Reproductive Freedom: Using Theater and Alternative Media to Activate Pro-Choice Perspectives

Submitted by wordsofchoice on Tue, 01/22/2008 - 11:35pm
Short Description: 

The session will feature inventive approaches to alternative media, including performance, to break open new conversations on reproductive freedom. The panelists have participated in the development or presentation of "Words of Choice," a theater performance, which has traveled to 20 states to project the importance of reproductive justice, using grassroots collaborations and alternative media. This session will demonstrate strategies to counter misinformation of the Religious Right and to crack a media logjam that misconstrues contraception, abortion and reproductive rights. Using selections from "Words of Choice" on DVD, the workshop will involve brainstorming and writing exercises, interactive discussion, and a demonstration of innovative ways to present material, helping people to connect the many issues affected by “choice” from women's human rights to stem cell research and Supreme Court nominations. See "Words of Choice" at www.wordsofchoice.org and "Up The Creativity: Words of Choice Blog" at http://wordsofchoice.blogspot.com

Presenters
Presenter One Name: 
Cindy Cooper
Presenter One Info: 

Cindy Cooper, Words of Choice creator, is an award-winning playwright and journalist, who writes for In These Times, Extra!, the Nation, Women’s eNews. A lawyer, she was communications director at a pro-choice organization; her social justice and arts work was recently highlighted by the Fund for Women Artists.

Presenter Two Name: 
Suzanne Grossman
Presenter Two Info: 

Suzanne Grossman is a Brooklyn-based writer, musician and activist. Suzanne has worked at Rutgers' Institute for Women's Leadership, the Woodhull Institute and Center for Reproductive Rights, and toured with Words of Choice in South Dakota. She blogs on the Huffington Post and helped found Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls.

Presenter Three Name: 
Jaye Austin Williams
Presenter Three Info: 

Jaye Austin Williams is an actor, director, playwright, and essayist whose work has been seen in New York City and regionally for over twenty-five years. She has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, residencies and awards, and is currently completing her MFA in Dramatic Writing at New York University.