Category Archives: Women

Beyond Abortion: Reproductive Justice Envisions More

Posted on 05/02/2024 by Julie Laut

The human right to choose to have children or not to have children is a foundational principle in the vision of Reproductive Justice (RJ). Thus the increase in legal attacks on abortion rights and trans rights is understandably central to … Continue reading →

362 total views

Posted in abortion rights, Feminism, Human Rights, Reproductive Justice, Section, Voices, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged abortion rights, birth justice, bodily autonomy, human rights, reproductive justice, women's rights | Comments Off

Healing Culture in Wartime

Posted on 05/02/2024 by Evelyne Accad

Forty-one years ago when we organized the Common Differences conference on the UI campus, I was a young professor, already quite engaged in women’s issues, which had led to my research, writing, travels, and overall commitment. When I retired from the University of … Continue reading →

326 total views

Posted in Feminism, International, Middle East, Section, Voices, War, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged feminism, Lebanon, Middle East, war, women's rights, women's shelters | Comments Off

Coalition of Labor Union Women for Champaign County

Posted on 05/02/2024 by Stephanie Fortado

On the evening of March 27 more than 30 people representing about a dozen labor unions and community groups gathered at the Plumbers Local 149 Union Hall in Savoy to launch a chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women … Continue reading →

323 total views

Posted in Feminism, Labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity, Voices, Women, Women | Tagged feminism, Labor, organizing, unions, women in labor | Comments Off

Black History: Is This Really 2024?

Posted on 04/01/2024 by Mrs. Marilynn Dean Cleveland

I am a mother of three sons and a grandmother of 83 years of age. This incident happened on Wednesday, January 31, in the middle of the afternoon. I was going to visit a friend and on the way, I … Continue reading →

581 total views, 1 views today

Posted in African American, African American history, African American women, African Americans, Section, Voices, Voices of Color, Women | Tagged African American women, local stories, Memory, trauma | Comments Off

Who is Un-American?

Posted on 02/11/2024 by Aimee Rickman

This article, commissioned for the Public i, appeared first in a longer version in Monthly Review on November 29, 2023, under the title “Gender, Labor, Democracy, and Americanism: U.S. History in the (Un)Making”; reprinted with permission. In the early hours of Monday, May 15, … Continue reading →

962 total views

Posted in Feminism, labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged feminist history, labor history, Memory, monuments, women | Comments Off

She’s Everything and Everywhere: Riffs on Barbie and the Barbie Movie

Posted on 02/11/2024 by Audrey Wells

Barbie deserved her own biopic. More than one billion Barbie dolls have been shipped and sold around the world since her premier in 1959, and factories in Asia are still spewing her out. From her hair down to the pink … Continue reading →

1,102 total views, 1 views today

Posted in Arts, Feminism, film, Girls, Section, Voices, Women, Women | Tagged feminism, film review, gender roles, girls, women | Comments Off

Pre-Roe Reproductive Rights Underground: The Story of the Janes

Posted on 11/18/2023 by Pat Simpson

We are back in pre-Roe Chicago. A doctor speaks about sepsis, the emergency rooms overflowing daily with feverish women dying from botched efforts to rid themselves of unwanted pregnancies. Another woman recalls her phone interactions with a mob operative. Yes, … Continue reading →

385 total views

Posted in abortion rights, Feminism, film, Reproductive Justice, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged abortion rights, feminism, film, reproductive justice, women | Comments Off

The Danville Abortion Clinic Troubles

Posted on 08/28/2023 by Barbara Kessel

Mary Catherine Roberson, chair of the Danville chapter of Personal Pac, warns, “do not take it for granted that because you live in Illinois, you are safe. If the anti-abortion forces start organizing in your town, reach out to Personal … Continue reading →

718 total views

Posted in abortion rights, health care, Healthcare, Reproductive Justice, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged abortion rights, anti-abortion violence, reproductive justice, women's rights | Comments Off

Anti-Abortion Centers Mislead People at Their Most Vulnerable

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Julie Laut and Celia Barbieri

Reproductive justice: the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. This past January, on the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, SisterSong … Continue reading →

665 total views

Posted in abortion rights, Feminism, Healthcare, Reproductive Justice, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights, Youth | Tagged abortion rights, anti-abortion, feminism, reproductive justice, women's rights | Comments Off

The Lavenders: Past and Present Queer Journalism in Champaign-Urbana

Posted on 05/01/2023 by Public i

On February 23, UCIMC Executive Director Miriam Larson hosted a virtual conversation with representatives of two generations of activists in Champaign-Urbana. Mary Lee Sargent, former director of Parkland College’s Women’s Studies Program (now residing in New Hampshire), was one of … Continue reading →

728 total views

Posted in African Americans, Feminism, LGBTQ, Media, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged feminism, Illinois activism, local independent media, women's rights | Comments Off

Urbana-Champaign Reproductive Justice Week: Educate, Elevate, Act!

Posted on 04/23/2023 by Julie Laut

SisterSong: The National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective defines reproductive justice as the “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Many … Continue reading →

623 total views

Posted in abortion rights, Reproductive Justice, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged abortion rights, community action, reproductive justice, women | Comments Off

Kathryn J. Oberdeck (January 18, 1958–June 8, 2022)

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Jim Barrett

Kathy was a passionate fighter against all forms of inequality. She combined an unwavering commitment to the highest intellectual standards with a selfless dedication to community and family. She was a prolific historian of poor and working-class people, particularly their … Continue reading →

635 total views

Posted in Community, Education, Remembering, Women | Tagged education, In Memoriam, local activism | Comments Off

Local Emergency Rally for Reproductive Rights

Posted on 05/12/2022 by Public i

Local citizens gather in front of the Urbana Courthouse on May 3 to protest the likely coming Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade and endangering women’s right to choose. 594 total views

594 total views

Posted in abortion rights, Back Cover, health care, Women | Comments Off

March Issue Front Cover

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Public i

WOMEN”S HISTORY MONTH ISSUE 783 total views

783 total views

Posted in Front Cover, Labor, Labor militancy, Section, Women | Tagged Labor, organizing, women | Comments Off

Union Women on the Move

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Pat Simpson

Hopeful signs of a labor resurgence are everywhere. Despite another decline in the unionized percentage of the labor force and the stalemate in efforts at labor law reform, new frontiers in union organizing have emerged, strikes are on the upswing, … Continue reading →

795 total views

Posted in Economy, Labor, Labor militancy, Women, Worker Health and Safety | Tagged Labor, labor history, organizing, women | Comments Off

Hunger Strike, Ceiling Collapse, Lawsuit Spotlight Deteriorating Conditions at Logan Women’s Prison in Illinois

Posted on 11/15/2021 by Brian Dolinar and Panagioti Tsolkas

“I’ve been incarcerated since the age of 18, I grew up in the penal system,” shares Mishunda Davis. “I went from the Cook County jail to Dwight prison, to Lincoln, and I have never seen as many condemned buildings as … Continue reading →

2,162 total views

Posted in incarceration, prison strikes, Women | Comments Off

Texas isn’t the Only Place where a Woman’s Right to a Safe and Legal Abortion is Under Attack

Posted on 11/13/2021 by Ruth Wyman

Right here in in Illinois, women’s lives and safety are being sacrificed for the election-minded politicians of the Land of Lincoln. In Illinois, young women and girls’ safety is at risk under the Parental Notice Act. The Parental Notice … Continue reading →

891 total views

Posted in abortion rights, health care, IL, Women, wonen's rights | Comments Off

The Nest Postpartum Support

Posted on 09/22/2021 by Paige Raab

Five years ago, my world turned upside down after the birth of our first son. What should have been the happiest day of our lives turned into one crisis after another, a transfer to a hospital two hours away, and … Continue reading →

865 total views

Posted in Community, health care, Voices, Women, Women | Comments Off

Remembering: Jenny Barrett

Posted on 04/04/2021 by Public i

Emma Goldman, anarcho-syndicalist, union organizer and general hellraiser, once affirmed, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Though she was arguably a gentler soul than Goldman, these words nevertheless apply well to Jenny Barrett, … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Women | Comments Off

Remembering: Anne Feeney