Girl Justice Roundup

My take on the news from the Girl Justice movement (locally, nationally, and internationally). 

Local

Know local musicians? Geek Girl Con is looking for performers for their CONcert and closing celebration. Interested artists can apply on their website.

School’s Out Washington celebrates members of its”extended family” who were among the 25 afterschool champions recognized by the National Afterschool Association as the “Most Influential People in Afterschool.”

Girls on the Run needs to find 65 volunteer coaches by August 29. Fill out an application today to support a group of 3rd-5th graders as they explore self-esteem and teamwork through running. As I’ve said before (more than once) this org does volunteering well!

National

Mo’Ne Davis became an overnight superstar for her stellar pitching in the Little League World Series. The 13-year-old is only the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series, and the first to pitch a shutout. Sally Jenkins explains what her legacy means for girls’ and women’s sports: “For a few brief days, Mo’ne Davis caused some powerful men to think in a different way about sport, to see exciting new potential in a little girl…Maybe that will lead them in turn to another visceral perception: of how much female aspiration gets suffocated daily by the inevitable narrowing of access, opportunity and attention.” Great read.

Lego’s much touted Research Institute line (featuring three female scientists in their labs) sold out. Great news! Not so–the set was a “limited edition” so the company will not be producing any more sets. Boo Lego.

Everyday Feminism released a pair of articles on having courageous conversations with your kids: one on talking about race with youth, and one on talking about sexual violence with boys.

Two Girl Scout troops in Memphis took top honors in a competition to design and build a solar powered vehicle. Nice going girls!

International

Girl Up hosted a google hangout on The Power of Educating a Girl to recognize the 500 days remaining until the deadline for the Millenium Goals. If you missed it, you can watch the video on their Google+ site.

In Zambia, The Population Council is using a randomized control trial to test how safe spaces, health vouchers, and savings accounts impact “school attainment, HIV prevalence, HSV-2 prevalence, age at marriage, age of sexual initiation, age of first birth, and experience of sexual violence.” The study involves 10,000 girls. I’m looking forward to seeing the results!