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.
WGGST 215 Final
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
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 |
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.
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