Newsletter Archive
May 23, 2025
Dear Amazing HERVermont Community Members,
We are so excited to reconnect after our Mural Opening Ceremony on March 29th! We’d like to drop in with a quick debrief of the 29th, as well as some information about our next endeavors and how you can stay involved.
EVENT DEBRIEF
For those of you who were not able to be there, our Mural Opening Ceremony went magically well, despite a strong winter storm that raged that morning. Over a hundred of you came to honor all the women affected by the American Plan in our mural, and listen to our amazing speakers. We are grateful that ORCA Media was there to capture it all on livestream, and that many joined virtually as well.
We were excited and grateful beyond measure to hear fierce and impactful words from Gov. Madeleine Kunin, Dottye Ricks, Esther Charlestin, and Jonel Beauvais, and a stunning song from Patti Casey, (find timestamps for each of their pieces at the end of this newsletter). Congresswoman Becca Balint and Scott Stern, though they were unable to attend, gave us wonderful recordings of their speeches that we were able to play as a part of the event.
We would also like to recognize Kiah Morris, who planned to come as a speaker but was unfortunately unable to attend. Thank you, Kiah! And we are endlessly grateful to Mommabear Louise Wakerakatse Herne and Abena Songbird, who were so kind to give us their time, wisdom, and trust in our work, but were not able to attend either. Endless gratitude to both of you.
As we met to debrief about the event and the entire process, we reflected on the immense trust involved in creating this event and recognized all of the things that were out of our control. The number of you that were a part of our process, from helping us plan, organize, and promote the Opening Ceremony, and those who spoke - everyone who has supported us in any way - it is truly phenomenal.
Dear Amazing HERVermont Community Members,
We are so excited to reconnect after our Mural Opening Ceremony on March 29th! We’d like to drop in with a quick debrief of the 29th, as well as some information about our next endeavors and how you can stay involved.
EVENT DEBRIEF
For those of you who were not able to be there, our Mural Opening Ceremony went magically well, despite a strong winter storm that raged that morning. Over a hundred of you came to honor all the women affected by the American Plan in our mural, and listen to our amazing speakers. We are grateful that ORCA Media was there to capture it all on livestream, and that many joined virtually as well.
We were excited and grateful beyond measure to hear fierce and impactful words from Gov. Madeleine Kunin, Dottye Ricks, Esther Charlestin, and Jonel Beauvais, and a stunning song from Patti Casey, (find timestamps for each of their pieces at the end of this newsletter). Congresswoman Becca Balint and Scott Stern, though they were unable to attend, gave us wonderful recordings of their speeches that we were able to play as a part of the event.
We would also like to recognize Kiah Morris, who planned to come as a speaker but was unfortunately unable to attend. Thank you, Kiah! And we are endlessly grateful to Mommabear Louise Wakerakatse Herne and Abena Songbird, who were so kind to give us their time, wisdom, and trust in our work, but were not able to attend either. Endless gratitude to both of you.
As we met to debrief about the event and the entire process, we reflected on the immense trust involved in creating this event and recognized all of the things that were out of our control. The number of you that were a part of our process, from helping us plan, organize, and promote the Opening Ceremony, and those who spoke - everyone who has supported us in any way - it is truly phenomenal.
From left to right: Patti Casey, Jonel Kaianenhawis Beauvais, Leela McCann, Mayla Landis-Marinello, Gov. Madeleine Kunin, Ella Thomas, Annaliese Eckhaus, Kayla Becker, Esther Charlestin, Dottye Ricks, Una Liebermann
NEXT STEPS
Now, we stand at a crossroads, surrounded by where we have come from, and hundreds of places that we could go. We are realizing that every road in front of us is valuable and very worth our time, and that it is important that we step back and think hard about where we wish to go.
One of our first steps is to finish two educational booklets we began before the event. One booklet features all of the information on the Comstock Act and the American Plan from our presentation, plus a lot more history; the other features comprehensive knowledge about health. Check back in the following weeks for more information!
It is our goal to bring the mural to as many places as we can. We hope to give presentations at high schools in our area in the coming months, and plan to show the mural at welcome centers, medical centers, art galleries, libraries, and other venues across the state and beyond. To provide thoughts on this, we’d love for you to take this survey!
We are planning on presenting to health classes at our high school, U32, and our mural will be available to view by the school community at our school’s Arts Bash in early June. In the fall, we plan to present to the school as a whole about the history of reproductive justice and are planning visits to other schools around the state.
Our driving force are our overarching goals to educate as many community members as we can, of all ages, backgrounds, and genders, to unveil the history of reproductive justice, and provide people (especially youth) with information about their bodies and healthcare choices. We strongly believe that having knowledge about healthcare, bodies, and history is a way to advocate for your health and keep yourself, your family, and your community safe and strong.
As an ending note, we’d love your feedback here (same survey as above), whether you attended the mural opening event or not. We’d love for you to share this article from Seven Days VT with others in your community, as well as our website. Please reach out to us directly with any event/project ideas at [email protected].
With Gratitude,
Leela, Mayla, Ella, Una, Ani, and Kayla
HERVermont
NEXT STEPS
Now, we stand at a crossroads, surrounded by where we have come from, and hundreds of places that we could go. We are realizing that every road in front of us is valuable and very worth our time, and that it is important that we step back and think hard about where we wish to go.
One of our first steps is to finish two educational booklets we began before the event. One booklet features all of the information on the Comstock Act and the American Plan from our presentation, plus a lot more history; the other features comprehensive knowledge about health. Check back in the following weeks for more information!
It is our goal to bring the mural to as many places as we can. We hope to give presentations at high schools in our area in the coming months, and plan to show the mural at welcome centers, medical centers, art galleries, libraries, and other venues across the state and beyond. To provide thoughts on this, we’d love for you to take this survey!
We are planning on presenting to health classes at our high school, U32, and our mural will be available to view by the school community at our school’s Arts Bash in early June. In the fall, we plan to present to the school as a whole about the history of reproductive justice and are planning visits to other schools around the state.
Our driving force are our overarching goals to educate as many community members as we can, of all ages, backgrounds, and genders, to unveil the history of reproductive justice, and provide people (especially youth) with information about their bodies and healthcare choices. We strongly believe that having knowledge about healthcare, bodies, and history is a way to advocate for your health and keep yourself, your family, and your community safe and strong.
As an ending note, we’d love your feedback here (same survey as above), whether you attended the mural opening event or not. We’d love for you to share this article from Seven Days VT with others in your community, as well as our website. Please reach out to us directly with any event/project ideas at [email protected].
With Gratitude,
Leela, Mayla, Ella, Una, Ani, and Kayla
HERVermont
