DOCSLIB.ORG

"He Was a Twin": the Emotional & Political Life of Black Motherhood in Times of Reproductive Injustice Wednesday

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
"He Was a Twin": The Emotional & Political Life of Black Motherhood in Times of Reproductive Injustice Wednesday, Oct. 14th @ 5pm Please register here. A zoom link will be provided after you register. https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpdOGqrT4sH9Jut5qIkV1eOESNPU6u7X9c Presenter: Jallicia Jolly is a writer, post-doctoral fellow and incoming Assistant Professor in American Studies and Black Studies at Amherst College. Dr. Jolly researchers and teaches at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, and Black women's health and activism, HIV/AIDS and intersectionality, transnational feminist organizing, and reproductive coercion and (in)justice in the African Diaspora. She is working on her first book manuscript, Ill Erotics: Black Caribbean Women and Self-Making in the Time of HIV/AIDS, an ethnographic and oral history study of the erotic lives and grassroots mobilization of young Black Jamaican women living and loving with HIV/AIDS. A Fulbright Scholar, Mellon Mays Fellow, NWSA Grad Student Scholarship Winner, and Sarah Pettit Doctoral Fellow at Yale University, Dr. Jolly's work and commentary has been featured on the Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine, Michigan Radio, Rewire News, & University of Michigan's National Center of Institutional Diversity and LSA Today Magazine. Respondents: Loretta Ross, co-founder of the reproductive justice framework and Visiting Associate Professor of the Study of Women & Gender, Smith College Jennifer Hamilton, Visiting Professor of Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies, Amherst College Marisa Pizii, Deputy Director of Programs, Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program (CLPP) This presentation explores how young HIV-positive cisgender Black women in Jamaica redefine motherhood through sacred bonds with their children (living and dead) and their peers in the face of quotidian violence, grief, loss, and illness. Using ethnographic and life history interviews, I argue that the affective, psychic, and material costs of maternal labor that working-class Black mothers are called to do highlights the broader cultural, institutional, and political constraints that shape Black women's embodied experiences of sexuality, maternity, and reproduction. Essential to HIV-positive women's radical grassroots politics of care are Mentor- Mentee mom networks, related kinds of “other mothering,” and an embrace of “illicit mothering” through its ongoing negotiation of disclosure, breastfeeding and reproductive choices, and mothering in the face of inequality and violence. Yet, while motherhood makes Black women legible as political subjects amplifying legitimate demands, this vector of visibility can also heighten the exclusion of black maternal labor as it silences their everyday pain and prolonged grief. This presentation is part of a lengthy black feminist tradition that has contested the state scrutiny and bipolitical surveillance of Black mothers and is part of a burgeoning tradition examining the compounded impacts of racialized gendered violence and reproductive coercion on Black women's health and well-being. In accordance with the Certificate’s Statement of Solidary with Black Lives Matter, the Reproductive Politics Faculty Seminars offered during this academic year aim to lift up the work and voices of Black academics and activists who are addressing issues of reproductive justice, systemic racism, and white supremacy. If you are interested in giving a talk for the Five College Reproductive Politics Faculty Seminar in the Spring 2021 or AY 2021-22, please let us know. This is great opportunities to gather feedback on your research and meet colleagues from across the Five Colleges with an interest in reproductive politics, broadly defined. The talks can be hosted at any of the Five Colleges. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Loretta Ross
    Loretta Ross is a Visiting Associate Professor in Women’s Studies at various colleges teaching courses on “White Supremacy in the Age of Trump” and “Reproductive Justice Praxis”. Currently, she is visiting at Smith College in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender for the 2019-2020 academic year. She started her career in activism and social change in the 1970s, working at the National Football League Players’ Association, the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Black Women’s Health Project, the Center for Democratic Renewal (National Anti-Klan Network), the National Center for Human Rights Education, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, until retiring as an organizer in 2012 to teach about activism. Her passion transforms anger into social justice to change the world. Her most recent books are Reproductive Justice: An Introduction co-written with Rickie Solinger, and Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique, both published in 2017. Her forthcoming book is Calling In the Calling Out Culture: Detoxing Our Movement due out in 2019. She has appeared on CNN, BET, "Lead Story," "Good Morning America," "The Donahue Show," the National Geographic Channel, and "The Charlie Rose Show.” She has been quoted in the New York Times, Time Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, among others. Her activism began as a rape and incest survivor as a teen mother. She graduated college at age 55. She is from San Antonio, TX and lives in Atlanta, GA. She is a mother and grandmother, and an avid pinochle player.
    [Show full text]
  • Loretta Ross, Associate Professor, Smith College, Northampton, MA
    Loretta Ross, Associate Professor, Smith College, Northampton, MA 3253 Dale Lane SW Atlanta, GA 30311 (404) 867-6308 (cell) [email protected] Education BA, Women’s Studies, Agnes Scott College, 2007 Doctoral Candidate, Women’s Studies, Emory University, 2008-9 Howard University, Chemistry and Physics Major, 1970-1973 (incomplete BS degree) Awards and Honors (partial list) Honorary Doctorate, Smith College, 2013 Honorary Doctor of Civil Law, Arcadia University, 2003 National Women’s History Project, “Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” Award, 2018 Woodhull Freedom Foundation, Sexual Freedom Award, 2017 Women of Color Resource Center, Sister Fire Award, 2017 Black Women’s Blueprint, Lasting Legacy Award, 2016 SisterLove Pandora Singleton Ally Award, 2012 Women Helping Women, Revolutionary Award, 2011 International Black Women’s Congress, Oni Award, 2010 Delta Sigma Theta, Pinnacle Leadership Award, 2008 Black Women’s Health Imperative, Community Health Activist Award, 2008 Sisters of Color United for Education, Denver, CO, 2008 Women’s Medical Fund of Philadelphia, Rosie Jimenez Award, 2007 United States Social Forum, Building Movements Award, 2007 NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia, Blazing Arrow Award, 2006 Feminist Women’s Health Center, Stand Up for Choice Award, 2005 National Center for Human Rights Education, First Mother of Human Rights Education Award, 2004 SisterLove Women’s HIV/AIDS Resource Project Award, South Africa, 2002 Georgia Committee on Family Violence, Gender Justice Award,
    [Show full text]
  • Embodying Disobedience, Crafting Affinities
    Southeastern Women’s Studies Association Conference Embodying Disobedience, Crafting Affi nities March 26-28, 2020 Department of Women’s & Gender Studies University of South Florida Welcome to SEWSA 2020! Welcome to SEWSA 2020: “Embodying Disobedience, Crafting Affi nities,” organized and hosted by the Department of Women’s & Gender Studies of the University of South Florida Tampa campus, and held on the beautiful, waterfront USF St. Petersburg campus. With over 230 presenters, more than 300 attendees, and a long list of exhibitors and supporters, this year’s conference is one of the biggest ever. We believe this increase in size and interest is indicative of the value that the fi elds of women’s studies, gender studies, race studies, LGBTQ+ and queer studies, and all the other fi elds of inquiry and activism represented at SEWSA 2020 hold in the national, regional, and transnational landscapes in these historic moments -- and our conference theme refl ects this. With the theme “Embodying Disobedience, Crafting Affi nities” we wish to approach embodiment and diverse lived experiences as the lifeblood of resistant politics and the livelihood of building alliances across our many differences. As 2020 marks the 59th quadrennial presidential election, the centennial of the 19th Amendment, and the fi ftieth anniversary of the fi rst women’s studies program, we want to remember the ways in which women’s studies has linked theory to practice, not only to transform the present but also to know the past differently and to imagine and create a world beyond it. We are especially delighted to welcome two amazing speakers: Loretta Ross will speak on Calling in for Reproductive Justice, discussing the future of the reproductive justice movement, and how to use calling-in strategies to strengthen our activism and scholarship.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Abortionabortion “Black“Black Genocide”Genocide”
    SISTERSONG WOMEN OF COLOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE COLLECTIVE C o l l e c t i v eVo i c e s VO L U M E 6 ISSUE 12 S u m m e r 2 0 1 1 IsIs AbortionAbortion “Black“Black Genocide”Genocide” AlliesAllies DefendingDefending BlackBlack WomenWomen UnshacklingUnshackling BlackBlack MotherhoodMotherhood ReproductiveReproductive VViolenceiolence aandnd BlackBlack WomenWomen WhyWhy II PrProvideovide AborAbortions:tions: AlchemAlchemyy ofof RaceRace,, Gender,Gender, andand HumanHuman RightsRights COLLECTIVEVOICES “The real power, as you and I well know, is collective. I can’t afford to be afraid of you, nor of me. If it takes head-on collisions, let’s do it. This polite timidity is killing us.” -Cherrie Moraga Publisher....................................................SisterSong Editor in Chief.........................................Loretta Ross Managing Editor.......................................Serena Garcia Creative Director....................................cscommunications Webmaster..............................................Dionne Turner CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Loretta Ross Laura Jimenez Heidi Williamson Dionne Turner Serena Garcia Charity Woods Monica Simpson Candace Cabbil Kathryn Joyce Willie J. Parker, MD, MPH, MSc Bani Hines Hudson Gina Brown Susan A. Cohen Laura L. Lovett Cherisse Scott From the Managing Editor, Serena Garcia: Please note in this issue of Collective Voices we have allowed our writers to maintain their own editorial integrity in how they use the terms, “Black”,“minority,” and the capitalization of Reproductive Justice. Send Inquiries to: [email protected] SEND STORY IDEAS TO: [email protected] SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective 1237 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd., SW Atlanta, GA 3011 404-756-2680 www.sistersong.net © All Rights Reserved 2 www.sistersong.net CV Message from the National Coordinator This special edition of Collective Voices is dedicated to women of color fighting race- and gender-specific anti-abortion legislation and billboards across the country.
    [Show full text]
  • Loretta Ross
    . Fighting White Supremacy and White Privilege to Build a Human Rights Movement Inclusion Loretta Ross Organization/Institution Affiliation Abstract Loretta Ross presented Fighting White Supremacy and White Privilege to Build a Human Rights Movement as her keynote address at the 2015 White Privilege Conference (WPC). She addresses the foundations of the ideology behind White supremacy, the difference between White supremacy and White privilege, and the development of a new human rights movement. She discusses the role of the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as power relations based on religion, class, gender, atrix Center of the and Social Equity Advancement for atrix Center and race. he M he and T Keywords: Reverse discrimination; White supremacy; Power; Black Lives Matter; Ideology; Human rights movement he White Privilege Conference Privilege White he Loretta J. Ross is one of the creators of the Black feminist theory of “Reproductive Justice,” and a nationally renowned speaker and writer on women’s issues, hate groups, racism and intolerance, human rights, white supremacy, and violence against women. She was the National Coordinator of the Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective from 2005-2012; Founder of the National Center for Human Understanding & Dismantling Privilege Rights Education from 1996-2005; and Program and then Research Director of the Center for Democratic Renewal from 1990-1995. She was one of the first African American women to direct a rape crisis The Official JournalThe Official of T center in the 1970s, and has been interviewed on CNN, BET, ABC, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and many others.
    [Show full text]
  • Berkeley Series in British Studies
    UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIACALIFORNIA PRESS PRESS SPRING 2020 Dear Readers, University of California Press has always stood up to the 1 TRADE / ACADEMIC TRADE challenge of the times, publishing urgently needed, passionately 30 ART argued books that illuminate the issues of the day—books that 39 NEW IN PAPERBACK deserve your time and attention. That’s more true this season 48 SOCIAL SCIENCES than ever. 56 HISTORY Consider, for instance, A Brief History of Fascist Lies, Federico 60 FILM & MEDIA STUDIES Finchelstein’s searing indictment of using lies to shape reality. 62 MUSIC Fascists don’t lie, argues Finchelstein; they find truth in their 64 LANGUAGE ARTS deeper, warped mythos and act to bring that vision to life—with 65 LAW devastating consequences. Who are you going to believe, the 66 RELIGION dictator asks, me or your lying eyes? With the rising tides of nationalism, populism, and, yes, fascism, this is an unfortunately 68 SCIENCE necessary book. 69 BACKLIST HIGHLIGHTS 73 SALES INFO Of course, climate change and its effects make headlines nearly 75 INDEX OF AUTHORS AND every day. Given the size of the problem, many feel helpless TITLES and hopeless. In A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety, Sarah Ray shows us a way forward, encouraging readers to take small steps toward overcoming these feelings while also making an impact. There is hope in action, argues Ray—a message that clearly SUPPORT THE resonates with audiences around the world. UC PRESS Two other books that take us deep into our shared past: Muhammad and the Empires of Faith, by Sean Anthony, is a FOUNDATION remarkable new biography.
    [Show full text]
  • No Turning Back: the Past, Present, and Future of Reproductive Justice Schedule of Events Friday, March 17, 2017
    No Turning Back: The Past, Present, and Future of Reproductive Justice Schedule of Events Friday, March 17, 2017 The Northeastern University Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; the Northeastern Humanities Center; and the Collaborative Research Cluster on Reproductive Justice present: NO TURNING BACK: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE A daylong symposium at Northeastern University March 17, 2017 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Northeastern University Cabral Center, John D. O’Bryant African American Institute 40 Leon Street, Boston, MA Reception to follow at the Northeastern School of Law, Dockser Hall, 65 Forsyth Street Co-sponsored by the College of Social Sciences and Humanities; College of Arts, Media, and Design; School of Law and Center for Health Law and Policy; Bouvé College of Health Sciences School of Nursing and Institute for Urban Health Research and Practice; the Programs in Human Services and Politics, Philosophy, and Ethics; and the Departments of Cultures, Societies, & Global Studies, English, History, Philosophy & Religion, Political Science, and Sociology & Anthropology ABOUT THE CONFERENCE Equality under law and basic personal freedom—the right to control choices about one’s own health and body—has been an ongoing struggle for women over time and across the globe. With the new administration, abortion retains its place in the American political system as one of the most divisive issues despite women’s health being at stake. The GOP Platform explicitly states the desire of the Republican party to curb access to reproductive rights, and vice-president Pence has long been one of the most vociferous anti-choice politicians, vowing to overturn Roe as soon as possible.
    [Show full text]
  • “My Life's Work Is to End White Supremacy”: Perspectives of a Black Feminist Human Rights Educator
    International Journal of Human Rights Education Volume 5 Issue 1 Human Rights Education and Black Article 3 Liberation 2021 “My Life's Work Is to End White Supremacy”: Perspectives of a Black Feminist Human Rights Educator Loretta J. Ross [email protected] Monisha Bajaj University of San Francisco, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/ijhre Part of the Education Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Recommended Citation Ross, Loretta J. and Bajaj, Monisha. (2021) . "“My Life's Work Is to End White Supremacy”: Perspectives of a Black Feminist Human Rights Educator," International Journal of Human Rights Education, 5(1) . Retrieved from https://repository.usfca.edu/ijhre/vol5/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Human Rights Education by an authorized editor of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “My Life's Work Is to End White Supremacy”: Perspectives of a Black Feminist Human Rights Educator Loretta J. Ross*, with Monisha Bajaj** * Loretta J. Ross is a Visiting Associate Professor at Smith College in Northampton, MA in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender. She teaches courses on White supremacy, human rights, and calling in the calling out culture. Since beginning her academic career in 2017, she has taught at Hampshire College, Arizona State University, and Smith College as a visiting professor of clinical practice teaching courses on White Supremacy in the Age of Trump, Race and Culture in America, and Reproductive Justice.
    [Show full text]
  • Old Maps Participant List
    Old Maps, New Terrain: Rethinking population in an era of climate change May 27-29, 2016 Hampshire College, Amherst MA Alejandro Camargo Syracuse University [email protected] Ph.D. Candidate in geography at Syracuse University and external researcher at the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History. He is broadly interested in the transformation of rural livelihoods and landscapes, water and land governance, and agrarian relations in a context of abrupt environmental change and uneven development. He has conducted archival and ethnographic research in the floodplains, wetlands, and rivers of northern Colombia in order to understand the conflicts and contradictions that emerge at the intersections of water, land, and society. His dissertation “Disastrous waters, renascent lands: politics and agrarian transformations in post-disaster Colombia” examines the tensions involved in the implementation of climate adaptation projects in rural areas of northern Colombia in the aftermath of catastrophic floods. Anne Hendrixson Director, PopDev Population & Development Program, Hampshire College [email protected] Anne Hendrixson is the Director of PopDev (the Population and Development Program at Hampshire College) and a teacher in the School of Critical Social Inquiry. She has a BA in women’s studies and dance from Hampshire College and a MA in international development and social change from Clark University. Anne was PopDev Coordinator from 1996 – 2000 and returned to the program as Assistant Director in 2012. Before coming back to PopDev, she served as the Assistant Director for aids2031, a project commissioned by UNAIDS to chart a long-term, global response to HIV. She also started up several new initiatives for VentureWell, an educational non-profit.
    [Show full text]
  • Voices of Feminism Oral History Project: Martinez, Betita
    Voices of Feminism Oral History Project Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Northampton, MA ELIZABETH (BETITA) MARTINEZ interviewed by LORETTA ROSS March 3, 2006, Atlanta, GA August 6, 2006, Oakland, CA This interview was made possible with generous support from the Ford Foundation. © Sophia Smith Collection 2006 Voices of Feminism Oral History Project Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Narrator Elizabeth (Betita) Martinez was born December 12, 1925. As the child of a dark-skinned Mexican-born father and a white Euro-American mother, Betita met discrimination as she was growing up in segregated Washington, D.C. During World War II, Martinez attended Swarthmore College, where she was the only non- white student on campus. After graduation in 1946, she worked at the newly-established United Nations, where she researched decolonization efforts and strategies. In the late 1950s she became an editor at Simon & Schuster, and later Books and Arts Editor of The Nation magazine. She also became active in the U.S. civil rights movement, directing the New York office of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and participating in SNCC’s Freedom Summer in Mississippi in 1964. From 1968 to 1976, Martinez lived in New Mexico where she became founding editor of El Grito del Norte (The Cry of the North), a monthly community newspaper that linked the Chicano land movement to similar struggles around the world. She served as founding director of the Chicano Communications Center in Albuquerque to teach Chicanos about history and contemporary issues. After moving to California in 1976, Martinez joined the Democratic Workers Party, a Marxist group led by women, and became involved in Central American solidarity work, local struggles for social justice, and grassroots organizing to save public services.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to Recorded Content
    Tuesday, June 8 2205 – Tackling Your Internalized Anti-blackness Workshop Track: Intersectionality, Identities, and Discussions Description: This anti-blackness workshop will help youth, adults, and professionals to address their fears, misunderstandings, and assumptions about black people. We will equip people with practical tools to address their own anti-black behaviors and thoughts in everyday life, assist people in healing with their trauma from incidents with black people, and most importantly, provide a space for people to reflect! Participants will be able to discuss in small groups and the larger group. This workshop is for those who sincerely want to tackle their internalized anti- blackness, no matter the age. Presenters: Consuela Rosalee Hendricks, Co-president, Co-founder, People Matter—Chicago, IL Angela Xinli Lin, Co-president, Co-founder, People Matter—Chicago, IL 2206 – Writing for Social Justice: Promoting Diverse Voices and Social Change Through Written Words Track: Race and Social Justice in Higher Education Description: Journal articles, practitioner handbooks, dissertations, and manuscripts offer significant opportunities to investigate and promote social justice through writing. Yet, various factors often present challenges to engaging in and completing written works, including competition between writing and personal or work responsibilities, fears of failure and writing blocks, and reactions to feedback or rejection. This session explores how to survive and even thrive during a social justice writing project. Through large and small group discussion, participants will engage with “consultant/facilitators” who have expertise with several writing areas, and who will provide concrete information and promote the exchange of insights and strategies based on the experiences of participants.
    [Show full text]
  • What If Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In? - the New York Times 11/19/20, 3:52 PM
    What if Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In? - The New York Times 11/19/20, 3:52 PM https://nyti.ms/32UOqNN What if Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In? Prof. Loretta J. Ross is combating cancel culture with a popular class at Smith College. Peyton Fulford for The New York Times By Jessica Bennett Nov. 19, 2020 Updated 10:05 a.m. ET Nyla Conaway, 19, remembers being “called out” for changing her profile picture on Instagram in solidarity for … something. She can’t quite remember what for, only that an older student she didn’t know told her it was a scam. “It just made me feel really embarrassed, like a ton of people had seen it and now I just looked really stupid,” she said. Katie Wehrman, 18, still feels guilty for calling out a boy in her high school for something he said about a local politician and L.G.B.T.Q. rights — schooling him in an all-class Snapchat group. Sophia Hanna, 18, has never been called out herself, but has spent more time than she’d like to admit during this pandemic watching two beauty bloggers call each other out. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/style/loretta-ross-smith-college-cancel-culture.html?referringSource=articleShare Page 1 of 7 What if Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In? - The New York Times 11/19/20, 3:52 PM “It just fires something emotionally,” she said, noting that she doesn’t even like makeup tutorials.
    [Show full text]