Who we are
The Green Wave @ UW is a grassroots organization working to connect with the Seattle community and work towards reproductive justice. Our work and mission are inspired by the Marea Verde Movement in Latin America. We hope to have as much impact as they did and highlight that feminism has no borders. ​ Green Wave @ UW and our affiliate organization, the Seattle Green Wave, are entirely student-run, with current members ranging in age from 14-25. We are officially a-political, i.e., we do not associate with a specific political party, however, we are on the side of human rights, which tends to fall on the left side of the spectrum. ​ Recent events include partnering with the Women’s March for a protest on October 8th, which almost 1,000 people attended, and a clothing sale to fundraise for the Northwest Abortion Access Fund and Cedar River Clinics. This year we are hoping to host similar events and further our involvement in the Seattle community and the national conversation surrounding abortion and reproductive justice as a whole.
Mission
Based on the Green Wave that came out of Latin America, The Green Wave @ UW, and its affiliate organization, Seattle Green Wave, are pro-choice organizations hoping to fuel a mass movement for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, focusing on student involvement.
The Green Wave @ UW calls on the federal government to pass a Constitutional Amendment to protect women’s health and the freedom to do with their bodies as they please without government interference. Additionally, we call on the people, to get educated and involved in what they can do to protect their reproductive rights or those of someone close to them.
Marea Verde : Green Wave
The color green has become the universal symbol for abortion rights. Its story started in Argentina when Marta Alanis, the founder of Catholics for the Right to Decide, called to distribute green scarves with “right to decide” stitched onto it. The use of scarves was a reference to the movement started by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo who poured in the streets of Argentina wearing white scarves to bring attention to the disappearance of their children and grandchildren under the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla. Marta and her group chose the color green, the color of nature, to signify life and reclaim the term from the anti-choice group who robbed the movement with their claim of being “pro-life”.
Marea Verde spread across Argentina and by 2020, it became the largest nation in Latin America that legalized abortion. Other countries in Latin America followed. In September 2021 the Mexico Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to criminalize abortion. In February 2022, Colombia followed suit in decriminalizing abortion. The Green Wave reached the United States in response to the overturning of Roe. Celeste MacDougall, an Argentine feminist who joined the movement in 2010 was moved by the spread of the green wave to the United States. She said, “It is proof that we are fighting the same enemies all over the world, that we have the same goals and that not only is patriarchy a system that dominates and oppresses us all over the planet, but that feminism is an international movement without borders.”