The Buzz 🐝 from Apiary
Well, {First Name}, it’s Election Day.
I probably don’t have to convince you of how high the stakes continue to be for abortion access, LGBTQ+ rights, the future of our democracy, humanity’s very existence, etc. If you haven’t yet, please go vote today - it really does matter. Find your polling place, make a game plan for your ballot, and report voter intimidation or any other issues at the polls with this pretty fantastic resource: 866-our-vote.
Because we always love a chance to talk about how abortion access is connected to all other progressive movements, in the next section we're doing a bit of a deep-dive into the ways that voter suppression and abortion bans are all part of the same effort to oppress vulnerable people. This is what it means when we say we’re working toward collective liberation - that we make connections between reproductive justice and other movements for bodily autonomy, self-determination, and racial & economic justice. Because our fight is their fight, and their fight is ours.
In other news: since last I wrote, Apiary has doubled in size! We’ve brought on TWO new staff members, bringing our small but mighty team to four 🐝🐝🐝🐝. I’m delighted to introduce you to these two forces of nature who’ve decided to bring their vast experience and hopeful vision to grow and deepen our work. (We're so flattered! See below for more about them.)
Finally, in addition to an onslaught of “I Voted” sticker selfies, November also brings the return of Giving Tuesday, the global day of generosity designed to allow you to give back after all your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. On November 29, Apiary will be among dozens of organizations in your inbox asking for your financial support as we kick off our year-end giving campaign. And we’ll be sharing some fun ways that you can help spread the word about our mission to your friends and networks, so stay tuned!
Thank you for bee-lieving in us!
Marisa Falcon
Executive Director
Apiary for Practical Support
(pictured with an "I Voted Early" sticker and a "Bans Off Our Bodies" pin)
Making Connections: Voting Rights x Reproductive Justice
"We take care of us."
A common refrain in radical resistance movements, these words encapsulate the practical support ethos: No matter what happens, no matter who gets elected or what policies are enacted, people will continue to do what they have always done: take care of one another.
And just as people in marginalized communities have always done this care work and built power outside of the system, the fight for the right to vote, for equal representation in local, state, and national governance and policymaking, has been a parallel and equally critical battle.
Photo credit: Black Women for Wellness via Groundswell Fund
Efforts to stop certain people from voting are as old as democracy itself, and voter suppression based on race and gender is still very much in our present.
The right to vote, like the right to abortion, is only meaningful when people have access. Being able to vote is just a theory if people are unknowingly cut from voting rolls, if community polling places are shut down, if you’re required to show government-issued ID, the list goes on and on (the Voting Rights Alliance has compiled an impressive list of sixty-one contemporary forms of voter suppression).
All of these tactics are the same ones they use to restrict abortion access: making people - especially Black and Indigenous communities - travel further, pay more to have the right paperwork, and then intimidate them when they try to do it anyway.
This systematic removing of rights and efforts to stop eligible people from voting make it so many people who get elected do not represent the communities they are supposed to serve. It’s the reason a majority of Americans support the right to abortion, and yet…here we are. It’s the reason fake clinics that spread misinformation and lie to patients get taxpayer dollars meant for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs in many states. It’s the reason forced sterilization still happens in prisons and detention centers.
“But we’re not without hope.
The voting system is not just political; it is economic and social and educational. It is omnipresent and omniscient. And it is fallible. Yet, when a structure is broken, we are fools if we simply ignore the defect in favor of pretending that our democracy isn’t cracking at the seams. Our obligation is to understand where the problem is, find a solution, and make the broken whole again.”
Yes, there are limits to what casting a ballot one day a year can do when it comes down to the urgent issues that communities are facing every day.
But if we are going to work toward a world in which everyone has the right to self-determination and bodily autonomy, we’re gonna need to build voter power like never before. This means standing with, supporting, funding those who have been working to expose and resist voter suppression—organizations like Sister Love that do care work as well as voter education and organizing, and incidentally just hosted a panel discussion called… Voter Justice is Reproductive Justice.
So, again, please: Go vote.
Apiary Update: We hired TWO new people 🐝🐝
Thanks to our incredible community of supporters (yep, that’s you!), we've been able to create two full time positions to ramp up our Practical Support Blueprint program, expand our training and resources for practical support organizations and volunteers, and continue to build community and space for collaboration and advocacy within our vibrant movement.
Welcome to the hive, Ayé and Sara!
Ayé Johnson (they/homie) is our Blueprint Manager, joining Apiary from the abortion fund world where they’ve been working to connect folks, share information, and build systems of care throughout Virginia. Ayé has been many things in their 35 years, but at this moment they are a parent, partner, abortion & birth doula, teacher, world builder, and seeker of pleasure and ease. Guided by a strong belief in collaboration, abundance, and experimentation, Ayé organizes and interacts with the world through a queer Black feminist framework. They love reading poetry, being near bodies of water and in nature, and making things with their hands and mind.
Sara Rahimi (they/she) is our Volunteer Coordination Manager. Prior to joining Apiary, Sara has been organizing around bail and pretrial incarceration as well as facilitating feminist social justice education for youth across NYC. As an advocate for reproductive justice and a student of abolition, they aspire to cultivate joy while working to dismantle oppressive systems. Outside of organizing, Sara enjoys nerding out over fungi and poetry.