From Generation Roe to Generation Now

By Andrew Jenkins
[This post originally appeared on 1/26/11 in RH Reality Check, in conjunction with Choice USA]


When I arrived at college about three and a half years ago, I had no clue that abortion was a controversial or divisive issue. Then, my best friend faced an unintended and unwanted pregnancy. I began to truly understand the meaning of choice. When she came to me for support, I had to make my own choice. I could continue on as if I had no moral or ethical obligation to help my friend, or I could support her with love and compassion. I made the choice to stand with my friend that day, and I have been an advocate for reproductive justice ever since.

My story is like that of so many other young people. These experiences move us to be at the forefront of the struggle for reproductive justice. They make us able to shape the movement with visionary creativity and groundbreaking innovative strategies.

Yet, at times, our experience and efforts seem to be undervalued. An unfortunate theme creeps into the mainstream reproductive rights movement: Young people are apathetic about reproductive rights. As a campus organizer, I have found that young people are anything but apathetic. We are concerned about the issues that directly implicate our lives. We’re ready to transgress the current political landscape on abortion. We are working to engage the reproductive justice movement in unique and cutting-edge ways, from online activism to good old campus organizing. For our visionary creativity to shine, we need to be educated. We need to be activated. We need to have a voice at the decision-making table. Our ideas need to be taken seriously.

Abortion may not be my story. But it's an important part of it.

Originally published at Feministing on January 22, 2013
 
By Ash Moore

It is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I’m in law school so you may think you’re about to be bombarded with legalese and a disconnected opinion. But I have a different and important perspective—a personal one.

By Favianna Rodriguez www.favianna.com

When I was a teenager, I was raped. Gang raped. And as cliché and trite as it has become, I was ashamed and felt like it was my fault. So, despite my better judgment, the first thing I did was take a hot shower. I washed away all evidence of the crime even though I knew exactly what I was doing. After the shower, I went into denial. I tried to pretend like it didn’t happen. I didn’t get tested for STDs and I didn’t do anything about a potential pregnancy.

After a couple of months when I started throwing up and feeling like I was getting fatter, reality set in with a vengeance and brought sheer terror with it. I didn’t know anything about pregnancy except how it came about and I knew it was a possibility.

Continue reading at Feministing.

This post is part of Still Wading: Forty years of resistance, resilience and reclamation in communities of color, a blog series by Strong Families commemorating the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade.

On being a proud teen mom: I don't hate myself as much as you wish I did

By Gloria Malone [This blog was originally published as part of our Mama's Day celebration on 5/11/13]

The problem with being a teen mom is that I don't hate myself nearly as much as you wish I did.

My humble pride and my happy life upset you because I do not embody the self-hate and stereotypes you want me to.

My existence challenges everything that you’ve been told to believe about me, which makes you uncomfortable. And instead of getting to know me, you cast hate and anger at me. Hoping that your negativity will tell me to quit, hoping that I will amount to the nothing you desperately want me to be, and hoping that your negativity will give you a voice for a moment.

I am a proud teen mom. My family is happy. I graduated high school on time and with honors. I am a college student, and I am looking for a Master’s degree program. I've been published in The New York Times and other major news publications expressing my views. My daughter is intelligent, healthy, and happy. I'm on my way and I won't let you get in the way.

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When you do choose to hear my accomplishments, you seek to belittle and change them so they make you feel comfortable: "You're an exception, not the rule," "So what? You think you deserve a medal or something?", "Big deal. You did what you were supposed to do," or, "That only happened because you’re a statistic and need to be the proof that ___ is diversified."

What you fail to realize is that your negativity and hate comes from within. The anger you feel comes from you beginning to realize that, instead of thinking for yourself, you've been trained to think—that is what upsets you.

Fortunately for me, your projected self-hate is something that I have encountered since I became pregnant at age fifteen. I've worked too hard to let your projected self-hate determine whether or not I will graduate or continue to be the best parent I can to my child.

In fact, your negativity reminds me to speak louder, to encourage others to speak, and to do what you do not want us to achieve—our own greatness.

The problem with being a teen mom is that I don't have as much of a problem with my existence as you want me to. The problem is you.

Gloria Malone is the author of the blog Teen Mom NYC.

This blog post is part of the Strong Families Mama’s Day Our Way celebration. You can read more posts in the series on the Strong Families blog. Strong Families is a national initiative led by Forward Together. Our goal is to change the way people think, act and talk about families.

Journey of a young mama

By Soraya Medina [This blog was originally published as part of our Mama's Day Celebration on 5/9/13]

My daughter inspired me to continue doing what I had always loved to do.

This story begins 14 years ago. I almost completed high school in Los Angeles in 1996. But I was struggling. I was very rebellious, I didn’t get along with my mother’s boyfriend, and at 17 I thought I knew everything. My father lived in Florida and was worried about me. I wanted to leave my home at any cost, especially because of my mom’s boyfriend. I even joined and then dodged the Navy!

Later that year the police and my parents made me return home after 2 days of living with my much older boyfriend. After being remanded to my father’s custody in Florida, I had had a difficult and isolating junior year. In Florida I failed a couple of my classes because of lack of support and because I went through extreme culture shock.

When I returned to California for my senior year, I was so behind in my classes that taking Saturday school and summer sessions did not save me. I ended up needing one more class, but it would be 3 years before I was able to make up those credits in continuation school.

By then I was 20 years old, 8 months pregnant, and working 2 jobs, while my boyfriend had 0 jobs! I finally got my diploma through writing about my community involvement in Los Angeles. My daughter Sienna was born in 1999, the same year that Toyota released a minivan by the same name. At 21, I was too cool for a minivan, though in need, and had no driver’s license anyway. Again, I had 2 jobs, one working as a teacher’s aide for LAUSD in a special education program and the other, an evening job, working for a jeweler—2 jobs, because I needed the extra income. But is it “extra” when you don’t make enough with just 1 job and you have a baby?

Higher education was not a priority, as I was not sure about what I wanted to study. It was hard to stay up studying, and then get up to play with my baby girl, but I enjoyed every minute. I had to return to work when she was 6 weeks old. I was lucky to find a nice babysitter that did not charge too much. This was huge because there wasn’t a child care program for us. We got by.

Sienna’s dad finally found work, and bills were just barely getting paid. He found work as a bike messenger downtown and helped me with Sienna when he was home. But by the time Sienna was a year old, her dad and I had broken up. I had to navigate through the child support system and move around for a while before we found our way.

Looking back on this journey, my daughter inspired me to continue doing what I had always loved. This included learning about health and the environment as it relates to women and starting in 2007 becoming very involved with California Latinas for Reproductive Justice.

I think of myself as a life-long learner and I know that women hold families together. I’ve grown so much since having my first daughter 14 years ago. Since then I’ve been in and out of the community college system, still trying to find my way. The deepest knowledge I have gained has been by falling on my face and getting back up. As a young mom, I still would have appreciated more help from my parents, programs, or even school. So this mother’s day, I ask you to think about helping a young mom get the support and services she needs to make it to her daughter’s or son’s 14th birthday!

Soraya Medina is a mother, RJ/EJ activist, and alumni of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice’s LEA program.

This blog post is part of the Strong Families Mama’s Day Our Way celebration. You can read more posts in the series on the Strong Families blog. Strong Families is a national initiative led by Forward Together. Our goal is to change the way people think, act and talk about families.

#NOTEENSHAME

By Raquel Ortega 

The current conversation around young mothers is not only stigmatizing, it’s also incredibly insensitive. Campaigns such as #NoTeenPreg, launched by the Candies Foundation, present young mothers as inherently problematic - to themselves, their families, and their communities. The campaign proliferates messages like, “You're supposed to be changing the world, not changing diapers,” as if teen moms are incapable of influencing positive change. The Candie’s Foundation isn’t the first organization to shame young parents and unfortunately it won’t be the last. Advocacy organizations often respond to campaigns like this by explaining that the “real problem” with teen pregnancy is the lack of resources and medically accurate information about sex and sexuality. While I agree that these are often the cause of unintended pregnancies - 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended - we tend to avoid or ignore the question of why teen pregnancy is even an issue to begin with -- instead, we assume that it is intrinsically a problem.

The reality is that young people can change the world and having a child isn’t going to stop them. I am originally from Tucson, AZ where our State Legislature is constantly passing new legislation restricting access to critical information, resources and reproductive health services. Fortunately, this legislation is continuously taken to court and, like this week’s 20-week abortion ban, overturned. Arizona also has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the country.

Needless to say, I grew up knowing a lot of young parents, some who experienced an unintended pregnancy and some who chose to start families at a young age. Regardless of their circumstances, they experience the shame, stigma and judgment that teen parents everywhere face. A good friend of mine, BreeAuna Grambo, who was teen mom shared her experience with me, “I absolutely felt judgment, even from my doctor! She constantly asked me if I was using drugs/drinking... she didn't have any reason to believe this except for the fact that I was 19.” The truth is being pregnant at a young age made things difficult but it also made them badass students, activists, and laborers.

In an article published in Journal of Sexuality Research and Social Policy, Gretchen Sisson states that, just like my friends in Tucson, teen mothers do better than their peers who are not mothers. These women don’t just complete high school and college; they graduate with honors and straight A’s. They not only raise their children, they also work full time, balance responsibilities, and own their own homes. Rozalynn Jedinak, another one of my friends who is a young mom stated, “I think people have a tendency to doubt a young mothers ability to take responsibility for their child.

But speaking from experience the only thing you can think about for 9 months is how you are going to be able to support and provide for them.” Any disadvantage they had by getting pregnant is counterbalanced by the fact that they work harder. I am inspired by the fact that they manage to do so much despite the fact that organizations like the Candie’s Foundation tell them they should be ashamed, and despite the fact that politicians actively make it more difficult for them to be successful. It’s time for a paradigm shift.

We must invest in the sexual health of all young people and focus on preventing unintended pregnancies by making comprehensive sex education and sexual health resources more accessible for sexually active young people. Messages about young people and sex are overwhelmingly negative and even worse for young people who are pregnant or parenting. It's as if we require young people to be ashamed for showing evidence of being sexually active (by being pregnant or having a kid) so that we can punish them by withholding help or support. Yet young parents are incredibly motivated and when they have the resources they need they triumph over these disastrous expectations placed on them. Young women who choose to become mothers deserve respect and as much opportunity to lead fulfilling lives as women who delay their pregnancies or choose not to parent at all.

Raquel Ortega is a fierce feminist from the Southwest dedicated to uplifting the voices of young people and others who have been historically disenfranchised. She is currently at Choice USA in Washington, DC where she works with young people across the country to organize around issues of reproductive justice on their campuses & in their communities.

T.R.M. Howard: Civil Rights Rabble-Rouser, Abortion Provider

Echoing Ida blogger Cynthia Greenlee was recently published in Dissent Magazine. Excerpted below is the beginning of her article on T.R.M. Howard who, among many things, reminds us that "all abortion activism did not emerge from a mainly white mainstream feminism" and "how central African Americans have always been to the fight to maintain reproductive freedom."

By Cynthia Greenlee

This is not a famous picture, but it should be. Forty years ago, the March 22, 1973 issue of Jetmagazine featured Dr. T.R.M. Howard and a staffer attending a prostrate female patient on its cover, all under a yellow headline: “Legal Abortion: Is it Genocide or Blessing in Disguise?” This remarkable image reportedly depicts preparations for one of the first legal abortions in Illinois (though it could also have been staged).

Just two months after the Supreme Court legalized abortion in the Roe v. Wade decision and a week after Illinois OKed the procedure on its soil, Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Mason (or T.R.M.) Howard began performing legal abortions at his Friendship Medical Center in Chicago. According to the accompanying feature story, black and white women alike jammed the clinic’s waiting room and phone lines. Outside, Jesse Jackson—once a protégée of Howard’s—picketed and called abortion black genocide.

Read more...

Cynthia R. Greenlee is a blogger for Echoing Ida, a project of Strong Families. She is a doctoral candidate in history at Duke University and lives in North Carolina. Follow her on Twitter at @CynthiaGreenlee

Beating the Statistic

By April Flores [This blog has been cross posted from our friends at Amplify]

Why is it important to continue the fight for sex education in southern states like Texas and Mississippi?

1. Most states in the South have the highest teen birth rates [Mississippi ranks 1^st and Texas ranks 4th]

1. Most states in the South have abstinence-only education

1. Latinos and African Americans have the highest rates of teen births

I joined the Texas Freedom Network and Advocate for Youth’s CAMI program about two years ago. Through training and advocacy work for health and sexual reproductive rights, I became empowered. I began to embrace the role of a young Latina single parent, an activist, and a student. I finally believed that someone like me could fight for change instead of waiting for someone to do it.

When I became a young parent in Brownsville, Texas, I knew that it would be too difficult to break the cycle of poverty I was raised in. When I found out that I was pregnant, I criticized myself. In the Valley, I grew up with the negative stigma that pregnant teenagers would not obtain a post-secondary education and live off of government assistance. Immediately, my mother told me that I needed to continue with my education and I did. However, I did not know what my path was. I just knew that I needed to obtain a degree to not live in poverty.

After four years of sleepless nights, I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Government. I was accepted to Teach for America and will be teaching high school social studies in a rural area in the Rio Grande Valley. I finished the first phase of my life at 22 years old and with a three year old and with the help of my family, friends, and government assistance.

Several factors helped me accomplish many achievements.

1) My daughter, Frida, has been my motivation to work hard in everything I take on.

2) Activism has empowered me to embrace my identity as a strong Latina single parent and help others by changing the negative stigma of young parents. This includes the network of activists that have supported me for two years now.

3) My mother and younger sister have helped greatly by caring for Frida.

I set out to write this post for several reasons. First, it was to provide a better evaluation of what it takes to attend college while being a single parent. The process of completing my work was extremely difficult. Many times, I found myself waking up at two or three in the morning attempting to finish my homework because that was the only time where I could concentrate without the sounds of toys. I did not want to wake up but I knew I had to. Of course, many times I wanted to give up and I sacrificed completing many assignments because of the circumstances that I encountered as a young parent.

I do not hope to become a spokesperson for all young Latina mothers. I hope to inspire them. I hope to set the example that no dream is beyond reach. I could have made many excuses to not complete my responsibilities as a student but I decided not to because I had made a commitment to obtain an education. If there is anything that I want people to know, it is that yes there are many barriers but you decide where you want to be in the future and youchoose your path to get there.

Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

My name is April Flores and I beat the statistics.

Teen moms look for support, but find only shame

[This post, originally published on 5/9/11 is an excerpt from a Colorlines article, was part of a Mama’s Day Series by The Strong Families Initiative. To follow all of the Mama's Day & Papa's Day events, visit us on Facebook and Twitter.]


By Miriam Perez

Seventeen-year-old Gaby Rodriguez recently made national news when she revealed to her entire Toppenish High School that the baby bump she had been slowly developing over the last six months was actually a modified basketball with cloth and netting inside. Rodriguez, an enterprising Latina senior, told everyone she’d set out to do a social experiment. She lives in a town that is 75 percent Latino, making teen pregnancy an important issue for her community—half of Latinas nationally will become pregnant as teenagers (the same is true for black teens).

Teen Parents are Changing the world

By Jenni Kotting

A discouraging message is being spread by The Candie’s Foundation in an attempt to prevent teen pregnancy as part of its celebrity-based, abstinence-focused ad campaign, ““You’re supposed to be changing the world, not changing diapers...”. These tactics aren’t working for current teen parents or the people who know them.

The reality is that teen parents are changing the world every day - and it’s not just celebrities who also happen to be teen parents. Sure, there are celebrities like LeBron James, Aretha Franklin, and Fantasia Barrino who were teen parents. There are also cultural figures too, like William Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, and Ann Dunham –better known as the mother of President Barack Obama. These people challenge the current idea of teen parents made by the Candie’s Foundation. Besides these celebrities, there are lots of unsung heroes – people you’re likely to meet in everyday life who are working just as hard to change the world as teen parents–­­ and are succeeding.

Take a look at some of these teen parents. The ones that haven’t achieved celebrity status. They show that teen parents are capable of doing everything older parents can.

Pamela Seals is a Senior at Simpson Academy in Chicago and has a 14 month old son, Tristen. As part of the Youth Leadership Council at the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, she advocates for young parents on how to access the support services they need and educates other young moms on sexual health and healthy relationships.

Monauzre Baugh, or Mo, is 19 years old and graduated from Simeon Academy in Chicago after having a daughter at the age of 17. Since the age of 14, Mo has led various programs and campaigns, leading sexual health, media justice, and young women's empowerment workshops for more than 1000 of her peers. She believes that "teaching doesn't just let me show others how to make better choices about their life and their surroundings, it also helps me make better choices too."

Roxane Medina Padilla is a researcher, activist, and youth facilitator in Chicago who became a young mom before earning her Bachelor’s of Science at Loyola University Chicago. She developed programming for youth in the areas of teen pregnancy prevention, nutrition and fitness, and violence prevention. She has established a health promotion and disease prevention program tailored to the youth in urban communities.

Gloria Malone is a 22 year old Dominican born young woman.  She moved around growing up, but now lives in New York City. She has one daughter named Leilani. Currently, she is a full time student at Baruch College studying Public Affairs. Gloria also works for the College, interns at a non-profit organization, and is an entrepreneur blogger at TeenMomNYC.com

Leydi Bautista is 20 years old and from Puebla, Mexico; she grew up in Harlem. She has two gorgeous boys ages 4 and 3, Henry and Josue Hernandez Bautista. Currently, she is in school taking a course in Culinary Arts at Co-Op Tech on East 96th Street. After graduating from high school, Leydi wants to go to college. However, this will be very challenging since she is undocumented. She will continue to fight to achieve her dreams for she and her sons.

These young parents aren’t collecting check or being lazy, or any of the other stigmas that teen parents are shamed with. I am not trying to make being a teen parent look easy, being a teen parent isn’t easy, but then again being a parent is never easy… There are plenty enough obstacles in teen parents’ lives without Candies shaming them for it. Young people deserve to be supported and respected through any experience of pregnancy, not shamed by offensive, corporate ad campaigns seeking to prevent it by any means necessary. Because guess what… it’s possible to change diapers AND the world.

To read about even more young parents who are changing the world and let the Candie’s Foundation know what you think about their insulting ad campaign, sign the petition and join the conversation on Twitter at #NoTeenShame!

Jenni Kotting is the Communications and Community Engagement Specialist for the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH). She works with youth and project partners as part of the Sex-Ed Loop media campaign with the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Department of Public Health. Jenni has a passion for community organizing, centered around lens of social justice through storytelling.

Keep Your Stigma: Latina/o Youth Need Real Support

By Marisol Franco, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice (CLRJ)
Published in partnership with California Latinas for Reproductive Justice (CLRJ). Originally posted March 13, 2012

What comes to mind when the words “pregnancy,” “Latina” and “teen” are used in the same sentence? You may be surprised at how reality differs from current narratives about Latinas/os and adolescent pregnancy and parenting.

Consider Desiree and Angelica, two single Latina moms now in their thirties. Desiree was 17 and pregnant, and contrary to popular belief, her life did not end. Her son is now 12 and she recently received her Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Development. Angelica was 19 and pregnant. Her son is now 18 and receiving acceptance letters to his top choice colleges.

These success stories are rarely heard of, not because they are rare, but because in the last century, societal norms have changed to deem adolescent parenting “bad” and “teen pregnancy” a social problem. If adolescent pregnancy is so “bad,” why are Desiree, Angelica and their children doing well? Are they exceptions or the rule? The truth is many adolescent parents, children, and families do equally well compared to their peers, particularly when provided with strong social and functional support. The myth of the Latina/o “teen pregnancy problem” has buried these stories. Moreover, the dominant frame used in efforts to reduce adolescent pregnancy has, in part, caused these stories to be seen as even more uncommon, as it ascribes support for young families as social and economic “costs” and depicts young parents as social pariahs.

California Latinas for Reproductive Justice (CLRJ) released its latest issue brief, Supporting Latina/o Youth: Strengthening Latina/o Young Families and Communities, specifically to counter conventional narratives on Latina/o adolescent pregnancy and parenting. CLRJ’s brief critically examines the dominant perspective on adolescent childbearing which focuses almost exclusively on preventing adolescent pregnancy.  Supporting Latina/o Youth adamantly rebukes this approach which further stigmatizes young parents and does nothing to resolve the contextual issues that lead youth to become parents, or provide support for youth who do become parents.

Has CLRJ concluded that we must desist in supporting “teen pregnancy prevention” programs? To answer that, we ask: how did Desiree and Angelica fall through the prevention cracks?

There are myriad reasons why adolescents become parents including wanting to be a parent, lack of access to contraceptives, lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education, and lack of opportunities. Working with youth to delay childbearing and parenting is not inherently wrong, however viewing youth sexuality in a vacuum of “prevention” does not meet the needs of Latina/o youth. Similar to adults, half of youth pregnancies are unintended. In other words, half of youth pregnancies are planned. Acknowledging that youth sexuality is a normal part of development and that some youth will become sexually active as adolescents compels us to think beyond preventing pregnancy. Efforts to address adolescent pregnancy and parenting must expand to address youth’s sexuality and social needs holistically.

In a misguided attempt to support youth in avoiding the perceived “negative consequences” of adolescent parenting, the dominant prevention frame centers on changing individual behavior, which has both intentionally and unintentionally categorized pregnant and parenting youth as a social problem and a “drain” on society. Young Latina/o parents are stereotyped as unsuccessful, irresponsible and unfit caregivers. This punitive strategy of blaming young Latina/o parents and categorizing them as “costs” further stigmatizes the community while ignoring the social, economic, and political factors that shape their lives and behavior.

It is time to address Latina/o youth sexuality in a manner that considers the broad context of young Latinas’/os’ lives.  CLRJ work examine the various health, educational and socio-economic inequities that must be resolved to meet Latina/o youth’s needs.

It refutes myths like: “Adolescent parents are more likely to become poor.” In fact, Latina/o youth – pregnant, parenting or not – are experiencing persistent poverty. Thirty-five percent of California Latina/o youth are living in poverty. Nearly 60 percent of adolescent mothers are already living in poverty at the time of giving birth. Low-income youth make up around 38 percent of young women aged 15-19, and account for 73 percent of adolescents who give birth

We need to change the dialogue. Instead of focusing on individual behavior and blaming youth, policymakers and advocates must address the institutional factors that influence behavior and create holistic programs that reflect this reality.

Like other parents, Desiree and Angelica made many sacrifices along the way to “make it.” Desiree struggled to work, support her son, and go to school. Angelica’s family supported her as she worked hard to provide for her son on her own. We know not all pregnant and parenting youth experience the same outcomes. Some experience discrimination at school being pushed out into alternative schools for pregnant and parenting students. Some cannot obtain childcare, which similarly to older parents, impedes them from securing good jobs, or attending school or job training. Many fathers have even less resources to support their parenting.

Providing Latina/o youth support and resources to parent does not enable them to become adolescent parents, it provides them with their legal right to the same educational and economic opportunities as their peers. Young parents are part of many Latina/o families’ reality, and they contribute to California’s socio-economic fabric. Pregnant and parenting youth must be treated with respect and dignity, recognizing that they too form part of our state’s future.

As attacks intensify on women, immigrants and anyone who is not a rich, white, heterosexual, conservative man, the vociferous response in defense of women’s autonomy and health has omitted any discussion about healthy sexuality, acquiescing to conservatives that sexuality is inherently bad. The same can be said in the case of adolescent childbearing and parenting. To many, discussing adolescent pregnancy and parenting among Latinas/os is often an unwanted reminder that youth have their own sexuality. By distorting this issue into a widely “palatable” public health prevention framework, we have undermined the conversation around healthy youth sexuality and pigeon-holed the approach to one that is punitive.

In order to address adolescent pregnancy and parenting in the Latina/o community and beyond, we must collectively start to change the discourse and norms to include youth sexuality and health needs from a perspective that acknowledges young people’s rights to education, access, autonomy and opportunities.

Marisol Franco is California Latinas for Reproductive Justice’s (CLRJ) Director of Policy and Advocacy. Marisol works to connect Latina/o communities across California to policy efforts and decision-makers in order to promote Latinas’ reproductive justice. Ms. Franco is a founding member of CLRJ and served on its Advisory Board for over three years. Prior to joining CLRJ as the Director of Policy and Advocacy, Marisol worked to mobilize and train community leaders to address local community concerns with the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). 

Music video: dedicated to Mimi and all the young mamas

[This post was part of a Mama’s Day Series by The Strong Families Initiative and has been reposted as part of the No Teen Shame Action Towards The Candie's Foundation . To follow all of the Mama's Day events, visit us on Facebook and Twitter.]

By Amanda Wake, Youth Organizer

Mimi and Sincere

This Spring, the SAFIRE youth have taught me more than I’ve taught them. One person in particular has forever changed the way that I think about young mothers. Her name is Mimi and I’ve known her since the very beginning of my journey at ACRJ 3 years ago. She is 18 and 6 weeks ago she became a new mom to baby boy, Sincere. You may have seen her picture on a sticker, T-shirt, or even on Facebook recently. This Mother’s Day, I honor her because she has taught me and all the SAFIRE girls an incredibly important life lesson about checking our judgments and honoring all the people in our community who are bravely raising the next generation.


I asked the SAFIRE girls one day what they’ve heard about young moms in the media, at school and in their homes. “They’re slutty.” “Weak.” “Not going to do anything with their lives.” And I asked them if Mimi, who has been a leader in SAFIRE for the past 5 years is any of those things. A resounding and passionate “NO!” filled the room and light bulbs went off in all of their heads. Mimi is strong, she is powerful, she is intelligent, she is a leader and she is going to do amazing things in this world.

Join me in honoring these young mothers who are raising the next generation.  Stand with them and let’s fly together! Here is SAFIRE and the Center for Young Women’s Development’s Strong Families tribute music video to young mothers. This is for Mimi and all the young mamas.

Exposing Cosmetic Companies: How Asian Youth Discovered Toxins in Lipstick

By Eveline Shen

Image from www.goodlacknail.wordpress.com

Last weekend my 12-year-old daughter came home from her friend’s house with her nails newly painted silver, telling me about the great time she and her friend had at their classmate’s baseball game and then making frozen yogurt. While I was glad that she had fun, I cringed a little inside, knowing that the nail polish had exposed her to chemicals that may lead to asthma, birth defects, and cancer.

Because of loopholes in our laws, cosmetic companies are not required to list what they put into their products.  So when our teenagers go to the local drugstore, they have no way to make an informed decision about which products are safe.  But what if young people had the resources to find out what was hidden in the products they use?  What would happen if they were able to conduct research? What would they learn?

Twelve young Asian women in Forward Together’s youth organizing program set out to answer these very questions.  These young women, all from Oakland high schools, surveyed their peers and identified the 32 individual lip products most commonly used.  The young women then asked researchers at UC Berkeley to investigate the contents of each product. While other previous studies have detected lead in lipstick, this was the first study to test for the presence of eight other metals: aluminum, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel, and titanium.

The results of this research, recently published in Environmental Health Perspectives, revealed that all of the lipsticks and lip glosses tested contained manganese, titanium and aluminum, and 75% of them contained lead. In fact, half of the samples contained lead at concentrations higher than the US FDA recommended maximum level for lead in candy.  The results were startling to our young women.  "It was surprising because we all assumed that they must be safe if they were on our shelves in local stores. We were so sure there were laws to protect us, " stated Catherine Saephan, one of the leaders in the project.

 

Based on the results of the study, the average use of some of these lipsticks and lip glosses would result in excessive exposure to chromium, a carcinogen linked to stomach tumors. High use of these makeup products could also result in potential overexposure to aluminum, cadmium and manganese.  Long-term exposure to these chemicals might result in damage to the immune and nervous systems, as well as reproductive failure.

Currently, there are no US standards for metal content in cosmetics. Compare this to the European Union, which has banned more than 1,300 chemicals and considers cadmium, chromium, and lead to be unacceptable ingredients -- at any level.

"I think the results are important (to youth) because we are constantly aware of our body image and how to physically look healthy,” Catherine said. “But,” she continued, “we don’t really pay enough attention to what we are applying on ourselves. Also, it helps us become more aware of what we buy and to question or research what is easily accessible to the public." 

When my first daughter was born, I was shocked to learn that the FDA provides no regulations on the cosmetics industry.  Only 20% of chemicals in personal care products sold in this country are tested for safety.  This means that cosmetics companies are allowed to continue putting harmful chemicals, some of which have been banned in Europe, into sunscreen, lipstick, nail polish and other forms of makeup.  And this is big business– corporations are making a killing by marketing to our kids.  Seventeen Magazine estimates that teenagers spend 9.3 billion dollars a year on cosmetic products alone in this country.

Apparently, our young researchers were not the only people interested in these findings.  Within days of publication, the results were receiving national and worldwide attention, including US major news outlets such as USA today, the BBC, and the Toronto Sun.  When asked to reflect upon how widespread the results of their research were, Catherine exclaimed, "I think it’s awesome! Everybody universally uses similar products that carry these dangerous toxins. If we can help spread awareness and find solutions together, the faster we can resolve this issue."

Dr. Hammond takes it a step further, “I feel strongly that these results mean the FDA should be paying attention to toxic metals in lipstick.  Toxic metals in cosmetics should be regulated to protect women’s health in the US.”

One way we can help spread awareness and increase FDA oversight is to contact our legislators to support the Safe Cosmetics Act. The Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013  (H.R. 1385) gives consumers, parents, and environmental health advocates a real chance at national legislation that would eliminate harmful chemicals from the products women, men, and children put on their bodies every day.  Join young people, researchers, and parents who are working to ensure that cosmetic companies are no longer allowed to put profit over our children’s health.

Eveline Shen is the Executive Director at Forward Together.