March is Women's History Month and the Women's and Gender Studies Program is hosting several events to celebrate women's accomplishments throughout history. 

On March 5th, the Women's and Gender Studies Program is partnering with GSU's Center for Sustainability to present the first film in the Environmental Community Cinema Series.   Solar Mamas tells the story of a Jordanian mother of four who ventures outside her village for the first time to attend India's Barefoot College.  She joins poor women like herself from Guatemala, Columbia, Burkina Faso and Kenya to learn concrete skills that will transform their communities.  The film screening will begin at 6:30pm on March 5th in room 1119 of the Biology Building.  The series is also sponsored by Hands On Southeast Georgia, The School of Human Ecology and the Recreation and Tourism Management Program.

Throughout the month, the Women's and Gender Studies Program will be collecting donations for the Free The Girls campaign, an organization that provides job opportunities to women rescued from sex trafficking.  Currently 27 million men, women and children are being held as slaves around the world.  That's more than in any other time in history and 80% of those slaves are women and girls.  Free the Girls partners with local women's shelters and provides women with jobs reselling gently-used bras.  In the developing world, selling second-hand clothes -- and particularly, bras -- is a thriving business and most women earn enough money to support themselves. Beginning on March 1st, donation boxes will be located throughout campus where women can drop off their gently-used bras and know that they've done something to help women around the world escape slavery. 

Finally, the Women's and Gender Studies program is happy to announce Joan C. Browning will be delivering the Keynote Lecture for Women's History Month entitled, "From Telfair to Toulouse:  Travels Outside the Cage of Race."  A native of Georgia, Ms. Browning was a member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and an Albany Freedom Rider.  Born on a small farm in rural Georgia, Browning was asked to leave Georgia State College for Women in Millidgeville after she attended services at a black church.  From there, she headed to Atlanta where she joined SNCC and volunteered to join the Freedom Riders and later helped lead anti-poverty programs.  Browning is the co-author of Deep in Our Hearts:  Nine White Women in the Freedom Movement (UGA Press, 2000). She now lives in West Virginia where she is a freelance journalist and activist in support of public schools and libraries.  Please save the date and join us for what is certain to be a very special evening for our university community.