Choice USA's blog, Choice Words, is a place to share some great ideas, stories, experiences, and news with you, our readers, activists, and contributors.

Through this blog, we aspire to create a place where our young leaders can use their own voice to share their thoughts about reproductive justice and how it matters to their lives everyday.

Our regular blog team is made up of Choice USA staff, student leaders and activists. Learn more about our bloggers below. We invite you to share your choice words with us as well, by commenting on our posts and "guest" blogging. 

Choice USA Bloggers:

• Kathleen Adams
• Yissell Asencio
• Katie Casey
  
• Dakia Davis
• Molly Dilworth
• Hannah Geyer 
• Lauren Guy McAlpin
• Kayla Hinrichs
• Joy Lawson
• Margaret Ann Medley
• Brittany Schulman
• Jos Truitt
  
• Erin Wethern

Kathleen Adams
Kathleen Adams is a Women's Studies and Latin American Studies major at Fordham University in New York. She's a small town girl trying to make it big in the Big Apple. If you want to understand her life, watch the movie "Something New". Kathleen first became involved with Choice USA during the Midwest Regional Gloria Steinem Leadership Institute (GSLI) in March 2006 and is also a graduate of the 2006 National GSLI. Kathleen is also a 2007 Choice USA Reproductive Justice Youth Ambassador for the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta.   

Yissell Asencio
Yissell is a sophomore pre-med student [and triple minor in Psychology, Ethnic Studies, and Women's Studies] at the University Of Wisconsin - River Falls, by way of New York City. She first became involved in the reproductive health movement when abstinence-only education was being tried at her first high school. With help of her local Planned Parenthood, she created a student organization [because it was her right as a student, duh] named Safe Sexuality to teach misinformed students comprehensive sexual education. Meeting Joy Lawson at United Council's Building Unity Conference, and attending both the Midwest Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute and Choice USA Annual Membership Conference, made her realize that she has so much more power than she thought she had. She enjoys singing, dancing, lip gloss and shoes. What girl doesn't like the excruciating pain of 5 inch heels?

Katie, (better known as Spiffy online) is a high school student at a fine arts magnet school in Virginia, where she studies Creative Writing and helps run the literary magazine. She first got involved with Choice USA by participating in the Southern Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute in 2008. When she's not busy stressing out over college applications, she writes about feminism, sexuality, and the joys of senior year her own blog, Out of the Locker .

Kia is a Social Work and Women's & Gender Studies major at the University  of North Carolina at Greensboro.  Kia first became involved with Choice USA at the 2006 National GSLI.  She is currently a board member for the National Organization for Women (NOW) and spends time advocating for equal rights on campus and in the community.She is a senior intern at a Greensboro women's resource center as a counselor. During breaks, she returns home to Raleigh, NC and works at an after school center for high school students. Reading is one of Kia's favorite hobbies and she enjoys books on feminism, women of color, and especially bell hooks.  Kia hopes to continue her education in nonprofit management and towards an MSW so that she can work with community organizations that help women and families.  

Molly is the Southern Field Associate with Choice USA. She began her love affair with Choice USA as a student organizer at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she obtained a degree in Women’s Studies and Latin American Studies. Molly’s involvement with Choice USA has been extensive. She is an alumni of Choice USA’s GSLI, GROW, Training of Trainers and internship programs.  Molly lives for fall, musicals, and happy hour—and will never be able to forgive Fox for canceling Arrested Development… twice. While happy to be residing in DC, Molly maintains she will always be a Californian at heart.

Hannah is a recent graduate of Bowling Green State University, where she majored in Women's Studies, and, like the overachiever she is, double-minored in Political Activism and Political Science instead of just taking a lot of gym classes her last semester. She is now living in DC, and attending GWU's Law School (woo, class of 2011!).  During her time at BG, she was Vice President of the feminist organization on campus, produced The Vagina Monologues for two years, and performed "Cunt" in the show her senior year, making her parents feel, well, kind of uncomfortable. Her favorite serious things are feminism, politics, reproductive justice, and outer space (it's serious, I promise!), while her favorite un-serious things include dinosaurs, buying lots of ridiculous dresses, straight-to-dvd movies (Bring It On: All Or Nothing, anyone?) and constantly texting her BG friends and sorority sisters.

Lauren lives in Greensboro, NC and is the founder/project coordinator of CPC Watch , a web-based resource that seeks to expose fake clinics ("crisis pregnancy centers" or CPCs) and empower women to make educated reproductive decisions.  She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Women's and Gender Studies program, where she also studied dance.  Lauren has been a committed political activist since 2005, starting in grassroots anti-war and impeachment organizations and more recently in reproductive justice-related movements.    When not holding giant "WARNING: FAKE CLINIC" signs outside of local CPCs, she enjoys sewing, writing, and discussing gender theory with her husband. 

Kayla is a current senior at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. She will be graduating in May with a BA in Philosophy with concentrations in military and gender studies. Her loves in life aren't limited to MUSIC, cheese, philosophy, talking, and talking about things that make people uncomfortable, but these are definitely at the top of the list. Kayla has applied to a few graduate programs and a law school, but doesn't want to tie herself down to one specific after-college plan just yet. Her interest in reproductive rights and gender equality came during a pivotal moment when it occurred to her that perhaps sometimes women wear short skirts because they just like to wear short skirts. Intuitively simple, but it set into motion a drive to enlighten the rest of the world, leastwise as many people as will listen to her, that humans are humans are humans. She became involved with Choice USA after attending the 2008 Southern Reproductive Justice and Leadership Institute and since has began work to create a chapter at Vanderbilt University. This year she was able to teach sex education to high school students which most definitely a fulfillment of a lifelong dream. After all, "Sex can be a good thing and a part of who you choose to be, it shouldn't hurt you. And people need to know this."

Joy acts as the liaison between Choice USA and our network of student and campus leaders in the Midwest. She works hands on with our leaders to develop campaigns and strategies around issues our activists have identified. Joy loves all kinds of music and used to DJ at her college radio station at the University of Kansas, but don’t ask her where Toto is, or if she has been to the Yellow Brick Road, because for her, there still is no place like home. As an undergraduate at KU (rock, chalk, Jayhawk!) she facilitated discussions with young men and women about body image and eating disorders, created a feminist art walk, helped organize Womyn Take Back the Night, ran the Choice USA chapter at KU, and helped ensure comprehensive sex education was mandated in Kansas schools.

Margaret Ann Medley

Margaret Ann currently resides at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Brevard, North Carolina right down the road from Asheville, NC.  There she is a sophomore student at Brevard College studying a little bit of everything, preferring experiences over classrooms.  Margaret Ann recently was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for Rise and Shine Freedom School, focusing most of her energy to bringing a young point of view to fundraising-advertising-and progress.  Some of her achievements include: a black belt in karate, the most turn downs for a prom escort, and successfully killing every Peace Lily she has received. Margaret Ann is currently an intern with Choice USA.    

Brittany just joined Choice USA as an intern for the spring of 2009. Originally from Doylestown, PA, she is currently a junior at Georgetown University, where she majors in Culture & Politics in the School of Foreign Service. Brittany first became involved in choice issues by joining the board of H*yas for Choice, Georgetown University’s reproductive rights group that fails to receive university funding due to its catholic founding. When not trying to balance work, school, and a social life, Brittany is deeply missing Buenos Aires, where she spent her last semester, and trying to grow her hair as long as the Argentines.

Jos Truitt

Jos is a recent graduate of Hampshire College, where she was involved in immigrants' rights, racial justice, queer liberation, and feminist organizing and was the Student Conference Coordinator for the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program's annual conference "From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom." She is passionate about raising the voices of people in the margins, highlighting the intersectional nature of identity, and creating space in social justice movements for traditionally excluded voices to be moved to the center. Jos's first interaction with Choice USA was a Grassroots Organizing Weekend she attended.  Finally, Joshloves peppy poppy music, makeup, and cooking, especially bread baking.

Erin is a graduate of Bowling Green State University, where she majored in Women’s Studies (focusing in Human Sexuality) and minored in Sociology. While at BGSU, Erin served as president of the Organization for Women’s Issues, the university’s feminist group. She first became involved with Choice USA with the Birth Control Access Campaign. After which she was asked to serve on the steering committee for the  the 2008 Gloria Steinem Membership Conference. She cultivated her love of talking about sex and sexuality while performing The Vagina Monologues for two seasons (under producer/ fellow Choice blogger Hannah Geyer). Erin is currently living and working in Chicago while deciding which graduate degree she wants to pursue. Her favorite things include vegetarian foods, feminism, Harry Potter books, thrift-store fashion, playing with her cats, and talking about sex. In her other life, she blogs at Progressive Straight Talk.  

* The opinions expressed by the Choice Words bloggers and those individuals providing comments are theirs alone, and may not reflect the opinions of Choice USA. Choice USA is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the bloggers or within the comments sections of this blog. Choice USA makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. 

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