SisterSong and Human Rights

One of the biggest problems that women of color and other oppressed parties of women face is that mainstream women’s rights groups tend to look at them as a party fighting for a separate cause.  Groups like SisterSong can often be criticized by other women’s rights groups for putting issue of race, class or ethnicity first, but they also may be criticized for putting women’s issue first by other groups who are activists more geared towards race, class or ethnicity. Some scholars, such as Zakiya Luna, argue that SisterSong is taking a more human rights approach in their campaign where the other organizations are more involved in issues centered on civil or political rights although the claim to be fighting for human rights. It is for reasons like this that I believe given a little more time SisterSong could be a very successful organization and make more impact on our nation than they already have.  The organization takes such a different approach to their activism, educating current and potential members. Before doing this research I could be described the same way Luna describes most U.S citizens in her article: “Substitution of “civil rights” for “human rights” in everyday practice leads to the common perception in the US that human rights violations happen to political prisoners in China or to women in Africa – not to citizens in the US” (Luna, 347). Issues such as abortion and birth control are seen and advertised as civil or political issues and we do not see them for what they truly are.  As Americans we see issue such as Female Genital Mutilation as a violation of human rights because it prevents them from having certain options and rights with their bodies, but should not letting women make the decision to have or not have children be treated as a different right? In my opinion, no.  They are both violating our rights as women to do as we please with our bodies and we should be properly educated on the options that we have as humans on this planet.  I think that SisterSong seems to be doing a great job of making these same points and fighting for a cause that they see as more than a political stance and informing all women of this as well. 

Getting The Word Out

Loretta Ross of SisterSong

Before I began this project I had never even heard the term “reproductive justice” which is surprising because in high I did write a paper on the pro-choice movement.  To me, this goes to show how oppressed these women really are and how important it is to get more of the minority women on board because it is clearly not getting the attention and recognition it deserves. What SisterSong is doing is extremely important, not just because they are fighting for women of color to be treated fairly when it comes to their reproductive rights as females, but because they have expanded into really fighting for justice for all women. The video that I had posted earlier of Loretta Ross is from one of the organizations Reproductive Justice Training Programs.  The fact that SisterSong is offering programs like this is extraordinary; I honestly believe that education is the best way to make a movement stronger.  I am guilty of being ignorant to many of the ideas and issues that we discussed in our WGGST 215 this quarter and getting the knowledge of what is really happening to some oppressed women in our country does make me want to get out and do something positive for them and the community.  It seems as if SisterSong is doing way more to educate and truly inform women of color of the risks and injustices that they are facing.  For example going back to the Smith essay during the section on pro-choice she discusses how many women are not getting informed consent at clinics in areas that are predominately colored.

Also problematic is the manner in which these contraceptives are frequently promoted in communities of color and often without informed consent (Krust and Assetoyer 1993; Masterson and Guthrie 1986; Smith 2001).7 Yet none of the mainstream pro-choice organizations have ever seriously taken a position on the issue of informed consent as part of their agenda.8 Indeed, Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood, equates opposition to Norplant and Depo-Provera as opposition to “choice” in her book The War on Choice (Feldt 2004, 34, 37). Planned Parenthood and NARAL opposed restrictions against sterilization abuse, despite the thousands of women of color who were being sterilized without their consent, because they saw such poli- cies as interfering with a woman’s “right to choose” (Nelson 2003, 144; Patchesky 1990, 8). (Smith, 130).

The lack of education and distribution of information is alarming. I know that in my high school we did have the opportunity to learn about birth control and my doctors have always been careful to make sure that I know the effects of any medication they give to me but unfortunately not everyone are getting those privileges. This goes back to how most middle class citizens are getting the proper education and information so the mainstream groups are not addressing these issues as much.  For that, I really respect the members of SisterSong and am happy to see organizations like that because although I am a white middle class citizen, I believe there should be justice for all people especially in this area of concern. 

Loretta Ross and Identifying as a Woman of Color

Loretta Ross, who is the National Coordinator of SisterSong, is a main speaker at many of the conventions and I was lucky enough to find a video of her on YouTube giving a lecture on “Reproductive Justice 101” (which I will post at the end of this entry).  While I was listening she made a comment that really caught my attention.  To sum it up she says that “you are born biologically whatever you are born, whether it be Afro-American, Latina, afro-Caribbean,  but you CHOOSE to become a woman of color when you choose to work in solidarity with other oppressed women.” She continues to say, “it is not a biological destination, it is a political acceptance.”  This is a very important concept that I do not think is thought about very often in the minds of any women.  Just because we are a certain ethnicity does not mean we are necessarily identifying ourselves with it. It is easier being a white woman because we are the majority and so when we fight for a cause we have better odds of getting other white middle class women on board because our numbers are so high to begin with.  So these women of color may just jump on the bandwagon and follow the mainstream movements that are supposed to be fighting for “all women” but are not always fighting for issues that will better the minority groups. It all goes back to “if you want something done right, you’ll just have to do it yourself.” That is where Ross’ argument of choosing to become a woman of color comes in. Women have to be choosing to become involved with these groups and really represent your culture and stand up to try and make a difference. Sweeping these issues under the rug, like those of reproductive justice for oppressed women, and waiting for someone else to fix them is basically saying you do not identify with those women and its not your problem to deal with.  As women, if we cannot even identify with our own ethnicities and genders, how will we ever get any high class white male legislatures to identify with the issues of reproductive justice and help to better the situations of the oppressed women dealing with being denied their rights of having, not having or parenting their children.

What is Reproductive Justice? : How Women of Color Activists Are Redefining the Pro-Choice Paradigm

 I read a very interesting piece by activist Kimala Price called What is Reproductive Justice? : How Women of Color Activists Are Redefining the Pro-Choice Paradigm.  I really liked her use of the term “reproductive justice” rather than “reproductive rights” or “pro-choice” because she and the reproductive justice movement believe that women of any class, race or ethnicity should have the right to three things: the right to have an abortion, the right to have a child, and the right to parent a child (Price, 43).  Marginalized women are sometimes not being given these three main rights, and there have been some smaller groups who have tried to fight it and stand up for this cause; however, those women need a bigger following and more support.  The problem with colored women joining the mainstream groups that fight for reproductive rights of women is that they often begin to lose sight of their own personal goals towards bettering the situations of people of their minority races or classes because they get swept up into the “big picture” which always seems to benefit the middle-class white women.  This is natural, when the cause is so broad we tend to cater to the majority and forget about some of the reasons why we began to fight in the first place, that is why building these more individualized activism groups centered on women of color or women in poverty is important. Having each of these groups focus on their individual struggles and needs can make a stronger movement as a whole and give better chances to all women to receive “reproductive justice”. The more that organizations like SisterSong can get women of color and even men of color on board with their cause can help make such a bigger impact when they then team up with other organizations who mainly just focus on women as a whole, it will help the women of color get the same opportunities and choices that middle class white women do when it comes to having children.

Pro-Choice Versus Pro-Life Continued

The Andrea Smith essay is very in depth so I am going to use this entry in order to discuss the critiques of the “Pro-Choice” groups.  The main problem with their campaign stems from the name. These advocates do not address all groups of women when they are protesting and presenting their cases to legislation.  Two main groups that have been marginalized are Native American women who mostly use Indian Healthcare that would not cover certain things pertaining to reproductive rights, and poor women because they do not fight for federal funding for abortion, so it seems as if these women do not actually have a choice. The women who are on welfare are more at risk to get pregnant because they cannot afford contraceptives, then they do not have the choice to have the fetus aborted if they do end up pregnant, then once the child is born they cannot afford to have another baby causing them to need to more government help. There is a never-ending cycle that these activists do not think about when they fail to include these types of demands in their campaigns. It also seems as if some of the organizations that claim to be pro-choice, such as Planned Parenthood, are more concerned with population control rather than the rights and opportunities for the women they provide support for. Women who are given contraceptives are not also well informed about the product that they are about to utilize (Smith, 131). They are not completely informed about all the choices that they do have making it more of a pro-population control campaign rather than a pro-choice campaign. When I think about it, some of the clinics my friends have gone to, whether it is Planned Parenthood or a university based clinic, they have not been given options with the birth controls that they are given and just take whatever is offered for free without having much knowledge on the product.  Before reading this essay by Smith I had never given that much thought although I did support “Pro-Choice” and the free clinics, I never really gave much thought to what it means to truly have a choice. 

Beyond Pro-Choice Versus Pro-Life: Women of Color and Reproductive Justice

Image courtesy of borderlessnewsandviews.com

The first selection that I read and analyzed comes from Andrea Smith, a Native American feminist who is involved in a number of organizations for indigenous women as well as women of color.  Her argument centers on how neither the “Pro-Life” or “Pro-Choice” campaigns are supporting life or choice for women of color in our communities.  Smith begins her essay with a critique against the Pro-Life campaign and uses the prison system and its failures to back up her argument.  Imprisoning criminals and trying to up the criminal justice system has not reduced the rate of crime, but actually increased it steadily.  The Pro-Life campaign is centered on promoting non-violence and valuing life, yet the prison system is full of violence and the criminal justice system promotes death, and it is especially prevalent among communities of color.  Another great point she mentions is about how imprisonment does not fix social problems.  This being said the criminalization of abortion would not necessarily be a solution to this matter.  Everyday people are committing crimes although they know they are punishable.  This has been proven by many studies that show how crimes rates increase when punishment becomes harsher.  Communities of color are even more at risk because of the lack of proper education and support, so if abortions were to be criminalized women of color’s reproductive rights would be in jeopardy even more than white women. The main reason for them being more at risk for getting into trouble is the amount of poverty that they experience in their areas, therefore they are in contact more with government agencies. These women who have been marginalized and have made bad choices such as drugs are less likely to seek help with any issues relating to reproduction because they afraid to be caught by authorities. On a similar note, these women are either unable to seek treatment for any type of addiction because they either cannot afford it, or the centers do not have the proper accommodations for pregnant women.  The Pro-Life campaign wants to punish women for aborting their children but they first need to think about what we can do to prevent these women from conceiving or how we can help so that they are not scared to have children because of the fear their child might come out with a birth defect because they are not able to seek treatment for some sort of addiction.

SisterSong and Their Mission

While I was looking around and brainstorming for a topic to do my final project on, I was looking a lot into recent issues regarding abortion and women’s reproductive rights and I came across an article that was talking about an organization called Sistersong.  This caught my attention, mostly because it mentioned some essays written by a few different women’s rights activists that we had discussed this quarter in class. The Sistersong organization was formed in 1997 and it’s purpose to help “amplify and strengthen the collective voices of Indigenous women and women of color to ensure reproductive justice through securing human rights” (SisterSong Mission Statement). The organization has opened up its doors to and cause to five main ethnic groups: African American, Arab American/Middle Eastern, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latina, and Native American/Indigenous. The reason I chose this topic is because I hear so much criticism towards women of color for having so many children and creating way bigger families than they are able to care for, but what is our society doing to help and/or educate these women? I was interested to seeing what these women had to say about the issues and any solutions that they may provide to help combat this issue. The members of SisterSong are using their time to provide education, policy work, advocacy and services to help women of color all over the nation be aware of their options as well as utilize the options that are available for them as free American women who have a right to choose what they do with their bodies.  Below is the mission statement of the SisterSong organization provided by their website.

Mission Statement

The mission of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective is to amplify and strengthen the collective voices of Indigenous women and women of color to ensure reproductive justice through securing human rights. SisterSong is comprised of 80 local, regional and national grassroots organizations in the United States representing five primary ethnic populations/indigenous nations in the United States: Native American/Indigenous, Black/African American, Latina/Puerto Rican, Arab American/Middle Eastern, and Asian/Pacific Islander, as well as white allies and men. The Collective was formed in 1997 to fulfill a need for a national movement by women of color to organize our voices to represent ourselves and our communities. SisterSong educates women of color on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights, and works towards the access of health services, information and resources that are culturally and linguistically appropriate through the integration of the disciplines of community organizing, Self-Help and human rights education.