In all of the cheering and dancing that the national Democratic Party did last week over major issue victories, people on the ground were occasionally ignored. Yes, MSNBC had plenty of labor folks showing up during their nightly coverage of Issue 2. But, the second largest victory for Democrats that night didn’t get nearly as much local attention.
The “Personhood Amendment” on the Mississippi ballot would have made someone a ‘person’ at conception, essentially making abortion and various types of contraceptive pills illegal. Despite being on the ballot in one of the most conservative states in America the measure failed by a wide margin, but the story of the men and women who made that happen is not often shared.
Ms. Magazine has a great story about how the Feminist Majority Foundation conducted organizing in the state and the role that HBCU’s played in keeping abortion legal for men and women in Mississippi. The article speaks glowingly of schools like Jackson and Alcorn Atate and particularly Tougaloo College for holding teach-ins and forums on the impending bill’s impact. Seeing as how the only other time Tougaloo College got any national press recently was David Banner and Lil’ Flip talking about strippers, it’s always good to shout out some HBCU love for all the right reasons.
This article originally appeared online at Politic365.com.