No More Shackles: AB 2530 is SIGNED!

By Karen Shain, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children

Finally! After three years and countless petitions, letters, phone calls, votes, revotes, and two vetoes, Governor Brown has signed AB 2530, a bill that bans the most egregious forms of shackling of pregnant women in California’s state prisons, juvenile detention facilities and county jails.

At last! We have an answer for the pregnant women who write to Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) about having to wear chains around their bellies while going to court, about being shackled around their ankles while waiting to see a doctor, about standing in countless lines waiting to get on countless buses while handcuffed behind their backs: you are right. This is illegal. You should not be restrained in these ways if you are incarcerated in California.

I can’t wait to visit pregnant women at California Institution for Women (CIW) or one of our 58 county jails. We can rejoice together that this long, long battle has been won!

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The coalition conference calls are going to change. No longer will we be talking about designing the next petition or support letter or legislative alert. No more legislative visits, searching for an author, co-author, supporter. No more tracking down potential opposition to make sure they are still neutral or (hopefully) in support of our bill.

This is clearly a time for celebration! And because the work took so long, there are so many of us who get to celebrate. The thousands of letter writers, hundreds of organizational supporters, dozens of organizational sponsors—we did it! Assembly Members Nancy Skinner, Toni Atkins, Holly Mitchell—you stepped up at the right time and we will always remember you.
And then, after all the celebrating, after all the thank you notes, after the tears of joy and slaps on our collective backs…then we have to get to work.

Because I have learned one really important lesson over the past decade that I have been doing legislative policy work—a good bill is only as good as its implementation. It took over five years for California’s counties to begin writing policies to conform to state law banning shackling of women during labor, delivery and recovery (see LSPC’s report, Stop Shackling). We must not allow county sheriffs, juvenile probation officers or state prison officials to wait five more years before shackling becomes only a memory in our state.

As of January 1, 2013, this is what the new law will be: NO PREGNANT WOMAN in California’s prisons, youth authority, county jails or juvenile detention facilities can be shackled around the belly, around the ankles or handcuffed behind the back DURING THEIR ENTIRE PREGNANCY.  And once a woman is in labor, delivery or recovery…OR IF A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL ORDERS IT…they cannot be restrained at all, provided that there is not a pressing security issue.

Chip in $5 to support our work in 2016 and beyond >>

At our office, we are starting right now to find out what pregnant women who are jailed in California are facing. Come January, when the new law goes into effect, we will begin the work of implementation. And we need the help of every incarcerated pregnant woman in our state as well as every family member…you are the ones who know what is happening.  We ask everyone who is released from a woman’s prison or jail to let us know if you witness violations of the new law.

It took a lot of people to get this legislation passed. It will take at least as many to get it implemented. Let us not lose a minute.   It’s now in all our hands to STOP SHACKLING PREGNANT WOMEN!

Please email me at karen@prisonerswithchildren.org if you hear of or see any violations to the new law.

Victoria's Secret does it again: When racism meets fashion

From the website: "Your ticket to an exotic adventure: 

a sexy mesh teddy with flirty cutouts and Eastern-inspired

florals. Sexy little fantasies, there's one for every sexy you.

This piece by Forward Together staffer Nina Jacinto ran on Racialicious on September 6th.  We just heard from Yahoo that Victoria's Secret pulled the piece pictured here.

Here is a brief response from Nina:

It looks like Victoria's Secret has taken a step in the right direction - there's no trace of the "sexy geisha" outfit on their website, which is great. I imagine there were a number of factors that went into that decision. Especially because their "Cherry Blossoms" page still exists and still contains language such as "indulge in touches of eastern delight" - the clothing itself may not be as overtly distasteful as the geisha piece, but the language is still troublesome. Surely there must be another way to advertise these particular items in a way that doesn't exoticize Asian women and capitalize on Orientalist imagery.

The majority of people who have submitted to Huffington Post's piece say the "Go East" line was "no big deal". In the grand scheme of things, it may not be. After all, Victoria's Secret has problems that go deeper than their advertising, including previous allegations of using child and prison labor. But in the context of fashion, it's important that companies like Victoria's Secret know that capitalizing on a stereotype and on a culture is tasteless and offensive. The messaging we insert in our culture shapes people's attitudes - so questioning clothing like this is important. We can only hope that this is the start of a new standard of advertising, in which we don't depend on racist narratives to push product.
 

Victoria's Secret does it again: When racism meets fashion

by Nina Jacinto

In case you missed it, Victoria's Secret recently launched a new lingerie collection. Entitled "Go East," it's the kind of overt racism masked behind claims of inspired fashion and exploring sexual fantasy that makes my skin crawl.

The collection varies in its level of exoticism. The "Sexy Little Geisha" is a perversion of its reference, featuring a sultry white model donned in lingerie, chopsticks in her hair, fan in her hand. Other items in the collection include red sleepwear and nightgowns with cherry blossoms. I may have glossed over some of these pieces entirely, except the catalog descriptions had me reeling. "Indulge in touches of Eastern delight." Translation - Buying these clothes can help you experience the Exotic East and all the sexual fantasies that come along with it, without all the messy racial politics!

When someone creates a collection like this, making inauthentic references to "Eastern culture" (whatever that means) with hints of red or a fan accessory or floral designs, it reinforces a narrative that says that all Asian cultures are exotic, far-away but easy to access. It's a narrative that says the culture can be completely stripped of its realness in order to fulfill our fantasies of a non-threatening, mysterious East.

But when a company takes it one step further by developing a story about how the clothes can offer a sort of escape using explicit sexualized and exploitive language, it takes the whole thing to another level. It's a troubling attempt to sidestep authentic representation and humanization of a culture, and opt instead for racialized fetishizing.

It's telling that none of the models wearing the "Go East" collection appear to be Asian. Perhaps this is a way for the company to distance itself from accusations of racism, given the backlash of previous campaigns such as "Wild Thing," a fashion show segment in which black models wore "tribal" body paint and African-themed wraps. The lack of Asian faces here simply exposes the deep-rooted nature of the Orientalist narrative, one that trades real humanness for access to culture. Besides, it can only feel sexy and exotic if it's on an "American" body - without the feeling of accessing something foreign or forbidden, there can be no fantasy.

I'm not trying to deny that people have their own unique sexual desires and sources of pleasure. But like all things, sex and sexuality don't live in a bubble. They intersect with our historical and cultural contexts. Donning a "sexy Geisha" outfit to get the ball rolling in the bedroom remains offensive because it confirms a paradigm in which Asian people and their culture can be modified and sexualized and appropriated for the benefit of the West. This particular kind of racism has existed for a long time, and we're far from moving beyond it.

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez Seeks Proof of "Forcible Rape" in Applications for Childcare Assistance

Strong Families New Mexico and Young Women United

This piece was originally posted at RH Reality Check

by Jodi Jacobson

Forcible rape is back in the news, this time in New Mexico, where the administration of Governor Susana Martinez is seeking a "forcible rape" test for women seeking childcare assistance. It appears New Mexico is now officially part of the fundamentalist right-wing effort to redefine rape that would leave many thousands of rape victims vulnerable and ineligible for state support.

A March 2012 proclamation signed by Martinez declared April as New Mexico's Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Seems like a good thing until you read it. The second paragraph of the one-page document says:

WHEREAS, FIFTEEN PERCENT OF NEW MEXICAN ADULTS HAVE BEEN FORCIBLY RAPED AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIMES....

The proclamation claims to be concerned about sexual violence and coercion, but, for one thing, it fails to mention sexual abuse of children and teens, two groups for which sexual abuse, rape, and incest are critical problems and often shrouded in the kind of secrecy that enables and perpetuates such abuse. The omission of children and teens is both curious and troubling if for no other reason than that surveys reveal that in 2010, the rate of sexual assault for these children and teens was higher in New Mexico than it was nationally.

Use of the term "forcible rape" is also troubling. It indicates that the Martinez administration may be part of a widespread effort by conservative political and religious groups to maintain narrow and outdated definitions of rape that have been replaced in many states, as well as by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which defines rape as:

“The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

As noted by Attorney General Eric Holder:

"The longstanding, narrow definition of forcible rape, first established in 1927, is 'the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.' It thus included only forcible male penile penetration of a female vagina and excluded oral and anal penetration; rape of males; penetration of the vagina and anus with an object or body part other than the penis; rape of females by females; and non-forcible rape."

A broader definition of rape includes date rape, marital rape, and child rape and sexual abuse among other forms of rape that are not recognized under the term "forcible rape;" it recognizes the broad range of victims in need of help.

Why focus on "forcible rape?" The terms "legitimate rape" and "forcible rape" were catapulted into the public political debate recently by Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin who asserted that, among other things, "legitimate rape" does not lead to pregnancy. It is a (literally) medieval theory adopted by far right fundamentalist religious and political groups and individuals as part of the effort to eliminate access to safe abortion care, as well as to further marginalize women. Since rape is usually recognized as a "valid" exception for abortion care even by those who identify as anti-choice, and under law women who are raped may be able to access state or federal funding for safe abortion care, undermining and confusing what is and what is not "legitimate" rape is a strategy to further undermine access to safe abortion and to stigmatize women. Beyond abortion care, the redefining rape is part of a broader effort to reinforce patriarchal norms about women's bodies and their claims on social and economic captial as well as to reinforce profoundly patriarchal views of reproduction and the family.

For example, despite the evidence-based trend toward recognizing forms of rape and abuse that comport with newer definitions adopted by the FBI, fundamentalist politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives sought to pass at least one bill that would have re-defined rape based on the narrow definition.

It is therefore clear that Martinez's declaration did not come out of thin air, but is rather part of the broader strategy.

Now, however, the state is taking things a step further. If passed, proposed changes to New Mexico's childcare assistance regulations would require that women seeking assistance for children conceived from rape or incest will need to *prove* that their rape violation was "forcible."

The revisions appear on a state website on page 7 of the proposed new regulations—Proposed revisions to Child Care Assistance Regulations (8.15.2 NMAC)—and would affect poor and low-income women seeking childcare assistance in order to work or attend school or both. New Mexico's childcare assistance program provides direct payments to approved childcare providers for those children whose parents qualify. The law requires that women seeking childcare assistance prove that they have done everything possible to obtain child support from (in this case) the father of the child or children for whom they are seeking state childcare assisance. One exception to the requirement for child support is in the case of rape; the state did not previously—for what are to most people obvious reasons—require women to seek child support from their rapist.

Proposed revisions to Child Care Assistance Regulations (8.15.2 NMAC

Now, however, unless a woman who conceived and gave birth to a child as a result of rape can prove that she was "forcibly raped" as per the definition identified as narrow and outmoded by a wealth of evidence, the FBI, and international public health bodies.

If adopted, this policy will have numerous implications. It establishes in state law a narrow definition of rape that can and will be applied in other areas of law and policy. It puts a heavy burden on women who have been raped and are now struggling economically to support a child or children to prove the *manner* in which they were raped and to meet a test set up by the state to exclude many women in need of childcare assistance who would otherwise qualify.

It would force women who have left violent domestic partnerships, who were date-raped, who were impregnated as a result of incest, or through other "non-forcible" but nonetheless equally violent and denigrating means of sexual violation to first re-engage with their abusers to seek child support, putting control of their lives back into the hands of someone by whom they were violated in the most profound sense of the term. Many women, for again what are clearly obvious reasons, can not or will not be able to seek or receive child support from their rapists or, due to the dynamics of rape may not have adequate "proof" that the rape they endured was "forcible enough" to satisify the state, and so will be disqualified from childcare assistance. In turn, the policy will diminish the economic and social prospects of both the women and their children when they are unable either to afford private childcare to attend school or go to work (or both).

Advocates are outraged at the proposed policy change. “When are we going to stop looking for ways to minimize the violence against women, rape by definition is already an act of power and control,” said K.C. Quirk, Executive Director of Crossroads for Women in Albuquerque, NM.

They are especially troubled that the move comes under the leadership of the nation's first Latina governor of a state in which there are high rates of both poverty and violence experienced by both Latinas and Native American women. In a statement, Strong Families, a coalition working to advance the rights of women and immigrants, said:

The attempt to qualify differing levels of rape is especially egregious coming from the nation’s first Latina governor, a former tough prosecutor from southern New Mexico, and a prominent speaker at the Republican national convention. Leaders want to emphasize that rape is rape, period.

“Rape is rape, let’s not move backward toward victim blaming... [A]s a single parent who once benefited from state subsidized child care assistance, I am saddened at the states move to decrease access to a much needed benefit for our women and families,” said Adriann Barboa, Field Director with Strong Families.

A hearing on the proposed policy is set for October 1 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Calls to numerous government agencies dealing with childcare assistance and to the state's Children, Youth, and Families Department, which is directly responsible for the policy change, went unreturned.

This bill would help families when they need it most

[The below blog was posted in May as AB 2015 (Calls for Kids) navigated the legislative process.  We are reposting it now because AB 2015 unanimously passed both houses of the California legislature and is sitting on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature! AB 2015 ensures that custodial parents, regardless of immigration status, can arrange for the care of their children at the time of arrest and retain some contact with their child's caregiver.] Please, help prevent the separation of more families by scrolling to the bottom and following the prompts to contact Governor Brown today!

by Laura Jiménez and Melanie Tom

If you can, take a minute and imagine a situation where you are arrested or detained for some reason. Now imagine that you have children at home or in school awaiting your arrival but you never show. You are also not given the opportunity to make a phone call to ensure that your children are placed safely in the care of a trusted friend or family member so they are placed in Child Protective Services. This is happening right now to families all over America and it has to stop.

A part of keeping families safe and secure is making sure that in times of misfortune, children and their parents are able to communicate. Some families in America are not given that option. According to the Shattered Families report released late last year by the Applied Research Center (ARC), more than 5,000 children of undocumented people are currently in the foster care system throughout the states because their parent(s) are either in immigration detention or have been deported. Because of the difficulty of coordinating efforts between local law enforcement agencies, county child welfare departments and the Department of Homeland Security, many parents in this situation have not been able to make their own arrangements for their children so that a family member can care for them, and many have even had their parental rights terminated.

This situation is unacceptable and violates the basic human rights and dignities of families in this country. It is inhumane that governments at all levels have allowed this situation to continue without making some simple fixes– fixes that would ensure that children know that their parents are safe and vice versa.

AB 2015 – the Calls for Kids Act, sponsored by Forward Together and California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, suggests some simple solutions to this problem. This bill will ask California law enforcement to take responsibility for our village of children and help parents to do their jobs by facilitating additional phone calls for them to arrange care for their children when arrested, as already permitted under the existing law. And it proposes a way for parents to notify their children’s caregiver when they are detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in order to prevent the loss of contact that has been experienced by so many families thus far.

This is an issue of importance to us because of the disproportionate rates of incarceration of people of color through the criminal (in)justice system and the rising rates of detentions and deportations by the Department of Homeland Security. Not only are people of color being targeted but now our children are being undeservingly taken away from us because of a lack of implementation of policy and an all-around lack of empathy from law enforcement.

Women and families of color have done our best to provide safety and security of our children. This is our resistance, our determination to raise whole, healthy families in spite of the oppressive circumstances of our lives. Let our collective vision be that all families matter – promote family unity, protect parental rights, prevent children from entering foster care unnecessarily. Support Calls for Kids by taking action NOW!

Laura Jiménez is the Executive Director of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice.

Melanie Tom is the former Field Director at Forward Together.

We need your support to urge Governor Brown to sign AB 2015! Please call TODAY: 916-445-2841

Sample Script:

"Hi, I am calling to ask the Governor to sign AB 2015 (Calls for Kids)! This bill would prevent more children from being caught up in the foster care system by ensuring parents' rights are communicated at the time of arrest and that these rights are respected throughout the terms of the parent's involvement with local law enforcement. I appreciate the Governor's leadership in addressing this growing problem that deeply impacts California's communities by signing AB 2015."

We can prevent the separation of more families by calling the Governor today and urging him to sign AB 2015. Your call counts!

Want to prevent sexually transmitted diseases? Stay rested!

by Shanelle Matthews

Forward Together Youth

At the beginning of each school year we prep our young people with the supplies they need to be successful: pens, notebooks, calculators, backpacks, and so on. We do our best to make sure they have access to clothes and shoes that fit, as well as the nutritious food experts say, “boosts their brainpower.” We send them off, insisting that they do their best, pay attention in class, respect their teachers, and study hard. We only want the best for our kids. But imagine that despite all our preparation, our kids’ teachers only cover half the material they need to know, and as a result our children only do half as well as they could have. That’s exactly what’s happening in some California schools—and in many schools nationwide.

Let’s Get it On, a report by Forward Together’s youth participants, has found that some educational facilities refuse to give our children the most comprehensive tools to make the best decisions about their health. Every school year we are faced with the recurrent arduous conversation about sex education and how best to prepare our young people. Even though California state law mandates that sexual health education in public schools be comprehensive, medically accurate, science-based, and bias-free, some teachers and school districts are still denying our children the tools they need to be safe.

The report, which was created and conducted by Forward Together’s high-school-aged participants in Oakland, assesses student experiences with sex education and determines whether they are satisfied with the sex ed in their schools. Their research found that in Oakland Unified School District, both middle school and high school students received little to no sex education. In addition, it was discovered that LGBTQ students, students with disabilities, and students who are English language learners are not receiving sex ed information that is relevant to them.

These problems aren’t isolated to Oakland. In the Central Valley of California, where there are high incidences of unintended teenage pregnancy, Clovis Unified School District’s high schools are telling their students that in order to prevent STIs, they should “stay rested.” This kind of irresponsible, draconian teaching only leaves teenagers vulnerable and susceptible to dangerous and deadly diseases, and they deserve to learn how to protect themselves. The implementation of comprehensive sex education in all schools is essential to achieving our vision of strong families, thriving students, and healthy communities.

When schools and teachers refuse to teach sex ed in a comprehensive way, state laws that mandate comprehensive sex education become just as dangerous as those that don’t. What good are policies if they’re not implemented?

We teach our children that preparation is key. Prepare for a test, a chess match, a musical performance, or a track meet, and you have a better chance at doing well. Yet far too often our schools are not preparing our youth for sexual activity, and that impacts students with the least access to reproductive health care—in particular those from low-income families and families of color—the most. This vicious cycle of refusing comprehensive sex ed and then exposing “unprecedented” rates of HIV/AIDS among teenagers and shaming youth about becoming pregnant must be interrupted.

We begin each school year with the highest hopes that our kids will excel to the best of their ability, but what good is all that preparation if we can’t trust educators to prepare our youth with the sexual health education they need to be healthy and safe? We must hold schools and teachers accountable for doing their part. Give a gift of support to Forward Together today to support our youth leaders in improving sex education. Students who have more knowledge have more options to protect themselves—and we own them at least that.

Shanelle Matthews is the Communications Manager at Forward Together

Is your sex education relevant?

by Mina Itabashi

Mina Itabashi

Is your sex education class relevant and accessible to every single student, including students with disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer students; English language learner (ELL) students; and gender nonconforming and transgender students? Do you feel included?

These are just some of the questions that the Forward Together youth program participants (FT Youth) are asking their peers in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). As part of their Sex Ed the City: More Than Just Protection campaign, FT Youth developed their own Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project. They collected over 500 surveys among students in the OUSD, across gender identities and race/ethnicity. Their resulting report is hella sexy: “Let’s Get It On: Oakland Youth’s New Vision for Sex Ed.” Some of the important findings include that 63% of students aren’t learning about sexual health for LGBTQ students; 54% aren’t receiving education about sex orientation, gender identity, and gender roles; and 64% of students want to spend more school time on sex education than they currently are.

Based on these findings and many personal stories from students, the FT Youth are now calling on the OUSD decision makers and Oakland community members to make sure that students have access to comprehensive sex ed, reproductive health care services, and a safe school culture in which they can be who they want to be at all times.

FT Youth are demanding that their sex education provides all the information that students need to make empowered decisions about their bodies. The report outlines a concrete list of what comprehensive sex education should really include—everything from information on all available contraception options, to conversations about how to effectively talk to parents/guardians about sex, sexuality, gender, and relationships. They’re demanding that age-appropriate sex education and health be taught by qualified teachers, starting in kindergarten and continuing to 12th grade. They’re also demanding that the changes go beyond just the classrooms, and into a reevaluation of school culture, which needs to be more culturally competent, relevant, and inclusive for every student.

And to think that all this work is being done by youth aged 14–20 is incredible. The FT Youth are composed of Asian teens from Oakland who discuss issues relevant to their everyday lives, including expectations of family and society, healthy relationships, sex and sexuality, body image, and gender expectations. Forward Together offers an especially unique space for young Asian men, who are too often excluded from conversations about sex and sexuality. At Forward Together, they find an opportunity to learn that reproductive justice is not just for women, and that nonoppressive forms of masculinity exist.

Having these safe, stigma-free spaces at youth organizations is great. But ideally schools would also be this kind of place, so that all students can have access to safe space. As a Japanese American girl raised in a family that never mentioned anything related to sex or sexuality, I depended solely on my high school to give me the information that I needed (because unfortunately, I didn’t have access to any cool youth organizations). My high school failed me miserably; it was a safe space only for those who embraced heterosexism and gender stereotypes. And my sex education class consisted of putting a condom on a banana and reading some photocopied worksheets about peer pressure and STIs. Yeah, major fail.

Mina and friends

If I hadn’t been lucky enough to find amazing friends, I’m pretty sure that in the following years, I would have made many more misinformed choices that would have hurt me and others. I mean, the sex ed in my school hadn’t taught me the first thing about how to effectively communicate about sex, consent, and respect. One of my most empowering moments was to have my friends tell me that I can decide for myself what I do or don’t want to do, and when I want to do it, whether it be in a long-term relationship or a one-night stand. And that if my sexual choices lead others to judge me as a prude or a slut, well, I don’t have to give two sh*ts. If it hadn’t been for these friends, I would still be lost in this maze of mainstream media’s misleading, unrealistic, heteronormative, and patriarchal portrayals of sex. (Seriously, I would have been reading Cosmo instead of Jezebel. Life would have been so different.)

In our current society where Asian men are often asexualized and Asian womyn are hypersexualized (at the same time as being portrayed as subservient, passive, and docile...ugh), it’s refreshing and empowering to see Asian youth publicly declaring that they are individuals making their own choices about their bodies, genders, and sexualities, demanding access to all the information that they need and have a right to receive. These youth are the next generation of fierce and powerful souls making a difference, y’all. Not just in Oakland, but across the whole nation. I’m so excited to see what we can accomplish together.

Mina is a senior a Swathmore College and a former Forward Together intern.

Oakland youth's new vision for sex ed

by Amanda Wake

The Clovis Unified School District in Central California was just sued by the ACLU of Northern California for teaching abstinence-only education and not complying with California state sex education policy. In Oakland, the youth of Forward Together have found that their own school district is not meeting the state sex ed standards, and have just launched their Sex Ed the City campaign to change that.

This campaign launch has been in the making for a year now, and I’m so proud to say that it’s bursting out with a bang. We’ve just released Forward Together’s youth-generated research report called “Let’s Get it On: Oakland Youth’s New Vision for Sex Education.” Our report documents the state of sex education in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). Over 500 surveys, five focus groups, and 30 workshops later, Forward Together’s youth program participants have put together a comprehensive analysis of the sex education OUSD students are and are not getting. This is the first assessment of its kind on OUSD’s sex education, and the whole process was led by the hard work of our youth programs. The Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) process was envisioned and implemented by our youth participants, from the survey creation and distribution, to focus group facilitation, data analysis, and report writing.



This compelling report also includes recommendations for how decision makers in the OUSD, the city of Oakland, and Alameda County can bring OUSD’s sex education into compliance with state law and improve the lives of young people in Oakland. Sex education is not a side issue, it encompasses information that supports students in their everyday decisions. Our vision is for sex education to include topics like healthy and unhealthy relationships, sexual health information for all sexualities, sexual orientation, gender, problematic gender roles, body image, pregnancy options, caregiver communication, and safety. We believe the more information young people have, the more informed decision they will make and the better students they will be.

This vision for sex education was expressed in full force at our Oakland Speaks event in August. Through poetry, music, skits, dance, and video our youth made audience members laugh, cry, and understand more fully what an important issue sexual education is to young people’s lives.

I believe in creating a community where young people can be exactly who they want to be at all times. That is why Mai, Jack, and I do this work, and that is why I’m so proud to work with the incredible youth of Forward Together, who inspire me every day.

You can stay updated about our Sex Ed the City campaign and see more from the Oakland Speaks event by liking Forward Together Youth on Facebook or joining our mailing list.

We are excited to move forward together with all of you, as we transform our vision for sex education in Oakland and beyond into a reality.


Amanda Wake is the Youth Organizing Manager at Forward Together.

Young Parents Day was a big success! Photoblog

Graf Artist Yung Dophee and his Strong Family

By Micaela Cadena, Young Women United

Beginning in Santa Fe, moving south to Albuquerque and ending in Las Cruces, our three New Mexico Young Parents Day celebrations were a long time coming! For Christian Redbird, a YWU organizer raised in a young family, Young Parents Day was “a lot of work, but completely worth it...so many young parents showed up and were really touched that their families were treated with kindness and respect.”

Over the last year, young parents talked with us about having no place or community in which they could celebrate their lives as parents.  In organizing for Young Parents Day, we knew that we were doing something special, something that would make a real difference for New Mexico families. At our Albuquerque event, people took time to share their stories- from young parents excited for a baby due in February, “We are proud young parents soon to be! We have a lot of happiness and faith among us, we will be the best parents and the best example for our soon to be born child.”

Our love, energy, and intention brought families and communities together in a new and powerful way. While these New Mexico celebrations were affirmations of equality that all families deserve, we have work ahead. Alongside our committed allies, YWU is centering the voices of young parents on a powerful task force set to assess and eliminate educational barriers faced by pregnant and parenting students. With young parents committed to creating change, we expect to see important wins for young families as we come out of New Mexico’s upcoming legislative session. Together we can and must build communities where all families can thrive.

Young families scrap-booking their stories

Our families have the power to make change, Young Parents Day 2012, Albuquerque NM

NM ACLU partnering to defend the rights of pregnant and parenting students

GRADS Moms celebrating YPD with their communities

Piñata time, kids raised by young parents are strong, healthy and happy

Young Parents Day Graffiti wall image, by artist Sky Zero

To download both of our posters from Young Parents Day click here and here.


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