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>> KIMBERLY: Good morning. You all look AMAZING out there. This is the second time that I've been
on the stage for the Saturday morning plenary and the first was nearly 10 years ago.
And I feel deeply honored to share this stage and this space with so many leaders,
healers, artists, activists, colleagues, and friends. My first CLPP conference was in 2003.
As a first year student at Hampshire College, I was still finding myself as an activist,
as a feminist, and I just learned the words "reproductive justice." I would not have guessed then
that nearly a decade later I would be devoting my life to this movement.
Today, through my work at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, I advocate for salud, dignidad,
y justicia for Latinas, our families, and our communities.
[cheering]
>> KIMBERLY: Alongside our poderosa activists across the country, we are successfully fighting
back against anti-immigrant policies, anti-choice policies, anti-family policies. We are training
and empowering young moms and Latinas of all ages to be leaders in their own communities.
We are educating Latinas about their health and their power and we are advancing a progressive,
proactive, inclusive vision for reproductive justice without hesitation, compromise, or apology.
When I'm not at the Latina Institute, I'm volunteering as a *** crisis counselor,
raising money for my local abortion fund (go DCAF), working on my doula certification,
or simply talking about sex and health and abortion with anyone who'll listen and some who'd rather not.
[clapping]
>> KIMBERLY: Sometimes I feel, this is hard work. Sometimes I feel like I'm spinning my wheels.
Sometimes I feel like I can't see the finish line. But -- when we win the court case
to get EC over the counter for ALL women, like we did last week...
Or when we defeat the race- and sex- selective abortion bans that target women of color
like we did last year, or when we stand before members of Congress and
White House officials and say in no uncertain terms that immigration reform that leaves women behind,
immigration reform that leaves our *** and trans brothers and sisters behind,
our low-income, our marginalized, our criminalized communities behind, when immigration reform
puts PRISONS over PEOPLE, that is not reform that we need or want and they can keep it.
[clapping and cheering]
>> KIMBERLY: And when I say that, well then I feel a little like a superhero. And I see
a lot of superheroes in this audience today, and as any comic book nerd will tell you,
every superhero has an origin story, the narrative of how they came to do and say and be the things that define them.
My superhero origin story starts here, at CLPP. I joined the student group in 2002,
and for the next 4 years, my experiences with the staff, the students, and this conference,
these experiences would transform my life and shape who I am today.
Through working on the conference, I pushed my own limits, questioned my assumptions,
and learned to embrace the joy, struggle, responsibility, and exquisite honor that it is to do this work.
Through CLPP's RRASC reproductive justice internship program, I had the opportunity
and resources to translate these skills into policy and organizing, and I was able to form
connections with leaders that are still mentors to me, all these years later.
Thanks to Marlene's fierce leadership, and guidance, and love, and the unwavering support and dedication of the staff,
so many of us emerged from our years as CLPP students ready to take on the world.
And even if this is your first conference, I can guarantee this single weekend will change you.
As a woman, as a Latina, as a pansexual, as a biracial person, as an ally, agitator, artist, and survivor,
this space is one of the very few where I can be, and be whole.
CLPP dares to be inclusive, to be imperfect, to stretch its mindfulness and to invite every one of us to do the same.
The space that opens here and the people I meet are gifts I carry with me when I leave
and I'm reminded of whenever I return. And today, I am asking you to help
to ensure that this organization, this work, and this conference continue to serve as a
place of learning and inspiration for all who find their way here.
The name of this conference, as the banner says, From Abortion Rights to Social Justice:
Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom, and I gotta say Freedom isn't free. This conference
costs over $100,000 to put on, and that does not count the over 60 people who spend MONTHS
organizing and planning, and then work around the clock for free to put it together.
How many conferences do you know that provide childcare, and amazing food, and travel stipends,
and this caliber of speakers and presenters, and then doesn't ask you to pay a single dollar, unless you are able?
If you've already learned something this weekend that you didn't know before, if you were moved
by the stories you heard last night at the Abortion Speak Out or by the incredible words
of the sisters up here on the stage, if you've met people here who've touched your heart,
we need your support. We are passing baskets now, cue basket passers, so that you will
have an opportunity to show that you believe in what we're doing here and that you're able
to put your resources behind it. Whether you can give $1 or $50 or $500, please take a moment,
open your heart, open your wallet. Everyone can give something. Take a moment to invest in CLPP.
At Latina Institute, we often tell the story about how when Cesar Chavez was organizing
farm workers, he asked every single person to give $2 to join the group. And these were folks
who were struggling to make ends meet. But it was important to show where you stood.
And even with $2, whatever you can give today, please show us where you stand and stand with us.
I want to thank every single one of you for giving back to this community, as I have no doubt
in my heart and my soul that it has given so much to all of us.
Thank you.