Wendy Davis was a teen mother and is changing the world

Remember those awful ads from the Candies Foundation that implied that young mothers can’t change the world? Well, of course we knew they were ridiculous, but this was just too good not to share – Wendy Davis, the Lebron James of filibustering, was a teen mom:

She began working after school at age 14 to help support her single mother and three siblings, according to her campaign website. “By 19, Wendy was a single mother herself, working two jobs to make ends meet in hopes of creating a better life for her young daughter.”

She pursued community college, then transferred to Texas Christian University. With the help of scholarships and loans, she graduated first in her class. She went on to graduate with honors from Harvard Law at the age of 33.

Well aren’t you looking pretty foolish these days, huh Candies? This is just the latest example of badass young mothers changing the world. Young mamas are STILL trying to get a meeting with someone at the Candies Foundation, and there are a bunch of ways you can help support them. Also, if you’re a young parent in New York City,  the New York Coalition for Reproductive Justice is holding their No Stigma, No Shame Teen Families Conference on July 13th.

In other great news about young parents: the Department of Education recently affirmed the educational rights of pregnant and parenting teens.

(h/t to my gurls at Hip Hop is for Lovers for getting me hip to this tidbit about Wendy Davis on their radio show last night!)

New York, NY

Verónica Bayetti Flores has spent the last years of her life living and breathing reproductive justice. She has led national policy and movement building work on the intersections of immigrants' rights, health care access, young parenthood, and LGBTQ liberation, and has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, and demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color. In 2008 Verónica obtained her Master’s degree in the Sexuality and Health program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She loves cooking, making art, listening to music, and thinking about the ways art forms traditionally seen as feminine are valued and devalued. In addition to writing for Feministing, she is currently spending most of her time doing policy work to reduce the harms of LGBTQ youth of color's interactions with the police and making sure abortion care is accessible to all regardless of their income.

Verónica is a queer immigrant writer, activist, and rabble-rouser.

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