Reproductive rights, peace, justice, choice and the environment are all topics that will be addressed during a forum honoring women in Memphis this weekend.
Four female activists will speak Sunday, March 23, during the third annual forum “Change Makers: Women’s Activism in Memphis,” in honor of Women’s History Month this month.
Veronica Coleman-Davis, former U.S. attorney and founder of the National Institute for Law, Rev. Cheryl Cornish, pastor of First Congregational Church, Rita Harris, environmental organizer for the Sierra Club, and Anne Shafer, lifelong human rights activist, will be the four featured guest speakers.
The event is sponsored by Women of Achievement, the Center for Research on Women (CROW) at The University of Memphis and the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis.
CROW has been in existence at The U of M for more than 20 years. The goal of the office is to conduct, promote and disseminate scholarship on women and social inequality.
CROW Director Barbara Ellen Smith said the center accomplishes those actions through promotion of faculty research, inter-departmental research and community-based research on women and girls in the Mid-South.
“(We are) trying to reach women of all generations in the city who are interested in learning more about and improving the level of living for all people,” Smith said.
The department is presently working on projects dealing with immigration, sexual assault and neighborhood development.
“(The event) is a celebration of women as history makers here in Memphis,” Smith said about the forum. “We want to underscore the idea and celebrate the idea (that) women have made history in Memphis and are continuing to do that today.”
Coleman-Davis’s speech will focus on criminal justice and its impact on American life and particularly minorities. Cornish will speak on peace and justice. Harris will address the issue of environmental justice. Shafer will focus on religious liberty issues surrounding the abortion debate.
“We wanted to focus on local activism around major national issues of concern to women,” she said.
The event will take place in the public meeting room at the Central Library, 3030 Poplar, from 2-4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
The Rhythm Realm will perform on African drums to open the event, and a dance group consisting of individuals from Girls Inc. and students at The U of M will perform. Violinist Susannah Gilmore will perform and the event will close with a reception.
