Formed days after Wendy Davis’ historical filibuster in the Texas Senate in June of 2013, Rise Up Texas is a broad-based, grassroots coalition of individuals and organizations who are mobilizing and organizing around access to reproductive healthcare throughout the state of Texas. The group coordinated some of the strongest displays of opposition throughout the recent battle over the passage of draconian anti-woman bills in the Texas legislature.

Since the formation of the coalition, Hallie Boas, an organizer and graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, has been involved in many different facets of the core organizing body of Rise Up Texas. Born and raised in New York City, Hallie comes to Bluestockings to share the stories, experiences and visions about the women’s rights and reproductive justice movement budding in the heart of Texas. She is also a board member of the Global Justice Ecology Project and an organizer with Black Mesa Indigenous Support.