Take Action for Reproductive Justice! Billboard and HB1155 Action Update!

SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW Updates and Action Alerts! Your Feedback Matters! Give us your thoughts about Legislate THIS! Day of Action By taking 5 minutes to complete this survey you will help give necessary feedback to help strengthen and improve our programming! MAP THE BILLBOARDS We asked and you have sent them in! We are still mapping the billboards and need you to email us wherever you see the "Black Children are Endangered Species"  billboards. Email paris@sparkrj.org the intersection and we will map them! VIEW THE MAP HERE! Must Read Links! Washington St. becomes 7th state to Ban Shackling "A Right to Life for the Living" article in The Nation by Melissa Harris Lacewell SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW website Don't Forget to RSVP for Celebrate Mia! Visit www.sparkrj.org to RSVP by April 15th Dear Moya, Spring has sprung and power, liberation, and reproductive justice is all a buzz. As we enter Spring, there are so many exciting opportunities ahead for SPARK. We are still working hard to defeat HB1155 and now SB529 ("The Prenatal Discrimination Act" but we refer to it as "The OBGYN Criminalization and Racial Discrimination Act"), amplifying the voices of Black women in response to the false billboards in our neighborhood, and excitedly anticipating the release of the YRJ Zine, FIRE! Sparking the Flame in Each Other: An Art Resource Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Same Gender Loving Youth of Color and Our Allies available early April! With all this ahead, we need your support more than ever. Participate in the action alerts below and events ahead and DONATE! Your monthly donations sustain this work and contribute to building the power, leadership, and the Georgia we need! With exburenace! SPARK Team We Speak for Ourselves! Take Action for RJ  SPARK Members Speak out Against the Billboards Bring Those Billboards Down The billboards haven't came down but our resolve is strong!  On Saturday, March 13th at the intersection of Boulevard and Edgewood, more than 25 reproductive justice activists came together to express their anger and frustration at anti-choice forces and CBS outdoor for those derogatory and shocking billboards targeting black women and their communities. We are collecting the stories and preparing for a photo campaign highlighting Black women speaking for ourselves and our communities. If you are interested in participating in this dynamic project, please email paris@sparkrj.org. UPDATE FROM THE GENERAL GEORGIA ASSEMBLY I have some good and some bad news! TOMORROW is Cross Over DAY!  The bad news is we were not able to stop SB 529 Prenatal Discrimination Act (Senate Version of HB 1155) from being placed on the calendar for a Senate vote tomorrow.  That vote will take place tomorrow however we don't know what time the bill will be heard, debated and voted on.  I will be at the capitol all day "strongly encouraging" legislators to vote against the bill!  Unfortunately, we probably won't have the votes to prevent it from passing in the Senate but we believe we can still stop the bill on the House side but we still need your support. Email tonya@sparkrj.org to find out where we are going to be during the day.  If you can't make it, follow us on Twitter at SPARKRJNOW! We will be tweeting all day! The good news is that SPARK and YOU were relentless and refused to be silenced by Georgia Right to Life, the Radiance Foundation and Georgia elected officials.  None of these groups were interested or committed to improving the lives of women of color.  We were there, fighting, every step of the way.  We will continue to fight, build relationships, inform our base and mobilize for action!  More good news...we do have a commitment from a legislator to sponsor our anti-shackling legislation,"The Giving Birth with Dignity Act" next session.  Our work will never be done as long as people of color are under assault!