Herland Sister Resources

California Congressman Joe Baca has introduced legislation to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to suffragist Alice Paul. Paul was a leader in the movement to pass the 19th Amendment that enfranchised U.S. women and drafted the first Equal Rights Amendment in 1923.
“Alice Paul was a remarkable person who made America more democratic by fighting for equal rights and creating opportunities for women to participate in politics. Her influence on our society and culture continues to be significant,” Baca said in a press statement.
If you want to learn more about Alice Paul, check out the 2004 HBO movie, “Iron-Jawed Angels” starring Hilary Swank. 

from Women’s eNews
Aloisea Inyumba rose from the horror of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered within 100 days, to become a leading advocate for justice and reconciliation for the survivors, 70 percent of whom were female. She also has become a leading advocate for changing the nation’s legal system to include women’s rights.
Inyumba’s father was killed during an earlier massacre and she was reared and educated by her mother in Uganda. At the age of 30, with Rwanda in shambles, she returned to serve as a finance minister, the only woman on the 10-member executive committee of the Rwandese Patriotic Front, the current ruling political party.
“I wanted to engage women to act as a cornerstone in the promotion of unity and reconciliation in the country,” says Inyumba, 42.
The killers specifically targeted Tutsi women, who were raped, tortured,
mutilated and killed. In many cases, they were raped by men who were
HIV-positive and knowingly transmitted the virus. Early meetings were
difficult as women sat in different corners, divided by hate and anguish.
Gradually, Inyumba devised a national adoption program for the children who lost parents to the genocide. She encouraged widows to adopt each other’s children–Tutsis raising Hutus–as a dramatic step toward eliminating the racism that touched off the genocide. The program reduced the number of orphans from 500,000 to 4,000.
As the chaos subsided and a society was beginning to take shape, Inyumba pushed for women to have a leading role in reconstructing Rwanda. Now a senator in Rwanda’s parliament, she has also established a national women’s network to adjudicate family and property issues resulting from the genocide. Also, as a member of parliament, she is responsible for oversight of the implementation of Gacaca, a community justice system to address the crimes of the 1994 genocide.
Inyumba also organized the Rwanda Women’s Initiative, a national network designed to encourage dialogue among Hutu, Tutsi and Twa women. To date, 2 million women have participated in the Rwanda Women’s Initiative.
Through the effort, Inyumba also began programs to improve the earnings of women. One is Ikigega, “granary” in the local language, a revolving seed fund. She also helped develop a number of microfinance projects. Inyumba was also active in pushing for the changes in the nation’s rape laws and family codes so that women had rights to inherit property and decide on the matrimonial regime, or the rules that govern an economic relationship between spouses.

Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights has changed its name to Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq). The new name reflects the aim to serve all GLBT Oklahomans as a statewide advocacy organization in a movement for equality.
Defying conventional expectations, Tulsa is now home to one of the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community centers in the United States.  Beginning February 14th, a five-day Grand Opening celebration will be held at the Equality Center, an 18,000 square-foot facility in the gentrifying East End district of downtown Tulsa at 621 E. 4th Street.  The new Tulsa GLBT Community Center will serve as OkEq’s headquarters. The week-long festivities include a Valentine’s Day demonstration calling for marriage equality, an art exhibit, GayBingO, an open house, a Wild Hearts Ball, and Sunday Brunch.
To find out more about all the grand opening activities, contact OkEq at:
email: center@tohr.org
phone: 918.743.4297
website: http://www.tohr.org/communitycenter.html

The City of Norman Human Rights Commission has selected Kay Holladay for the 2006 Human Rights Award.  Kay co-founded PFLAG Norman in 1995, the AIDS Walk of Oklahoma City in 1997, and was the found-ing president of CarePoint, central and western Oklahoma’s largest AIDS organization.  She was appointed to chair the Interagency Co-ordinating Council for Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases by Governors David Walters in 1994 and Brad Henry in 2004. 

The Paula Gunn Allen Fund has been established to provide financial assistance to Paula, who lost most of her possessions in a fire in mid-October.
Paula is known to many as a Native American poet, novelist, activist, and literary critic.  This has been a hard year for Paula. Just before the fire, she had successfully completed radiation therapy for lung cancer, which doctors found in its early stages. The treatment, however, debilitated her.
Send your donation to The Paula Gunn Allen Fund, Account No. 0129540739, Bank of America, 228 North Main Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437. (Include “The,” which is part of the fund’s legal name). The donation is not tax deductible.