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Mission

To identify, research and discuss critical issues

To mobilize, energize and inspire ourselves and others to action

To work as individuals and in community for social justice




Help support the work of our organization with a tax-deductible donation:


Who We Are

We are a group of ardent, progressive St. Louis area women who finally got fed up.

We became so concerned about the direction of this country and where its priorities seem to be that we decided we must do something. From our frustration and determination, Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice was born.

We are not fund-raisers. We are not envelope-stuffers. We are not a single-issue group. And we do not want to re-invent the wheel. Therefore, we have built an organization that enables us to study many different issues and take action for a variety of causes. We frequently support other progressive organizations in their efforts. But first, we study and learn about the issues.

Our members are curious, creative, competent and caring.

We believe in doing something meaningful in support of our values, and we have great fun and camaraderie in doing so. If you would like to add your voice to ours, we welcome you to join us.

Next Meeting

Thursday, April 8, 2010


The Link Between Child Well-Being and Community and Economic Development in the St. Louis Region


Speaker:
Richard Patton, Director of Vision for Children at Risk

Read more ...

6:30 for coffee, 7:00 program
Ethical Society of St. Louis - 9001 Clayton Rd, 63117 (Directions)



Members of Women's Voices have voted to endorse the one-half cent sales tax proposal to fund public transit that will be on the ballot in St. Louis County in April, 2010. We believe that public transportation is a social justice issue and affects citizens both economically and environmentally. Read our position paper on this issue.

Members of Women's Voices have voted unanimously to oppose bills currently under consideration in the state legislature that would replace individual and corporate income taxes with a greatly expanded sales tax structure. Read our position paper on this issue.


President's Health Insurance Reform Rally - March, 2010


Several members of Women's Voices were privileged to attend the invitation-only rally for President Barack Obama at St. Charles High School on Wednesday, March 10. The President was in Missouri to make the case for health insurance reform.

Stacey, Ruth (back), Amy, Sidney
Members: Amy Smoucha, Health Care Organizer with Missouri Jobs With Justice, Dr. Sidney Watson, Professor of Law at St. Louis University specializing in health care access for the poor.
Subscribers: Stacey Sickler, Policy Manager Faith Beyond Walls and coordinator for Missouri Health Care for All; Ruth Ehresman, Director of Health and Budget Policy at the Missouri Budget project.

Mary, Barb, and Romona


Romona Taylor Williams, friend of Melanie Shouse and co-founder with Melanie of M-SLICE, Metropolitan St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion and Equity, received 6 tickets from the White House. She invited Mary Clemons, Treasurer of Women's voices and Barb Finch, our President, to join her.

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thursday, March 11, Amy Smoucha was quoted as saying that she left the speech feeling confident in the president and his plan. We are proud to have members who are speaking up and working for change.


Rallies for Health Reform Intensify


The Jan. 30 death of Women's Voices member Melanie Shouse, who spent four years battling both breast cancer and her insurance company, has spurred activists across the country to ramp up their efforts for meaningful health care reform. Recently supporters on the East Coast launched a "March for Melanie," starting in Philadelphia and ending in Washington, DC, to stress the need for access to affordable health insurance.

In St. Louis, members of progressive organizations took to the street on Feb. 17 in front of the Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield building to protest the insurer's planned increase in premiums. One of the featured speakers was Women's Voices treasurer Mary Clemons. Click here to read her remarks.

On Feb. 19, members of Women's Voices joined other activists at Shaw Park in Clayton to build a memorial for Melanie Shouse and others who have died due to lack of access to health insurance. Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation, a Women's Voices member, and other clergy spoke about the need for health care reform. WV member Romona Taylor-Williams told the crowd about Melanie's remarkable influence as she worked to advance social justice on many fronts in this country.

The week of Feb. 22, health care activists marched from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. where they were met by hundreds of others from across the country. The "Melanie's March " organizers arranged a meeting with several senators. Women's Voices member Romona Taylor Williams described the work of Melanie Shouse. Melanie's partner Steve Hart presented Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with a book containing thousands of letters of condolence. View videos of:


Encouragement for Social Welfare Warriors!

Courtesy of St. Louis American
Readers of the St. Louis American newspaper get a weekly treat when they read the columns of Jamala Rogers, prominent local activist and long-time leader of the Organization for Black Struggle. In Rogers' Jan. 28 column, she pays tribute to what she calls "social justice junkies."

Rogers was an early supporter of Women's Voices and says she was thinking of this organization when she wrote her column. She writes "....when injustices raise their ugly heads, it's the network of activists and organizers who confront them and demand justice for its victims......They take turns putting their finger in the dike that holds back the turbulent waters of 'isms' that threaten to take away people's dignity as well as their rights. They are the force that the enemy hopes will stay under-funded, under-appreciated and most importantly, under-recognized."

Read the rest of Rogers' compelling column here: http://www.stlamerican.com/articles/2010/01/29/news/columnists/ljamala04.txt

Speak Out!


Payday Loans: Why Should We Care? by Ann Ross

Families who borrowed from a payday lender in the past year were more likely to be minorities and single women than their counterparts. They also tended to be younger and have less education and access to other sources of credit. Such loans can hurt borrowers. According to Michelle Corey, president and CEO, Better Business Bureau of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois, "Desperate, unknowing people can get caught up in a downward financial spiral and end up in a worse conditions."

Here is some information I have compiled from the Missouri Women's Leadership Coalition, Kansas City, MO:
  • The latest Missouri Division of Finance report documents that payday lenders in Missouri charge an average interest rate of 430.68%.
  • Missouri's weak law allows interest rates of up to 1,980%.
  • Last year alone, there were 1,315 licensed lenders in Missouri, an increase of 44% since 2003.
Unlike surrounding states (Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, Nebraska, Illinois, Oklahoma), Missouri allows six loan renewals. Fees are charged for each renewal, resulting in financially unsophisticated workers falling into a spiral of debt, which often results in the repossession of cars and other belongings.

According to the Missouri Better Business Bureau, more than 90 Missouri nursing homes have payday loan operations inside them, allowing the lender to deduct the loan, interest, and fees straight from the paychecks of nursing home workers. The Associated Press reports that the Community Financial Services Association, a national trade association for the payday loan industry, says it knows of no other states with similar arrangements between nursing homes and payday lenders.

More information: The Center for American Progress presents information from a Federal Reserve Board study, on its website, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/03/payday_lending.html

Past Speak Out Editorials

Sign Language

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down Awards

to State Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, who has come out in favor of feeding people who don't want to be fed. House Bill 1235, sponsored by Ms. Davis, would require mandatory feeding tubes for terminally ill patients - but only for those patients who have said they don't want them. The feeding tubes would have to remain in place for at least 60 days before they could be withdrawn.

to the many Women's Voices members who have been speaking out for health care reform - by making phone calls, writing letters, attending rallies and going to President Obama's town hall in St. Charles.

to efforts in the Missouri legislature to eliminate the minimum wage increases approved by voters in 2006.

to more than 90 nursing homes in Missouri that have payday loan operations in their facilities. This arrangement lets lenders deduct the loan, interest and fees directly from the paychecks of nursing home workers. And a concurrent ...
to the state of Missouri's weak laws that regulate payday loans. Missouri allows interest rates of up to 1,980 percent on these transactions.

to proposals under consideration in the Missouri legislature that would replace the state income tax with a wide-ranging and greatly increased state sales tax. If any of these proposals were enacted, sales taxes would have to increase dramatically, which would pose additional hardships on low and middle-income families. In addition, sales taxes would be imposed on practically every purchase, from doctor visits to funerals.

to Rep. Bill Deekin (R-Jefferson City), who has once again proposed the creation of a death penalty study commission. If passed, the legislation would force a two-year moratorium on executions in the state while the study takes place.

to Rep. Michael Frame (D-Eureka), who has pre-filed a bill that, if passed, would enable early voting in Missouri. More than 30 states offer early voting options, making it easier and more convenient for citizens to cast their ballots in general elections.

on an initiative petition that, if passed, would eliminate the St. Louis city earnings tax. While taxes are generally unpopular and it's easy to be against many of them, elimination of this tax would have a disastrous effect on the city's ability to function and to protect its citizens.

to the U. S. Senate for passing historic health care reform legislation on Christmas Eve. When reconciled with the bill previously passed by the House, and signed by President Obama, this legislation will bring us closer to making access to quality, affordable health care a reality for all Americans.

to Governor Jay Nixon who campaigned to insure every Missouri child but now has decided not to participate in the new federal program that would provide health care to 27,500 of Missouri's 108,000 uninsured children. The federal law would use programs such as food stamps to identify eligible children. Although the federal government pays the majority of the cost Nixon feels it is an expensive option. Children's advocates say the state would save money by providing children with routine care who now go to emergency rooms where care is expensive.

to Emerson CEO David Farr, who said in a recent speech that "cap and trade, medical reform and labor rules" were hurting his business and vowed "not to shrink and roll over for the U.S. government." Farr reportedly said, "I'm not going to hire anybody in the United States. I'm moving." In addition to a variety of electrical equipment, Emerson manufactures garbage disposals.

to anti-stem cell activists in Missouri, who recently filed their 30th ballot proposal aimed at undermining the lifesaving efforts of doctors and researchers on behalf of Missouri patients

to the Indiana Court of Appeals and the League of Women Voters. The court ruled 3-0 that the Indiana Voter ID law must be declared void because it regulates voters in a way that is not "uniform and impartial." The judges say the ID law treats in-person voters and mail-in voters differently. The League of Women Voters challenged the law on state constitutional grounds after the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld it. The Indiana law required voters to show government-issued photo identification.

to former President Jimmy Carter for his article Losing My Religion for Equality, in which he expands on this statement issued by The Elders, an independent group of eminent global leaders: "The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable."

to Ameren UE for its planned methane-to-electricity project, which will use gas produced by decomposing garbage to generate enough electricity to power 10,000 homes.

to Washington University for planning to close the Center for the Study of Ethics and Human Values. (Read article) One objective of the Center's interdisciplinary program has been to enable faculty from different schools to work together and focus on understanding complex ethical issues. Dr. Ira Kodner, Director and Founder, has spoken on embryonic stem cell research and the need for quality affordable healthcare at meetings many of our members have attended.

to residents of the north St. Louis area, who have joined together to form the Northside Community Benefits Alliance. The new organization is designed to engage residents in grassroots community planning and development.

to Kaldi's Coffee in Kirkwood for installing recycling bins for customers to deposit paper, plastic, and glass.

to Mike Prosperi of Imo's Pizza for speaking out in favor of a smoking ban for public places, including restaurants, in Kirkwood. Prosperi told the Kirkwood City Council at a recent meeting that his business has not been harmed since his restaurant went nonsmoking.

to the St. Louis Preservation Board, which approved the demolition of the San Luis Apartments (formerly the DeVille Motor Hotel) on Lindell Blvd. in the Central West End to make way for a parking lot. Although opinions on the San Luis were mixed, there are many questions about the wisdom of tearing down a city's heritage in order to build one more parking lot.

to developer Paul J. McKee Jr., chairman/CEO of McEagle Properties, owner of the historic James Clemens House on Cass Ave., who has let the property deterioriate to dangerous conditions. The property, a rare antebellum mansion, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And a concurrent ...
to the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, which has named hundreds of McKee-owned properties in north city on the list of endangered sites in St. Louis.

to drugstore giant Walgreens, which is offering free clinic visits to the unemployed and uninsured for the rest of 2009.



Past Thumb Awards

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