Initially the first emotion that  I felt was anger while reading the leaked article.  Seeing the opinions people had over something they would never be able to do, which is give birth . I felt confused that while a woman can only get pregnant for one baby at a time a man can continuously impregnate women and to me it would make immensely more sense to support the birth control of men but we do live in a patriarchal country. I learned from the information that was presented to us that we will always likely always  have to fight against people who feel entitled to our body and space and time. While we are resilient and prepared to rebel against unjust laws that imagine most women are feeling like i am feeling at the moment which is tired, exhausted of consistently  fighting for autonomy over ourselves. The worry over not being able to protect young girls from feeling those emotions as well.  I feel worried that if something this ludicrous is being undone at this point in our country how much more may be at stake. Certain aspects of the law have been used to justify the jailing and killing of black and brown bodies and this feels like another way to get away with violence and murder. Women are being sterilized in immigration detention centers against their will and we are making laws against abortion? Children are disappearing and being separated from their families and we are forcing women to give birth , someone make it make sense. It’s super simple in my mind, if your against abortion don’t have one. If you are not able to even get pregnant you should not have a vote. I liked the reference the professor made about the “medicalization” of bodies. Historically in my opinion culturally black and brown bodies have always been safer in the hands of the healers, the doulas, the midwives. Medically we are forced to have C-sections, give away after birth (placentas) when in some cultures it is believed that using placentas has health benefits. Women are often ignored when expressing their needs and doctors overlook them. If men in our lives do not consciously decide to hold themselves accountable for the privilege and use of privilege in this issue then their words of seeing us equally are just words.  Bell hooks’ quote is absolutely correct. You cannot be feminist and not be pro- choice, you are then just saying you can allow women to pretend they are free until you believe they are going to far. Inadvertently still holding them to someone else’s word over their own autonomy.  This week’s reading and information is heavy because I’m emotionally and physically invested in the outcome of when the supreme court publishes this information and what it will mean for women in the future. 

This is a mural on the a middle school in the area in Williamburg originally called “Los Sures” the southside. It was designed by Las muralistas and painted by the community. Myself being one of them. It is my favorite mural. So many beautiful components and colors and even better it incorporates taino symbols who were the indigenous people of the caribbean. A lot of our activism was rooted in teaching our history to the young people in our communities and the seeds we plant come to frutation. I can stare at it all day. I really enjoyed this particular assignment.

I guess during this week’s reading  what surprises me is that in this modern age we are almost at a technological space where cars can fly and we can track our belongings. Where we can even reasonably afford virtual reality.  Even in this modern age  things like obstetric racism exist despite the fact that each doctor has taken a  hippocratic oath. Black people and more specifically black women are  continously looked over and ignored by the health system,  that the racism in our health care is insidious and murderous and not outright but rather hidden in the overlooking the concerns and needs of pregnant black woman. Additionally, that same system is outright blatantly prejudiced and is even able to do this legally by refusing service when it comes to serving folks of tran experience. In certain areas of the world periods are still misunderstood and deemed as unclean and women do not have the supplies they need to comfortably continue their day when on their period. Honestly what is more surprising for me is the idea that doctors actually listen to certain patients and don’t just choose things for them and ignore their concerns because often that has been my experience growing up in brooklyn. The connection I found across readings and film is that a marginalized group of people did not have access to the medical resources they needed. Their quality of life was impacted by their health needs not being met. The format in which the stories are shared help me understand medical oppression  and aspects of gender by explaining the ways that racism can look like in covert ways with the first reading and how it was in the second reading and that both of those are very dangerous when the power of life and death is in someone’s hands. Throughout history the health system has used black and brown bodies as experiments and particularly black women and even latin women were forcefully sterilized. So it is no surprise that our communities are distrusting of these systems and rely on homemade remedies and the hiring of doulas so that we can have the support of people who have a shared experience and anxieties when it comes to healthcare. Our communities need resources and clearly communities around the world need more health resources and health should not be a form of capital, it is a human right and everyone should receive the best quality of care that is available.

Many times during my journey with social justice I learned to understand  the saying “ There is no one more disrespected than a black woman” between sexism and racism black women and now black trans women have endured and suffered many injustices and dehumanization. The quote “We might use our position at the bottom to make a clear leap into revolutionary action.  If black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression” to me means that even the simple act of existence of black women threatens the structures of the systems that oppress them.  The collective liberation of black women including black  trans women enables the destruction of those systems because the foundations of these systems ground themselves in  the subjugation of black women. The combahee collective “identity politics”  explains that the most revolutionary and radical politics exist is one’s own identity. The movie paris is burning is a good example of that, mothers of the houses first take the identity of being unapologetically themselves and it strengthens and inspires other trans and queer people of color to find the strength to also be themselves and feel included and a sense of belonging in a community that celebrates those identities thus challenging and chipping away at societal pressure and structures. Their sheer existence threatens those structures. A Lot of marketing has gone into gendered products from male deodorant to women’s wipes and that’s just a small example of how capitalism benefits from  gender and  beyond that is benefits from race by the alarming numbers of black men we see in our prisons and how we benefit from their work exploitation while they are in there. Where most communities of color are located in the city , near bridges and highways. The numbers of children of color whom develop respiratory illnesses due to the location of their neighborhoods  and the funds that go into their schooling.What do race and gender have to do with capitalism they are closely related because one hand washes the other and they keep each other intact. Systems of oppression benefit from the exploitation of something. Gender benefits from exploiting men and women and confining them. Race exploits anyone who isn’t white. Capitalism exploits the poor. We need to understand that without acknowledging the experiences of the people who are hurt by these systems we wont create a world where everyone is free and that should be our am in any facet of social justice,   

I believe a liberated woman to be a woman who accepts her flaws and loves herself divinely. One free from social constructs and who is mentally and sexually free to be herself. Free to makes her own choices and build a life for herself not as a extension but as a whole Additionally being a  liberated woman can  refer to a proclaimed feminist that advocates and protests for equality for women. The 1960s were full of  waves of “liberated” women who fought the oppression of sexism in culture and in our  politics they  tried to free women from the  expectations of what women are forced to be expected to do inside and outside the home. Additionally i feel like a liberated woman is someone who feels free to choose to have  sex before marriage and pursue a career. If she wanted without over thinking or worrying about being ostracized  and without worrying about other people, since other people should mind their own business and let the woman do whatever she wants; except breaking the law, the liberated women continue to break molds and social constraints they are important for women’s liberation and continue to be the simplest most absolute form of rebellion against the patriarchy. It is political when women decide to not take part in their oppression by fitting themselves into what a woman should be by society’s standard.Woman are so dismissed and dehumanized that we are not even seen as people that there are articles and papers about women and orgasms as if they have never asked a woman about it in their life. Men making decisions and discussions and absolute statements about women’s anatomy and rights over their body. Their place in society and their position as a human being. In my personal opinion the liberated woman is one who does not take orders from men or is not afraid to take up space and be who they are regardless of the risks societal and otherwise. The liberated woman seeks to love and free herself and all women from oppression. In a patriarchal world that oftentimes feels like it seeks to destroy women it feels radical to just exist and express oneself in their entirety. To seek understanding from one another and support one another is revolutionary in some aspects. That’s just my take on it. I especially enjoyed the article about the politics of housework and how it is explained that women get shit work and are expected to hold things down but are rarely given recognition. I appreciated this week’s reading.