Afterthoughts, with Emily Boucher

The project Emily loves to remember most is the Community Petition Quilt. Now in the collection of Brown University’s Pembroke Center, The Community Petition Quilt was created by members of The Womxn Project when it was an all-volunteer group.

Emily described how everyone focused on bringing the quilt into being. “It was a multi-generational moment, where everybody fell into place” Emily explained. First, they invited people to the RI State House to create quilt squares. Then they organized quilting bees, where squares were connected into sections.

“Pissed off first wave feminists with sewing machines and a bag of donuts taught younger people who had never sewn before how to quilt. They were learning while they were engaged in political action. We are politically powerful when we derive power from actions that bring people joy.”

After volunteering with The Womxn Project, Emily became a founding board member of The Womxn Project Education Fund.

Another project that Emily invested her time, energy and creativity into is the RI for All video series. She and fellow founding board member Tammy Brown, wrote and won a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, the first major grant award received by the new 501c3.

RI for All is a testament to Emily’s wit, charm, and deep knowledge of the political process, particularly in Rhode Island. Who else would write a script called Stranger Activists, riffing off of Stranger Things, that starts with, “Something is coming. Something hungry for blood.” “What is it? What if it's a demi gorgon??” “BOOM! It’s the Rhode Island State Budget!” “Oh no, we are in deep clam chowder now!”

RI for All was a major undertaking for these dedicated board members, who also have time-consuming full-time jobs and additional part-time jobs! Emily is selfless and committed and has promised us that, while she will no longer sit on our board, she will help out when we need her. “It has been really empowering for me to grow with this organization” she shared. “It has given me the ability, not to change who I am, but to be louder in who I am.”