Announcements

February 2024

WILPF Congress Hotel Rooms — Start Looking Now for a Roommate!                        
by Darien De Lu

For our Triennial Congress, WILPF US is reserving a block of rooms at our St. Paul hotel — at a special Congress rate. The site in 2024 is at a hotel, in order to offer a more compact and accessible Congress events layout, with no long walks between lodgings, meals and various Congress features. However, this convenience comes at a cost. For your hotel stay to be more affordable, you may want to start looking around now for one or more roommates to share your hotel room and other costs.

The standard room for the Congress (unless you inquire about something different when you book your room with the hotel) will come with two queen-sized beds. You can cut your lodging costs in half by finding a roommate to share the room! If you have multiple good friends, save even more with up to three roommates.

We'll have more information when the Congress registration details come out.  (Those will include a "DIY" roommate-search option — but why wait?  WILPF members, start jingling your WILPF and friends networks now, to make more personalized choices!)

Watch for an eAlert in the second half of February for both registration details and key program plans, for our May 30-June 2 Congress!

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Support ‘May Day for Money’
By the Women Money and Democracy Committee

The Alliance For Just Money, in partnership with the WILPF Women, Money & Democracy Committee has issued a distress call for our dreadful system of money, which is structurally incapable of serving our people and planet. Earth is warming and its species, oceans and ecosystems are dying. Our government and people are drowning in debt, wealth inequity is growing exponentially, wars are multiplying and we are told that there is simply not enough money to care for our people and planet!

Plan now to support “May Day for Money” from May 17-19. May 18th is the 110 year anniversary of the Federal Reserve and of Congress ceding the power to create money to banks. In 2024, we change the narrative of money back to a focus on people, and our planetary and societal needs. Join the movement for #JustMoney and come support the march on the Chicago Fed, teach ins, rallies and socials in Chicago. More details coming soon!  Learn more at www.monetaryalliance.org/MayDay. 

Even if you can’t come to Chicago yourself, you can help spread the word. There will be a social media and local activism toolkit available soon to help you bring this action to your own city and state at www.monetaryalliance.org/MayDay.  

Plan ahead to support this action.
 

Protections for Bridges Not Walls — Chicago Immigrant Advocacy Then and Now
By Marybeth Gardam
Chicago Restart Team

Register now and reserve the date for WILPF’s flagship Chicago Branch’s second virtual organizing event on Saturday, Feb. 24th at 2PM CT.

How did Hull-House answer vicious racist and Nativist calls to throw out all immigrants in the early 20th Century? Professor Felice Batlan will explore the role of the Chicago Immigrants’ Protective League (IPL). Founded in 1908, the League was a grassroots social welfare organization in Chicago. Through its activism, its leaders became immigration law experts and disseminators of knowledge about immigration laws. It also provided free counsel to tens of thousands of poor migrants in a multitude of situations.

Crucially, the League’s legal practice was not court based but rather on the ground, where it provided advice to migrants and their families and represented migrants when dealing with the Bureau of Immigration.

Learn why Chicago has always been a leader in promoting and protecting human rights and how we can do this now!

The event is open to all, but please help spread the word to local immigration activists and anyone you know who lives in the Chicagoland area.  Register now and reserve the date at http://tinyurl.com/BridgesNotWallsatWILPF   
 

Save-the-Date for Congress Now!
Read about the latest plans for this year’s congress…

Save the date and plan now to come to our 35th Triennial Congress, Thursday, May 30 to Friday, June 2 at the InterContinental Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota. The hotel is on the Mississippi River with a walkway to the river and a riverboat cruise is planned. We are working to keep registration affordable. Stay tuned for more details coming soon, later in February.   

The Congress Planning Committee has confirmed some wonderful speakers (TBA). We have reached out to local and state organizations, such as the United Nations Association of Minnesota, environmental and peace groups, and experts who can work with us on issues surrounding our precious water, such as water contamination and health, the waste of water in nuclear energy plants, increasing water privatization, stopping oil and gas lines that threaten water sources, forward-thinking water policies, advocacy for peace and other topics.  

We are reaching out to diverse communities in the Twin Cities and indigenous tribal groups to learn how state and city water policies have impacted their communities. And we will invite members of local organizations and groups to attend the Congress and we’ll provide space for tabling. 

As feminist peacemakers, the urgency to end colonialism, conflicts, wars, and militarism is to bring about real system change. In the US, by moving from a war to a peace economy and from warheads to windmills, we can fund human needs and mobilize to ensure a sustainable planet for future generations based on principles of human rights, and water, climate, environmental and food justice for all. 

Join us at the Congress and let’s take on this challenge together.

Congress Coordinator
Dee Murphy

Program Committee Members:
Lois Herman
Patricia Hynes
April Knutson
Eileen Kurkowski
Nancy Price
Jazmine Roberson
Tina Shelton
Dace Zeps