AUGUST 14, 2024, NEW ORLEANS—Women With A Vision (WWAV), in partnership with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, is hosting the grand opening of a new Voter Engagement Center with the goal of turning out the local vote during the upcoming November election. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place, followed by a reception.
WHAT: Women with a Vision Get Out the Vote Center Grand Opening
WHEN: Monday, August 19 at 11 a.m. CT
WHERE: 2022 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., New Orleans, LA
WHO: Free and open to the public
WWAV aims to educate the public about utilizing voting as a form of harm reduction to protect vulnerable populations through voting for measures and candidates that protect healthcare, education, reproductive rights, and more. The community organization, founded 35 years ago at the height of the War on Drug Users and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, has utilized a harm reduction approach through its social programs to increase community welfare.
Louisiana had historically low voter turnout during last year’s gubernatorial election, with just 36% of registered voters turning out during the primaries where voters elected Jeff Landry outright. Since then, Landry signed a fury of laws that will undoubtedly bloat Louisiana jails and prisons, rip families apart, and cement the state’s reputation as the most criminalized place on Earth. The governor and his allies have taken particular aim at birthing people, criminalizing two drugs commonly used in abortion care and refusing to enact rape and incest exceptions to the state’s abortion ban.
“For 35 years, Women With A Vision has been working in community to ensure the survival of the people who pay the highest price for white supremacist, patriarchal, queerphobic systems and laws—Black women, queer folks, sex workers, drug users, and poor and working class people. Today, as lawmakers continue their assault on our rights it’s more important than ever that we vote to ensure the survival of our most marginalized community members so that together we can continue the long march towards our collective liberation,” said Women With A Vision Executive Director Deon Haywood. “We’re working towards a world with true reproductive justice where we all have the right to determine if and when we have children and we all get to live in and care for our families in whole, healthy, and thriving communities. Voting is a critical first step in getting there.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony is free and open to the public, with a reception and light refreshments to follow.
About Women With A Vision
Women with a Vision (WWAV) was founded in 1989 by a collective of Black women in response to the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in Black communities. Today, WWAV continues to provide grassroots-level support and advocacy at the intersections of gender, racial, and reproductive justice. Widely regarded as the leading national voice fighting the criminalization of Black women and girls in the South, WWAV programs touch on human rights, sex workers’ rights, reproductive justice, voting rights, and ending mass incarceration.
