning with a dynamic and inspiring plenary session, Linking Movements, moderated by Lani Blechman. The session brought together activists from 5 vantage points to discuss how we all must move forward together in the movement for reproductive justice.

Watch highlights from Linking Movements here! Click below to see Paris Hatcher from SPARK Reproductive Justice Now, Susanna George from Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW Malaysia), Carol Mason from National Advocates for Pregnant Women, David Zielinski Kozska from Stonewall Youth, and Mia Herndon from Third Wave Foundation. And you can read Lani's To Do List from the plenary, Linking Movements and Creating a Common Vision.