Strengthening Relationships and Building Coalitions

By: Margie Del Castillo

This was my first experience at NLIRH’s National Advocacy Weekend (NAW), but not my first time gathering with fellow NLIRH activists.  My introduction to the Latina Institute happened in the Summer of 2012, when I attended the Southeastern LOLA regional training in Charlotte, NC.  There, I was introduced to the concept of being an activist within and for a specific community, and not only on a single issue.

It was also there that I met Nancy Diaz and Rocio Rodarte, my fellow co-founders of DC, Maryland, Virginia-Latinas Organizing for Leadership and Advocacy (DMV-LOLA).  And once again, the three of us gathered for NAW, excited to represent DMV-LOLA and get to know our counterparts from all across the country.  As a group, we felt that the weekend afforded us so many new opportunities.  We learned about different organizing tactics using social media, like how to reach our community through Twitter and tips on producing videos with our smartphones.  We got updated on the current state of immigration reform from experts from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Immigration Law Center, to name a few.  We were inspired by NLIRH Board Member Laura Esquivel’s stories about her childhood and all the success she has earned throughout her life.  We really enjoyed the Camino Media Academy and even got to see ourselves being interviewed on camera.

One of our most memorable moments was meeting fellow poderosa Lucy Felix, the Texas LAN coordinator.  Lucy conducted a presentation on community organizing and, more specifically, how to build a base within your community.  Since I’ve been involved with NLIRH, I have heard many great stories about Lucy, so it was awesome to finally have the chance to meet her in person.  We, as DMV-LOLA, were also excited to talk to her and see what tips she could give us on building our base here in the DMV area.

We learned a lot from her over the weekend and the best part was, she was eager to continue our discussions after NAW was over.  For DMV-LOLA, this means a lot, as we can count on Lucy, and the Texas LAN in general, for support and coalition building. We can share our organizing skills and continue to learn from each other as time goes by, and from the other wonderful poderosas and organizations that we met that weekend.  That is, truly, poder.

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Mi experiencia en NAW

By: Gina Millan

Haber participado en el Fin de Semana de Abogacía fue una experiencia increíble, el convivir con mujeres tan fuertes y valientes me inspira aún más a seguir luchando por la justicia y los derechos reproductivos de las mujeres.

Mi experiencia como mujer inmigrante latina y madre soltera, me ha dado el valor y el coraje para trabajar a favor de los derechos de las mujeres; es muy difícil trabajar tiempo completo, cuidar de una hija, no tener a nadie que te apoye y encima no poder ir al doctor no siquiera para un examen anual porque no te alcanza el dinero es realmente frustrante.

 

Tener que decidir entre pagar casi un mes de comida o ir a la clínica para un examen ginecológico, un examen de mama, conseguir algún anticonceptivo, y mejor ni hablamos de querer interrumpir un embarazo porque hay sí que no comeríamos casi un año!!!

Bajo este clima político tan anti-inmigrante, anti-latino y anti-derechos de la mujer, los políticos deberían de cambiar sus posturas “CONSERVADORAS” y dejar que cada mujer tome sus propias decisiones y entender de una vez por todas

“QUE MI CUERPO ES MI DECISIÓN”.

 

Gracias Latina Institute por su magnífico trabajo

 

Gina Millan

Colorado Organization For Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)

 

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Reflections on Solidarity, Privilege and National Advocacy Weekend

By Johnna Dominguez

My story is not a dramatic one. I am Latina. But I am third-generation with light skin and hair. Some would say I “pass” and so I’ve never really had to worry about racist discrimination based on looks alone. I also grew up with economic privilege. So it might be safe to say that I grew up with a form of white privilege.

But I didn’t even see this myself until my experience during the National Advocacy Weekend. I grew up with an open-minded family, so I always thought myself to be a champion for the weak, the underprivileged, the downtrodden…whoever needed a cheerleader, I could do it! Now I realize how little waving my intellectual pom-poms actually does. Those affected by social injustice don’t need a cheerleader. That role allows someone like myself to become too complacent. No, those affected by social injustice need solidarity and people who will stand up and fight alongside them.

This was never as obvious as it was after my first lobby visit with a legislator. On March 18^th, I was paired with another person from Alabama and an immigrant woman from Nicaragua to speak to senators from Alabama and Florida. After the first meeting, the immigrant woman Aida eloquently said: “I feel freedom.” She continued by explaining that, in Nicaragua, speaking directly to a politician would have been impossible. She felt, in that moment, that her voice had power.

After the next meeting, where she asked the most hostile office of the day some tough questions and said goodbye with a pointed reminder to remember immigrants, she had something even more powerful to say. “The sacrifices that I’ve made are now paid off, by sharing my story and having people listen.” She had come to this country under amnesty (which, by the way, one of the Alabama senators noted he was against) and worked her ass off to make sure her children could have the things she never could in her home country. Aida has earned so many things since then, including a Masters degree. But it was this day, full of personal story telling and respectful (well, mostly respectful) listening, that made her feel the most accomplished.

Many of the other people I met this weekend felt the same way. They all had amazing stories, and yet many people—in our communities, in our states, in our country—want to silence their voices. Many of the people I met this weekend, whether documented or undocumented, were hard-working, productive members of society. They believe in the same American ideals of life, justice, equality. So don’t they deserve the same respect and rights as any other American who takes these things for granted? I admit, I was one who took these things for granted, at the same time that I was calling myself a “champion”.

But I’m not a cheerleader anymore. I’m an activist.

I’ve come to realize that I do have a story. Instead of a theme centered on immigrant justice, my story is firmly placed in the problems of sexual education, body image, and control of female bodies. No matter the context, I will not be complacent in my privileges any longer. I look forward to forming, and then sharing, my story in the next few days, weeks, months, and years. And I look forward to listening to and fighting alongside those around me. After all, soy poderosa y voy a seguir adelante.

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Take Action TODAY: Call the White House to Restore Health Care for DREAMers

This blog post has been cross-posted at the blog of MomsRising.org here.

On June 15, 2012, the Obama Administration announced a new policy, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that allows undocumented youth who meet specific requirements to apply for a two-year protection from deportation and for work authorization. When the policy was announced, advocates for immigrant women, including the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH), joined the immigrant rights communities to celebrate the decision, while recognizing that changes in immigration policy that promote fairness, justice, and opportunity also advance reproductive justice and for immigrant Latinas, their families, and their communities.

Unfortunately, in late August, just after United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began receiving applications for DACA, the Administration announced two changes to existing federal policy that effectively strip access to health care for young DREAMers authorized to reside and work in this country.

Prior to the policy changes, those granted DACA would have the same access to health care as others granted deferred action, a pre-existing designation that granted temporary relief from deportation to other immigrants. Under the changes made in late August, DACA youth who are denied health care coverage due to a pre-existing condition (which for women could be a previous C-section, or domestic violence, for example) will no longer be able to purchase a plan in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Program (PCIP) created by the health reform law or Affordable Care Act (ACA). DACA youth are similarly prohibited from purchasing a health plan in insurance exchanges that will be available in 2014, and are ineligible to apply for federal assistance in purchasing a plan. And according to federal guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), pregnant women and youth under 21 with DACA status are barred from health coverage in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), unless that state has a separate, state-funded program.

The decision has far-reaching implications for immigrant women’s access to quality, affordable health care, including reproductive health care. The decision undermines the goals of the ACA expanding access to health insurance, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, and lowering health care costs by prioritizing prevention and insuring the previously uninsured. The policies are particularly harmful for immigrant women as they:

• Further entrench long-standing barriers to health care for immigrant women. Current immigration laws deny a path to citizenship for immigrants found to utilize public benefits, including health care.  On top of this, Congress has, in the past three decade, created new restrictions on immigrant women’s access to health care and other public benefits, in the forms of 5-year (or other multi-year) bars on eligibility for public insurance, documentation requirements, and other barriers. These policies, in addition to undermining immigrant integration and the health and economic security of our immigrant families and communities, create a “chilling effect,” and discourage immigrant utilization of safety net services they are eligible for.  These policies disproportionately impact women, who are more likely to receive safety net services for their children;
• Undermine the safety net, which is critical to immigrant women and communities. Immigrant women are far less likely than U.S. born women to have access to employer-sponsored coverage and private health insurance generally. Immigrant women are overrepresented in low-wage sectors that simultaneously fail to provide employer-sponsored coverage, while also exposing workers to strenuous and dangerous work. Nearly two-thirds of noncitizen Latina workers (66%) are not covered by employment-based health care, and this contributes to high uninsurance rates for Latinas overall (37.3% of Latinas are uninsured for health care.) This is also true of the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community, where lack of employer-sponsored coverage contributes to the fact that 18.2% of API women live without health insurance;
• Leave very few options for immigrant women to receive contraception, cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care and other important health care. Due to these policies, immigrant women granted DACA may only be able to access care through already-stressed safety net providers and state-funded programs. For pregnant immigrant women, Emergency Medicaid, which covers important labor and delivery services but does not cover prenatal care, may be the only available coverage for reproductive health care. In about 15 states, immigrant women may have access to reproductive health care under the “unborn child” option in CHIP, which utilizes the troubling fetal personhood frame to provide health care for a woman’s pregnancy, but not to the woman herself

The restrictions on access to health care for those granted DACA will hurt women, who face a number of oppressions and injustices due to their gender, national origin and race, and immigration status. That is why advocates for immigrant women are calling on President Obama to affirm his commitment to the principles of the ACA, and to advance the health of our immigrant families and communities.

On December 18, International Migrant’s Day, advocates and communities across the country will call the White House to demand restored access to health care for DREAMers granted DACA. We hope you will contribute your voice to the effort to restore access to health care for our young DREAMers, so as to promote health, dignity, and justice for immigrant women, their families, and their communities.

For more information, please visit the website of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health at http://www.latinainstitute.org/daca.

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The Unraveling of the Latino Conservative Myth

As we saw in the elections, political pundits were somehow shocked that Latino voters came out to support Democratic candidates.  Many think that the Latino community is by nature conservative, but this is far from reality.  Who can forget that 75% of Latinos swept President Obama to victory and that 77% voted for the Democratic House candidates? And you can hardly say that all Latinas are conservative: they supported Obama with 77% of their votes.

So it comes to no surprise to us that the Mexican Supreme Court paved the path for same sex marriage in all 31 states of Mexico last week.  In a unanimous ruling, they struck down a same sex marriage ban in Oaxaca, building off of a 2010 decision that held that same sex marriages in Mexico City must be recognized nationwide.  Mexico isn’t the only Latin American country where marriage equality is becoming the norm.  Just recently, a same sex marriage bill passed the first round of Senate votes in Colombia.  In Uruguay, their legislature is on the cusp of legalizing same sex marriage, extending the right to all individuals regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Although the Mexican Supreme Court ruling strengthens the legal arguments for same sex marriage in both the United States and in other parts of Latin America, this decision is exciting because it contradicts the unconsciously accepted idea that all Latinos are conservative.  And it’s not that Latinos are socially liberal just on same sex marriage (55% percent of Latinos support it), but that we support a wide range of social justice issues.  In Maryland, Latinos voted for both marriage equality and for their state’s DREAM Act.  In Florida, with our awesome partners, Mi Lola, we defeated Amendment 6 which would have further restricted insurance coverage for abortions.  In fact, we knew that we would defeat legislation like Amendment 6 because of a study we conducted a few years ago.  In partnership with Lake Research Partners and Reproductive Health Technologies Project, we found that 74% of Latino registered voters agree that a woman has a right to make her own personal decisions about abortion without political interference and that 67% would support close friends and family members who choose to have one.

When it comes down to it, we not only want immigration reform, but we also demand marriage equality, reproductive freedom, economic justice and fair and just solutions to the other social problems our communities face.  Politicians know that they can no longer divide us but that they have to represent all of us.

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Government Issued IDs: A Barrier to the Vote, A Barrier to Emergency Contraception

This past election cycle, we saw the power a government-issued ID can give an individual.   In states where voter ID laws were being enforced, individuals who did not have government IDs could not exercise their right to vote.  Several communities were impacted: transgender people, Latinos, African Americans, students, the elderly, people with disabilities – in short, many, many people. These ID laws harken to Jim Crow-era poll taxes and “literacy tests,”  and at the same time increased the impact of fear tactics used to intimidate voters from going to the polls, exacerbating the historic and current inequities that many communities of color face.

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Meet Paula, a South Texas mom working to improve Latina’s lives

I’d like to tell you about Paula.

Paula is a busy mom who works two part-time jobs to support her four children (ages 2 to 18 years old). Frustrated and concerned about the lack of access to adequate healthcare in her community, when Paula heard about our Texas Promotora Training earlier this month, she immediately signed up. Paula says:

There were close to 30 women who attended the training…by the end of that training I saw the transformation. That’s what caught my attention, how through education…it empowers women, how it can make them become a true leader.

Paula is now one of our active leaders in Texas, educating and advocating for reproductive justice in her community.

Paula is just one of many activists we’ve worked with this year, to bring them bilingual tools and information they’ve used to mobilize their communities.

As the end of the year draws to a close, we’re asking you, our loyal supporters, to consider a tax-deductible donation to NLIRH in your year-end giving.

With the support we received last year, in 2012 we also accomplished:

• Training close to 500 Latinas and Latinos between the ages of ages 18 – 39 years old throughout the country, and particularly in the Southeast, on leadership, advocacy and reproductive rights;
• Reaching a record media audience of nearly 125 million people in both English and Spanish which is over thirty times the media reach we had in 2011; and
• Launching our ¡Soy Poderosa! (I am powerful) civic engagement campaign designed to engage, mobilize, and highlight civic participation by Latinas and Latinos throughout the country. Through this campaign we’ve achieved some key victories in Florida and Texas, and activated communities throughout the nation through social media.

We’re already planning and preparing for 2013, which is already jammed packed with more leadership trainings, research, legislator visits, communications activities and much more. But we need your help. Become a Poderosa and make a tax deductible contribution to NLIRH!

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Young Mothers are Warriors in their Communities

Leydi Bautista – young mother of two

My mother decided to have me at the age of 20 without any support from my “father” or our family. She was a young mother, living in poor conditions in Colombia, who barely made enough money to support herself, much less raise a child. Despite all this, she was able to provide for me and for my siblings as they came. However, I oftentimes imagine how different things would have been if my mother had a support system pre, during, and post pregnancy. I wonder how many more young mothers are out there without anyone to turn to or anyone who shares their experiences and can lend a shoulder to lean on. Which is why I’m so excited for the work the young mother’s group in New York is going to do.

Young mothers during their first training

The first time this group of young mothers set foot into the office they were shy and hesitant to open up about the hardships they’ve faced as young mothers. Their babies sat on our office floor, too scared to ask for snacks or even a juice box. With time, the mothers got to know each other better, they shared their fears of not becoming someone, of hating baby throw up, of deciding not to have an abortion even though they knew it would be difficult from here on after. Many gatherings that led to a briefing in Washington DC where these mothers stressed the importance of investing in them. They walked around DC with a sense of ownership; owning their stories, their experiences, their struggles, their goals, hopes and aspirations for the future that awaits them and their babies too.

Poderosa young mothers in DC

Marymar, one of the young mothers who went to DC shared her experience with us:

It was a fun experience and I would love to do more things like that. I felt motivated. I want to continue being vocal about the issues young mother’s face and to get more girls to do this. Even though there are people that don’t think about our future, we have to do it! We have to do everything we can to make sure others work with us and help us out. I want my kids to look up to me and to be proud of me. I’m doing all this so they can be happy. I want my daughter to one day say, “that’s my mother!” and that she’ll follow in my footsteps and help others. All I want to do is be somebody in life and everyone will see that I made it even though they didn’t believe I could. I will make it, that is a promise.

For these moms, the journey is not over though, it has just begun. As we continue to grow together and learn from each we hope to see real change in our community. These young moms are determined to obtain the resources they need to help their families or to create paths that are not there for them the way my mother did. From having access to child care, scholarships, food and shelter, comprehensive sex education to parent only parks, they will continue to fight for it all. But they won’t be alone.

Perlita and her baby boy

One thing is certain; they are not fighting for themselves but for their kid(s). Their kids are the reason they are able to get out of bed sometimes, why some of them are still enrolled in college even though it is so difficult to find child care. Their kids are the reason why they’re standing up to the injustices and inequalities they face every day. Because some day, things will change, and their little ones will be there to witness it and know their mothers fought for this. Without realizing it, these moms have already become someone in life. They are warriors and creators of their own destinies.

If you are also a young mom in New York and you’d like to get involved with us, connect with us here. Also, check out this video of the young mothers in DC.

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Poderosa Profile: Cynthia Brito

Sign reads: “Soy poderosa and my voice matters because i am a mother. a teacher. a figther. an activist and a strong latina”

Latinas are making sure that their voices and their stories are being heard. We are not silent. A perfect example of the determination Latinas have towards personal growth, justice to all communities around all issues not just Reproductive Health, is Cynthia Brito. She is an organizer at the Latin@ Youth Action League. Her dedication to lifting Latina voices in Illinois has made her the activist of the month.

Read her story here:

I am powerful. Through my lived knowledge, experience, and activism, I am an agent of change. We all have a transformative power to change society, but as Latinas, our unique lived experience amplifies our ability to understand society through a powerful lens.

As a young girl, I experienced molestation and assault. My life was filled with years of violence and abuse. My first experience with racism occurred when I moved from the city to the suburbs at the age of 9. The combination of violence, racism, and lack of support for young Latinas set the stage for a destructive path in my life. As time went on, I was involved in several abusive relationships, with the most severe of these relationships nearly ending my life.

I became a mom at the age of 17 and again at 19. As a teen mom in the suburbs I experienced negative interactions at an individual and institutional level. I became aware that I was not only looked down up for being a young mother, but also for being a Latina mother. It was through this lived experience that my perspective of the world began to unfold.

Cynthia Brito and her 2 girls

I’m a co-founder of the Latin@ Youth Action League (L@YAL), a fairly new organization in DuPage County. Our work focuses primarily on issues the Latino community faces in the suburbs of DuPage County. Much of our recent work has focused on undocumented youth. We have held rallies, workshops, and provided access to resources to many youth in the area. More recently, we decided to organize an event around Latina reproductive health issues.

Cynthia Brito, Latina activist in IL

I first learned about the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) while I was a teaching assistant for a Latino Studies class at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The following year, I taught my own course: Latinas in the United States. The NLIRH helped students become aware of the complex dynamics in the issues Latinas face around reproductive health. I also successfully completed the E-LOLA Webinar and organized a Cafecito in collaboration with HABLAMOS, a Latina organization in Elmhurst College. Many factors interconnect to create the current political backlash against Latinas reproductive rights, and NLIRH is a powerful agent that brings them to light.

Thank you Cynthia for all the work you do, and will continue to do, for our community. We are honored and excited to work with you on many things to come. Congratulations on being this months activist of the month!

Check out the work NLIRH is doing in other states by liking our facebook and maybe YOU can be our next poderosa profile.

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Our Voices Matter in, out and Beyond Elections

Somos Poderos@s and our voices matter. They matter even if we are Latin@s. They matter even if we have had an abortion(s). They matter even if we are LGBTQ. They matter even if we are undocumented. They matter even if we are disabled. Our voices matter regardless of any identity or socioeconomic standing. Our voices matter in, out and beyond election day.

For the past two months leading to election day our activists around the country were making sure their voices, beliefs, values, and the issues they cared about were being heard while reaching others.

In New York, we worked with young moms around the lack of resources for them and their babies. The highlight of all our work was when we made it to DC. The young mothers spoke for themselves on a panel. They shared their stories and the struggle of finding child care, health resources, food and even obtaining a higher education. Young mothers have a voice and it needs to be heard.

New York Young Moms in DC

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