by Lynn Roesch
On Saturday, November 23rd, East Shore hosted the “Strong Women, Strong Communities” panel discussion to an audience of over 50 attendees. The speakers included Dina Burstein for the Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW, Carolyn DeFord with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Monserrat Padilla of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, and Nickhath Sheriff from the Muslim Community Resource Center. These inspirational women spoke about how they evolved as activists who are addressing immigrant, native, and women’s issues that their communities face. Following the presentations, audience participants broke into small groups for discussion and hands-on projects that included making blankets for the Puyallup tribe to give to indigenous homeless women and women in shelter and also to make dolls who represent missing and murdered indigenous girls and women. This dynamic and inspirational community-wide event was sponsored by East Shore’s Lifelong Learning and Women’s Perspective along with the Indigenous Rights Education Project.
