"Someone once told me there is no justice, there just is," says Isabel Ribe of Adelante, a non-profit that works with the Santa Fe Public Schools. It's also part of the New Mexico Women's Coalition, a newly formed silo of community groups committed to activism for women that banded together in preparation for the 2014 One Billion Rising for Justice event. Ribe spoke Nov. 17 at a panel on the campus of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design along with lawyers Bette Fleishman, New Mexico Women's Justice Project, and Pamelya Herndon, Southwest Women's Law Center; Corrine Sanchez, TEWA Women United; Nina Simons, Bioneers; and Polina Smutko,Transgender Resource Center of NM. The discussion about the meaning of justice was intended as a prelude to Santa Fe's Feb. 14 gathering that aims to raise awareness and take a stance on violence against women. Like this year, the 2014 event is set to include a noon dance party on the grounds of the Roundhouse. Tackling spheres of violence on a local level from immigration policy to the treatment of incarcerated inmates and environmental impacts, the group plans to continue the conversation and hold more gatherings and an art exhibit between now and the big event. "We want to look at how we connect," says managing V-Day director Cecile Lipworth. "Instead of treating [awareness] as a Band-Aid, we want to look at what we can fix." For more information contact obr4jsantafe@gmail.com. (Alexa Mangrum)
Santa Fe Reporter