Ryan, stop trying to define our “Hood” (It's Black WomanHOOD)

By Jasmine Burnett

This blog is re-posted with permission from JasmineBurnett.com.

I am thoroughly unimpressed by you, Ryan Bomberger and your insidious campaign of shaming Black women and girls. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop with the disgusting racist and sexist billboards claiming, among other equally disturbing messages, “The Most Dangerous Place for an African American is in The Womb.” In fact, you went even further this time to attempt to compare the murder of Trayvon Martin to the death of Tonya Reaves, an African American woman who died from health complications after receiving an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Chicago, IL.  This billboard is equally as disrespectful as the first with the message, “She Wasn’t Wearing a Hoodie but was killed in the hood…Planned Parenthood.”  Mr. Bomberger what you’ve actually done is sign off on the distribution of tilted messages to advance the conservative Right-wing’s agenda in limiting access to quality health care and Black women’s ability to make our own decisions.

How dare you use Black women to advance your oppressive politics and pawn off our experiences as a brutal extension of your white supremacist patriarchy. You’re even slick enough to attempt to commodify our lived experiences in our “Hoods” across this country, while at the same time exploiting the sensitivities of Black Americans. All of this, while you have proven that your concern is not in any way connected to the realities of Black women and girls' lives. By presenting the story of Tonya Reaves as if she were unaware of her rights, or the procedure involved in her accessing abortion, you posit Black women as at once desperate and stupid and fall in line with the abortion restriction laws that you and anti-choice folks have called “informed consent.” Your position also presents her as someone who was unaware of her ability to make a decision about her life. To me, this implies that you feel you have the authority to think for a Black woman who is not here to speak for herself. Your tactics are a defamation of Black women’s character, and the fact that you receive millions of dollars to push this agenda rather than to address some of the real social ills that impact Black women’s lives proves you to be opportunistic at best and a coward at worst.

Your analysis on our lives and decisions presents us as individuals who are incapable of critical thought or reflection. How presumptuous and disrespectful of you! It is you, Ryan Bomberger, who is in the business of reproducing 19th century racist notions of Black womanhood that work to devalue our worth. I argue that we don’t need protection from Planned Parenthood, however we do need protection from you and your zealots that camp outside of Reproductive Health clinics, who also happen to be the same individuals who push policies to limit our access to housing, comprehensive health care, employment, child care, and education.  I believe you’re afraid for the focus to be directed on your true intentions for Black women and our families, which explains your constant pathological emphasis on Black womanhood.

Ultimately, you want to control us and we are NOT going to stand for that. Black women Reproductive Justice advocates are in the business of protecting and defending Black women’s reproductive dignity. It’s clear that you don’t share our values in the ways that we respect Black women and girls. Black women fighting to protect and defend our Reproductive Justice believe that people, community, spiritual and economic growth matters. You, on the other hand, focus on control and power over our spiritual and economic lives, which you attempt to dictate for your own selfish gains.

While Black women work to defend our dignity in this country and stand strong in ourselves, you create campaigns and build a culture that makes attaining that harder to achieve. Our messages are life sustaining for Black women, our families and our communities, while your messages and tactics are life depleting. But, you already know this right? I’m not telling you anything that is outside of your intentions: to negatively impact Black women’s lives and self-esteem concerning the decisions that we make for our lives and our families.

Black Reproductive Justice activists and our allies are creating a world where Black women can feel, give and receive authentic love. Your message is built out of a series of contradictions that are antithetical to the desires that we have for ourselves.  Your social policies aggressively disenfranchise Black women within the public infrastructure and deem us unworthy of meeting our basic needs. Your strategies also work to deny us the holistic construction of our lives and the ways in which we self-identify as Black women.  Considering that you’re not a Black woman what gives you the right to do that? I’ll answer for you: nothing. It doesn’t feel good to have someone speak for you or dictate your decisions, does it?

What you and those who support your rhetoric need to get clear about is that Black women in the Reproductive Justice movement are in the business of saving ourselves. For us this means standing for ourselves and the Black women and girls that you attempt to keep under the manipulative control of your patriarchal systems.  We fight back against anything or anyone that prohibits us, and our communities from being whole. Our goal is self-determination, period.

Jasmine Burnett is a contributor to Echoing Ida, a project of Strong Families. She is a dynamic leader with a mission to collect a set of contributions that will transform the way society thinks about Justice, Love & Diversity. Since 2009, Jasmine has been a Reproductive Justice leader and  grassroots organizer in New York City.  She is the Lead Organizer of New York Coalition for Reproductive Justice (NYC4RJ). Find her online at jasmineburnett.com and follow her on Twitter @blkfeminst.  

Real Access to Abortion Coverage

By Melissa Torres-Montoya

[Originally published on 1/22/2013 as part of our Still Wading Series]

I was raised in a family environment destined to shape me into a pro-choice woman. Growing up, it was very important to me that I explore different beliefs and come to my own conclusions. In seventh grade, I was assigned the anti-abortion side of a debate. The assignment gave me an opportunity to hone my debate skills and win an argument, but more importantly, my research convinced me of a woman’s right to choose abortion.

Yet, at this early age abortion remained an abstract concept for me. The issue became real for me as an older teen when the topic of women’s rights came up over dinner with one of my close friends—let’s call her Maggie—and our moms. Maggie’s mom shared with us that as a young woman she had ended a pregnancy. She also said that as a young person she had felt that when she was ready and able to take care of a child she would have a baby. I knew Maggie’s mom loved her deeply and that Maggie was well taken care of. I have since met many women who have told me their stories about deciding to have an abortion and it is clear to me that each of them had to make the best decision based on her personal circumstances.
   
I firmly believe a woman should have the ability to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term, raise the child, choose adoption or end the pregnancy because she is the best person to make this decision since no one else knows her personal situation. If a woman does decide to terminate a pregnancy, it’s also critical that she have the option of abortion services that are both financially and geographically accessible. This includes eliminating financial barriers that may be standing in her way. However, current federal law restricts some women’s ability to have real access to abortion services.

For example, the federal budget includes several unfair limitations on the ability of women who get their health care coverage through the U.S. government to obtain abortion coverage. The federal government withholds abortion coverage for federal employees, women serving in the Armed Service, spouses of those in the military, women in the Peace Corps, women in the District of Columbia, and low-income women qualified and enrolled in Medicaid insurance. What does this mean for millions of women? It means that although abortion is a legal option for a woman to pursue in the United States, actually choosing this option may prove difficult for many women struggling to make ends meet .

Like many medical expenses, abortion care can come with a sizable price tag for women who are forced to pay for this costly procedure on their own. In 2008, the Guttmacher Institute determined that approximately 60% of women paid for an abortion out of pocket, with an average payment in 2009 of $451 for an abortion at 10 weeks of gestation. Given that the average monthly salary of a woman is $1,758 before taxes, many women obtaining an abortion spent well over a quarter of their monthly salary for this procedure. For women making less than the average income and for single women caring for children, the financial barrier is even more significant. Five out of six single-parent households are led by women and single-parent households led by women are more than twice as likely to be in poverty as compared to single parent households led by men. Paying for an abortion can cause immense financial difficulty for a woman juggling basic expenses, and may make the difference between whether she can buy medicine, gas, or food that month.

When a woman cannot afford an abortion, the impact on her and her family can be far reaching. A woman’s decision shouldn’t be made for her by politicians simply because she can’t afford abortion care. Let’s ensure that every woman has coverage for a full range of pregnancy related care, including abortion, whether she is enrolled in government funded or private health insurance. Please reach out to the President and let him know he can help eliminate financial barriers to women’s access to abortion coverage by submitting to Congress a budget that eliminates restrictions to abortion services. Protect women’s health and help women have access to comprehensive reproductive health care services!

Melissa Torres-Montoya currently serves as a Program Coordinator/ LSRJ Reproductive Justice Legal Fellow at the National Women's Health Network. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Davis and earned a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2011. Melissa followed law school with a stint studying public health, and in May 2012 she graduated from John Hopkins with a Masters in Public Health.

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

Equality is Not Justice

Equality is Not Justice

by Andrea Quijada

[The following is a transcript of the speech that Ms. Quijada presented at the Albuquerque Family Pride PicNic on June 29, 2013]

Nuevo México!

Happy Pride! It’s truly a lovely day. Take a moment to be here with me. Let’s take a deep breath together. Turn your heads and look, and feel, who is next to you—look at all the people that are with us here today.

You are beautiful, fierce, resilient, powerful. 

Who here likes to eat?  Who here likes to play? (And I’m talking about all kinds of playing, people; this is Pride, after all.) 

When I was little, my sisters and brother would play a lot in the summer. It was always hot and we were always thirsty. I remember running into the kitchen to get water and then we would always fight over getting the blue cup. I’m not even sure why.  At some point, we just decided that the blue cup was the best, and we each wanted to have it. It worked just as well as any other cup, but we would scramble and argue over that pinche blue cup. 

Sometimes we want something without knowing why. Have you ever seen a commercial for some new product that looks amazing? And so you buy it, and take it home all excited to use it, and it didn’t work as well as the commercial said it would? As if there was small print that the commercial didn’t read to us?

I’ve been thinking a lot about what is bought and sold in my community. I’ve been watching ideas get marketed, and I’ve watched my friends and family buy them. And I’m not sure that everyone has read the small print. 

My question for us is: Why marriage?  

To be clear, I’m all for love. I’m all about that oh-my-god-girl-did-you-see-her-i-hope-she-saw-me feeling in the stomach. And those dates that turn into stay-the-night conversations—the kind of love that is comfortable and safe, or that’s nurturing and challenges us to grow. Love that tastes like a warm buttery tortilla, or even a hot tiny red chile. (Yeah, you know what I’m talking about). 

If marriage means love for you, or if you need marriage to signify your love, I say: Fabulous.  I also ask: Hey, did you read the small print?

Because, like you, I like to eat. Food is delicious. I’m all for people not being hungry. And for living wages. Access to healthcare. Immigrant rights. Disability justice. 

Lots of us are talking about the Supreme Court decisions that happened this week. In particular, that decision about gay marriage keeps coming up. I don’t have mixed feelings about the decision at all—I’m actually really clear. I think anyone should be able to get married, anytime, anywhere. 

Here is my small print: I think that benefits should not be attached to marriage. And here is why:

Our families look and feel so many different ways, and marriage is like this one size fits all t-shirt that we know doesn’t fit everyone. 

No one should have to be married to access any sort of social, economic, or institutional benefits. Those benefits should belong to every person, not every government sanctioned couple. Let's not confuse ourselves. Equality is not justice.

Our movement has always been a collective struggle. The decision on marriage is only a selective win. Marriage is about some of us, and we need a win that is about ALL OF US.

Let’s go back to 1994 when the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was introduced. I remember when gay and lesbian leaders said it was a “strategic decision” to exclude gender identity and gender expression so that it would pass. It didn’t. 13 years later it still hadn’t passed, and in 2007 we finally got transgender communities included in ENDA. It’s 2013 and we’re still fighting to get it passed. But at least when we win, and we will win, it will be for ALL of us.  

As LGBTQ communities, we have a history of standing shoulder to shoulder in all kinds of struggles and LEADING those struggles. We have led multiple movements across generations. Why? Because we know that:

Economic justice is queer liberation. 

Racial justice and environmental justice are queer liberation. 

Reproductive justice, disability justice and media justice are—say it with me: queer liberation.

Justice is what makes Strong Families. Justice is what keeps our families strong. So if you fought for marriage I will be looking for you at immigration rallies. I will expect to see you fighting for a living wage. Whatever happiness we feel by the decision to marry should be matched by our discontent, or anger, over the fact that tribal sovereignty was put on trial last week and it LOST. Whatever joy or relief that is experienced by the marriage decision must be met with a commitment to fight for the voting rights of people of color because guess what, we are queer, too. 

Our movement has always been bigger than marriage because our lives our so much bigger and more complex than any solution of marriage can offer us. I have read the small print, and marriage doesn’t apply to all of us. I don’t want the blue cup anymore. I want justice. Join me, Nuevo México, in your beauty, your fierceness, your resilience and power, in fighting for all of us! 

Andrea Quijada is a long-time organizer and advocate for social justice. She resides in Burque, Nuevo Mexico where she directs Media Literacy Project, mothers her dog Maya, and documents hilarious life moments for her future sitcom. 

Abortion Access and Young Women of Color

By Favianna Rodriguez www.favianna.com

By Daisy Khamphakdy

[This post was originally posted on 1/21/13 as part of our Still Wading series]

She was 14 years old, going into the 9th grade and pregnant. From the moment she learned she was pregnant, she contemplated what to do. Not comprehending how to even deliver a baby, let alone how to take care of a child for the rest of her life, prompted grave fears about her future. Being the eldest of an immigrant family of seven, she had to learn early to take on the role of her family’s translator and primary caretaker. She could not fathom how she would tell them about her pregnancy. She pondered the level of disappointment her family might feel and the distress she would put on them with the possibility of a baby. Not knowing the options available to her, she withheld her pregnancy from her family and friends. She had never felt so alone, confused, and afraid. The days passed and her belly grew. Knowing what she had to do, she finally found the courage and sought help from her grandmother and aunt. At 21 weeks, my cousin found the proper care and support to have an abortion.

January 22nd marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the monumental U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal. There is much to celebrate in the advancement of women’s reproductive rights. However, we cannot ignore the prominent barriers that continue to limit women’s access to viable resources regarding their reproductive health. A number of issues, such as restrictive laws, federal funding, and public opinion, continue to make it difficult for women to seek help. If my cousin had been aware of the resources available to her and if she had felt comfortable enough to discuss her teenage pregnancy, she could have sought help sooner. But beyond my cousin’s experience, the choice to have an abortion is a fundamental right that should be readily accessible to every woman. Yet the layers of societal stigma, governmental interference, and other hardships seeking out “pro-choice” resources and clinics make it increasingly difficult for women to access this right.

It is no surprise that the women who are hit hardest are young, low-income, women of color. The National Abortion Federation found that, “87% of all U.S. counties have no identifiable abortion provider. In non-metropolitan areas, the figure rises to 97%”. Consequently, women have to travel long distances to find the nearest abortion provider. Furthermore, “a shortage of trained abortion providers; state laws that make getting an abortion more complicated than is medically necessary; continued threats of violence and harassment at abortion clinics; state and federal Medicaid restrictions; and fewer hospitals providing abortion services” all become inescapable deterrents for a woman wanting to terminate her pregnancy.

It is a basic right for families and individuals to make responsible decisions without hindrance about the number, timing, and spacing of their children and to have the correct, accessible information to do so. A woman’s decision about her health and her family’s health is personal and should be respected. Yet public and governmental concern continues to impact women’s access to such necessary resources. Indeed, it is critical that we unpack these controversial “concerns” surrounding sexual and reproductive health and rights, because those controversies make grave statements about the interests of women’s health in our country.

With the persisting obstacles and restrictions regarding abortion, some questions to ponder are: Which populations have access to sexual and reproductive health? Which populations are being affected by these restrictions? Whose bodies are we governing? And of course, why? The disproportionate access and ongoing conflict to regulate sexual and reproductive health send the message that women’s bodies need to be controlled. Ultimately, women’s lives matter and every woman has the absolute right to the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health care without discrimination, coercion, or violence.

Daisy is a volunteer at Forward Together, is passionate about social justice, and has interest in community development initiatives.

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

"Babe, I'm Pregnant..."

By Amber J. Phillips

This blog is reposted with permission from Strong Families partner organization Advocates for Youth on whose blog it originally appeared.

On Mondays, after spending my day working for and with young college sexual health and reproductive rights activists as the Manager of Campus Organizing at Advocates for Youth, I come home to cook dinner and text my sisters as we prepare for yet another drama filled episode of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta. Yes, I enjoy my fair share of terrible yet entertaining reality TV shows like most millennials and LHHATL happens to be one of the train wrecks that I can’t turn away from.

Let me start by saying I’m well aware that there is much to be said about LHHATL’s fictitious and at times demeaning portrayal of Black life. The women are constantly fighting each other and the men seem to have little to no respect for the women they claim to love. (Oh Stevie J. how I loathe you and your silly grin!)

However, much of the turmoil that exists on the show is clearly created to move the plot and keep the show’s millions of viewers watching and tweeting. My baby sister and I agree that the show can hardly be considered “reality” or an accurate depiction of all Hip Hop artists, Black people, and our love lives. However, my interest was further sparked in the show when one of the main cast members, Rasheeda, told her husband she was pregnant with their second child. When the words hesitantly came out of her mouth, her husband of 13 years reacted with the same hesitation in acceptance of the news.

To give you a brief rundown, Rasheeda is a business owner and an Atlanta based Hip Hop artist who is signed to her husband’s label and management company. Though Rasheeda is excited about her pregnancy she’s not happy with her husband Kirk’s reaction to the news. Kirk voices his concerns about the bad timing of the pregnancy considering Rasheeda’s demanding schedule of upcoming performances, previous turmoil within their relationship, and the responsibility of caring for their pre-teen son. During the course of their discussion Kirk suggested that Rasheeda consider an abortion.

PAUSE!

Did someone on television say the word abortion? In one of the segments of the show Kirk even refers to the common procedure as “the A-B word” while talking with one of his friends about the situation.

Though I believe the decision to carry her pregnancy to term should ultimately be determined by Rasheeda (which she has clearly decided to do considering all of her recent baby bump pictures she’s posted to Instagram), everyday intimate partners around the world make family planning decisions together. While many people watching, like my sisters, were taken aback by the idea of a married couple possibly deciding to terminate an unplanned pregnancy, these types of conversations are not that uncommon.

At Advocates for Youth, I work with our program called the 1 in 3 Campaign. Did you know that 1 in 3 women in the United States will have an abortion in her lifetime? The 1 in 3 campaign is about ending the cultural stigma and shame women are made to feel around abortion through storytelling. By sharing stories, we empower others to end their silence about their experience as well as take away some of the very negative views we have about abortion and the women who choose to access them. After that episode of LLHATL aired, I was able to have a very interesting conversation with my 19 year old baby sister.

I found out that my youngest sister barely knew what an abortion even consisted of, yet she had strong feelings against them. My sisters and I were raised in a loving and Baptist Christian family in Columbus, Ohio. Though I personally know more than one person I have shared a Sunday school class with who has accessed abortion care, it was not something we talked about outside of it being totally wrong. Until my sophomore year of college I had never even heard the words “reproductive justice.” Therefore I was not surprised when my baby sister said, “The only thing I know about abortions was through Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls!” The abortion in this movie was a “back-alley” illegal abortion because the young girl did not have enough money to pay for a safe and legal abortion procedure.

Thankfully at the end of our conversation, I directed her to 1in3campaign.org to read the countless stories of women who have accessed abortion care, and gave her some interesting statics about abortion, after which my baby sister said words that made me smile: “I have never actually thought about this. I feel like I should look up more information now.” 

Success!

Since our research on storytelling around abortion access played out to be completely true right in front of my eyes with my sister, I figure I can try to do it again! Every Monday, a brand spanking new episode of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta! Since I have the coolest job in the world, I will be live tweeting with you at 8pm EST so make sure you are following @AmplifyTweets and tune in to see how the abortion conversation between Rasheeda and Kirk will continue to play out on the show! This should be fun, yes?!

Amber J. Phillips is a contributor to the Strong Families project Echoing Ida. She is the Manager of Campus Organizing at Advocates for Youth where she is living her dream of working with and for progressive young people to make transformative changes in our society.