Creating Your Vision

What is your vision for the campus and/or community?

I want to bring the officers of the student feminist group that I am the current president of (SMU's Women's Interest Network) to New Orleans for "V-Day to the 10th" on April 11–12, 2008. This experience will solidify their future commitment to and the ultimate survival of the Women's Interest Network. Also, it will aid them in seeing the immediate positive results of organizing the Vagina Monologues on SMU's campus.

I want my officers to know that interest in feminism and activism doesn’t end when you graduate, get married, enter a career, etc. I want them to gain firsthand experience with women’s issues on a larger scale. Many of them are new to the world of activism and advocacy, and I want them to see how what we have done on our campus translates to and influences the movement on a national and worldwide level. I want them to step out of their comfort zone and keep an open mind throughout the weekend. I call this “bigger picture feminism.”

I have been to NOLA only once, on a family trip when I was sixteen. My dad has family roots there and spent a lot of time visiting as a child. Through that trip, I grew to understand my father more and the Creole culture that comprises a part of my mixed heritage. My Aunt Janice was in New Orleans on vacation when Katrina hit. My mother was supposed to travel with her, but she could not get the time off from work. After Katrina, my aunt slowly made her way to Dallas via a bus. She stayed with us for a few days before going back to her home in Houston. She was absolutely broken down, more than I had ever seen this otherwise strong, fiery woman in my whole life. My mother had to bathe her older sister, clothe her, and rock her to sleep. I interviewed her for the Richland Chronicle, the newspaper at my old community college, but just getting the word out and telling her story wasn’t enough for me. I still haven’t had a chance to lay my hands with the others who have gone back to clean up, rebuild, cheer up, and otherwise heal the wounds that Katrina tore open. Now I can align my interest in feminism with my interest in "Post-Katrina" New Orleans and in environmental racism issues as a whole. More importantly, I can involve other young women in this trip, gaining firsthand knowledge and experience of social justice work while also helping and healing NOLA.

Assessing Your Campus and Community

What campus/community problem does your blueprint address? What structures, practices and policies institutionalize the problem?

One of the main problems my Blueprint addresses is the assumption that the majority of Americans only care about social justice issues when they are in a college environment. The whole myth of the higher education system turning Jane and Joe Doe into little activists for four years until they “come to their senses and get a real job” is absurd. People can internalize this into a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you give students more opportunities and avenues through which to get involved, such as the alternative spring break program, then they will be genuinely interested in taking action on issues that concern them.

When society treats us all like slackers, it is really hard for a young person to rise above that and remain empowered and informed. Only in the past few years have our political leaders realized the immense potential and willingness of our generation to take an active role in bettering the world. As they (and adults in general) begin to treat us differently, we in fact begin to behave differently.

At the Summit, we learned that vision without action is a dream and that action without vision is a nightmare. Organizing the Vagina Monologues on campus was a time consuming, ultimately rewarding experience. We transformed as leaders through organizing, casting, and then being cast in the performance ourselves. We broke through taboos on campus and educated others on important issues. We raised over $1,000 for a local domestic shelter. We cannot, though, just pat ourselves on the back and move on. It would reduce the whole journey to just this “one good thing” that we all did together. We must use this as a platform, and our NOLA trip will be an extension of everything we have learned these past two semesters.

What communities will you work with?

• Campus community

Setting Goals and Deliverables

• Goal 1: Get all WIN officers to commit to this one journey. Through our trip, they will realize a personal dedication to the feminist movement as a whole.
• Motivate at least three SMU students from WIN to attend this trip.
• Have those members keep a blog throughout the trip to track their thoughts, experiences, and future plans to contribute to the movement. We can also videotape the trip. Will use this as a way to elicit feedback and possibly scrapbook our journey at a later date.
• WIN members will come back from the trip revitalized and ready to tackle issues with newfound vigor.
• WIN members will begin (if they have not done so already) to consider how they individually fit into the multifaceted realm of feminism and how best to give back through their strengths and insight.
• Goal 2: Solidify leadership, interest, and experience so that WIN will always be a viable organization on SMU's campus.
• Have those members stay with WIN next semester (fall 2008) to improve the organization with their new knowledge.
• Have those WIN members seek new and more challenging leadership roles in WIN and throughout the campus and community at large.
• WIN members will excitedly share their stories from NOLA through campus media, blogs, local media, and general word of mouth. This will heighten the visibility of WIN on campus, which in turn will recruit more student members.
• Create a space (via a panel or reflection group) where the students who attended the trip can share their experiences with the rest of the campus and facilitate further discussion on future issues and strategies.
• Goal 3: Take an active part in the efforts to rebuild New Orleans while interacting with and supporting the local women there.
• Meet face-to-face the NOLA women that we hear about and see on TV. Listen to firsthand sources, a rare opportunity for any historical event.
• Get our hands dirty! Literally and figuratively.
• Go back home and start a fundraising campaign for flowers and plants for the Code Pink community garden project.

What is your primary approach? Idea Creation

Why did you choose this approach?

I want to include every one of my officers in creating the itinerary for this trip. It is important that they have a key role in determining the order of activities so that they will be more prone to being present in body as well as in mind. I don’t want to dictate how they should go about giving their personal gifts and energy to the proposed projects of the weekend. I want them to assess the issues themselves and figure out the best way they can have the most impact.

What will your tactics and activities be?

We will listen to and interact with dozens of poets, activists, musicians, speakers, feminists, authors, and local women and girls. We will gain insight into issues and perspectives we may not yet be aware of. This will also be a tremendous networking experience. We will team up with Code Pink to help in their community garden project and attend their activism workshops. In the tentative itinerary I have drafted, there are several “Blog Breaks” throughout the day. These will allow us to report back to the community via the internet in real time. I will also be videotaping when appropriate. Once we return back to campus, we will organize and schedule a reflective discussion panel through which we can inform students and staff about our journey.

Since this will primarily be a learning experience, our main tactic will be to educate ourselves so that we may educate and empower others.

Connecting Back to Vision

How does your strategy contribute to your vision for your campus and/or your community?

Everyone is equal in idea formation and in execution of the subsequent action. I feel that we could get a lot more done in the progressive movement if people set aside their egos and allowed others to take more responsibility in community projects and campaigns. I want my officers to feel as much ownership for this trip as I do. As I’ve seen through the years spent at the organization I work for, grassroots efforts are the most effective. My intent is that they'll use the grassroots model and consider it when problem solving for future efforts. Our trip will also serve as a model for other students on campus in that it will prove that young people do have a voice and that our power is only limited by our willingness to use it. It will ultimately serve as an inspiration, a blueprint for other blueprints.

Resources and skills you will need

What skills do you need for this approach?

The main skills that I want myself and my officers to strengthen are leadership and awareness. I want to improve their ability to realize a problem and create a solution with others through grassroots initiatives. I want them to mature in their sense of empathy. Most importantly, I want to empower them so much that they will never again feel helpless or worthless in the face of a political or social situation.