I recently had the opportunity to visit with one of the Boston Women’s Fund’s grantees, South Boston en Acción (SBEA). SBEA organizes and develops the leadership of the Latina residents of living in South Boston’s public housing developments. The Latino population in South Boston has grown significantly and rapidly, and Latinos are the largest ethnic group residing in the South Boston public housing developments. SBEA grew out of an ad-hoc group of women who began meeting sporadically in 2004 to talk about family concerns. Many of these concerns resulted from the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) settlement of Latino families in a neighborhood where they encountered linguistic and cultural barriers and experienced social isolation. In 2007, SBEA received a 3-year grant from the Hyams Foundation that led to weekly meetings, the opening of an office, and non-profit incorporation.
I was very impressed with all that South Boston en Acción has accomplished in its short lifetime, particularly given the history of racism in South Boston. It made me eager to learn more about the history of racism and desegregation in Boston’s public housing. Although, among my colleagues there existed first-hand knowledge of the desegregation of the Boston Public Schools, we did not have in depth knowledge on the desegregation of public housing. I did some online research and talked to Kathy Brown of the Boston Tenant Coalition and Edna Carrasco of the Committee for Boston Public Housing.
As a people from diverse cultural backgrounds mostly identifying as part of the 99%, we historically find ourselves witnessing unimagined poignant times. Across this country we witnessed how those of us, trained in watching and waiting, decided to take a stand and created a movement from coast to coast on our own terms. The Boston Women’s Fund maintained a close look at Occupy Boston, from day one up to December 10 and beyond, by seeking information as to where our grantee community of activists’ stood: where were those organizations and groups led by women and girls in relation to Occupy? How were they now envisioning their grassroots efforts in relation to Occupy, if at all? In our lead article, Beth Levanthal of The Network, La Red grappled with the issues of a movement still seeking to understand its common ground.
These stories from three of our new grantees detail the positive impact that their organizations have on their members. They write in their own words about the importance of the work that they do. The Brazilian Immigrant Center is a grassroots organization whose mission focuses on the training, advocacy, and organizing of immigrant workers. Gedakina is a multi-generational endeavor to strengthen the cultural identity and knowledge of Native American youth and families of New England. The Genki Spark is both an arts and advocacy organization that aims to share the art of Japanese taiko drumming and to promote the voice and visibility of Asian women.
Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas massive demonstrations by young workers, the Occupy Movement began in September 2011 on Wall Street as a nonviolent, leaderless resistance movement to end corporate greed and corruption in the United States. In the few months since its inception, the movement spread to hundreds of cities world-wide. The main slogan of Occupy, “We are the 99%”, refers to the fact that those in the top 1% income bracket control almost half of the wealth in the country. While those who occupy the encampments are activated around a wide variety of social and political issues, the “99%” campaign focuses first and foremost on capitalist-based oppression.
The recent actions and reactions of the Susan G. Komen Foundation give us pause here at the Boston Women’s Fund. Certainly we were pleased when the Komen Foundation changed their stance on funding for Planned Parenthood, and more so by the extraordinary outpouring of support Planned Parenthood received from the masses. But this controversy really brought to light the politics that continue to infiltrate and impede access to and advancements in women’s health care. Breast cancer; reproductive health; heart disease; the list can go on– every woman’s personal health is at risk because of the politics that permeates the health care system, and women’s health care overall.
The topic of law and equality fascinated me at the recent Harvard Women’s Law Conference. During the conference, I was struck about how common some themes seem to be, particularly regarding advice to women on achieving equality.
The Greater Fall River Domestic Violence Coalition is a collaboration of agencies that provide education, awareness and support to reduce domestic violence.
