I Attended the IWO Annual Legislative Event and Here’s What I learned

It’s finally March, and you know what that means—it’s Women’s History Month, yay! In honor of all the bad*ss women from around the world who have come before us, are here now and will come after us, I will be attending women-centered events every weekend of March! I kicked off my personalized celebration of Women’s History Month in New Orleans, Louisiana. While on a service trip with the FSU Section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), in which I serve as the current section president, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Independent Women’s Organization’s (IWO) annual Legislative Event. This event featured senators and representatives from the New Orleans parish, and attendees were able to hear about the pressing concerns of local government officials as well as voice their concerns. The welcoming attitudes of those hosting the event allowed me to feel right at home, and I cannot wait to join these women again next year!

The Independent Women’s Organization is a political organization for democratic women. It was established in 1939 by a group of women in Louisiana with an agenda to eliminate government corruption. Within its first decade, the organization registered over 4000 new voters and worked endlessly to positively influence city politics. As an all-volunteer organization, IWO has been recognized for its continued dedication to political change in their community. It was truly an honor to be in the presence of such hardworking and inspiring women. They were ecstatic to have students from Florida State visiting their event and encouraged us all to remain active in our communities to evoke change (especially in “crazy” Florida, they stressed). I was able to exchange contact information with the president and even arranged for NCNW to return and complete a service project with them in February 2021!

In addition to the members of IWO, I had the opportunity to meet several of Louisiana’s political figures who are dedicated to changing the narrative of women and children in their community! These individuals included Senator Joseph Bouie (second to right) and representatives Candace N. Newell, Mandie Landry, Matthew Willard and Jason Hughes (from right to left). In a panel-style presentation, each person shared some of the bills they had recently filed. Several of these bills pertained specifically to women. Amy Freeman, who couldn’t be in attendance, submitted a bill to remove the pink tax—the heavy taxation on sanitary products and women-targeted items. Landry submitted a bill that will end solitary confinement for women who are pregnant or in postpartum, a horrific practice that I was completely unaware of!

Bills centered around family and children were also discussed. My favorite bills concerning this matter came from representative Jason Hughes. Hughes’ goal is to target discrimination on all levels, and this is seen through his proposed bills. Two of these bills focused on school lunches for children. One aims to eradicate inequality in lunches between public and charter schools, and the other would eliminate a child’s ability to pay as a factor in receiving a meal at school. He stresses that sometimes student’s meals at school are the best or only meals they will receive for the day, so it should be nourishing and free of charge. Hughes also wrote a bill that would employ school counselors, nurses and support staff again to prevent the unnecessary suspension of students. He shared that 3000 students in Pre-K and Kindergarten combined were suspended from school during the 2018-2019 academic year. He states suspension should only be fit when the student threatens/assaults someone or brings a weapon to school.

Hughes also shared some controversial bills he’s fighting. These include a bill to ban transgender students from playing sports in school and one which would implement randomized drug testing on those receiving government assistance. Many of Hughes’ fellow panelists are also fighting some controversial bills and support each other in the fight. Their discussion on these bills opened my eyes up to issues I was never aware of before, and it angered me to know how much injustice and inequality are present in this parish.

At the closing of the event, IWO members encouraged us to be active in politics. “Know your legislatures, talk to them, make sure they know you,” a member stressed. I’ve never been a political person, but this event made me want to be. I realized how much injustice goes on around us, and we have no clue about it. I realized I need to educate myself on what goes on in my communities so I can assist in changing it. We should all feel this way! Get out and learn about what’s going on, speak to those in power, and change the world around you. This way, women will be one step closer to equality. Happy Women’s History Month!

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• FSU
• gender equality
• politics
• women’s history month