America's Future Now! Conference

I just got back from Washington, D.C. this past Thursday. There I attended the America's Future Now! Conference, formally known as the Take Back America Conference. There I met tons of cool people and learned about a variety of different issues going on in the nation. I also heard great activists, organizers, and politicians speak about what they feel needs to be done in this country. The amount of information was overwhelming, but very important.A couple of things that stuck out to me were the Moms Rising panel, the panel that spoke about college debt, and some of the speakers, like Erica Williams from Campus Progress, and Graciela Sanchez from the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center.
From the Mom's Rising panel I learned about "Maternal Profiling". The women on the panel gave examples of when they, or someone they know, were discriminated against while applying for jobs, because they are mothers. I knew that women don't get the same chances as men in the workforce, but I didn't know women with children have an even harder time. What I enjoyed most was networking with people. I met so many great people and made a few solid connections that I know will last. It was a growing experience for me, in the sense that it was my first time attending a conference by myself, and the first time I was representing SWOP on my own. I think I did a pretty good job representin'. I have to give my love, respect, and appreciation to Generational Alliance for sponsoring me to go, and the Pushback Network for inviting me.