Wednesday May 8, 2024
“Our Bodies, Our Rights, Our Time: The Power of Reproductive Justice In the 4th Trimester”
Join us for Day #4 of the National Postpartum Awareness Week (PAW) for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC).
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the co-creation of the Reproductive Justice (RJ) movement; an intersectional framework developed by a group of 12 Black women who gathered in Chicago in June of 1994. These powerful pioneers for birth justice recognized that the women’s rights movement, led by and representing middle class and wealthy white women, could not defend the needs of women of color and other marginalized women and trans* people. They proceeded to create their own national movement rooted in the human rights framework created by the United Nations. They combined the principles of reproductive rights with social justice to uplift the needs of the most marginalized women, families, and communities in the United States and the rest is HERstory. Reproductive justice affirms BIPOC birthing people’s human right to live healthy lives with access to the physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, economic, social, and sexual resources that keep us safe and well.
The 4th trimester, often overlooked, is a critical and sacred period of physical and emotional transition for mothers, parents, and families as a whole. Reproductive Justice provides a formula to resist the systemic and institutional racism experienced by BIPOC during their pregnancy, birthing and postpartum journeys, and advocate for equitable, quality care. In this virtual, interactive workshop, we will embark on a journey of learning, reflection, and action, exploring how the principles of Reproductive Justice can be mobilized for the postpartum period.