Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas molded me into the person I am today: it drastically shaped my view of the world, and my activism in the reproductive justice, environmental justice, and civil rights movements.

Growing up on the border gives you a unique life experience and perspective, and has profoundly shaped my identity—as a Xicana, as a Tejana, as a feminist. Growing up in the Valley, you have to learn about a multitude of issues because it is your everyday reality.

Once I learned what reproductive justice meant, I knew I had found the perfect word to describe what I had always intended my activism to be. And through my activist work in the Rio Grande Valley, I was able to learn first hand how all of the issues I care about intersect with one another. Developing this connection through real life experiences has been crucial to my development as a reproductive justice activist, and provided me with clear direction for my political work. I am sure my activism is going to continue to change and grow — it even changed this summer during my RRASC internship, when I worked with a Latin@ reproductive justice focused non-

profit, the Colorado Organization for Latin@ Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR). I am always trying to grow and become a better, more effective activist, and my RRASC internship helped me do that.

I strongly believe that I can organize more effectively now. In particular, I am able to reach and provide access to people who want to get involved in protesting, block walking, or flyering for the first time. The best way to get people in the Rio Grande Valley involved in their communities is to teach them that in order to have healthy womxn and families we need to come together at the intersections and build our community from the ground up. My current work in the Rio Grande Valley intentionally revolves around

By Jazmin Gonzalez (University of Texas at Brownsville)2015 RRASC at Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights

Building Community from the Ground Up

vol. xxxii no. 1 - Winter 2015

news and views from the civil liberties and public policy program at hampshire college

What is CLPP?

2015 Reproductive Rights Activist Service Corps (RRASC) Highlights

inside

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Jazmin Gonzalez (RRASC 2015) protesting against Liquid Natural Gas in the Rio Grande Valley

Hampshire CollegeAmherst, MA 01002-5001413.559.6976clpp@hampshire.educlpp.hampshire.edu

Kayden MooreNewsletter Editor

CLPP Staff:Amanda MajorProgram Coordinator

Amy CryselDirector of Operations and Finance

Johanna Rincón FernándezAssistant Director

Lucy TrainorAssistant Director

Marlene Gerber FriedFaculty Director

Mateo MedinaProgram Coordinator

Mia Kim SullivanCLPP Director

Susan CountrymanDevelopment Officer

Susan HeitkerDevelopment Associate

Teresa HuangOperations Coordinator

Valerie GintisFoundation Relations Manager

Student Assistants:Brett BellefleurEmmett DuPontIonaPearl Reid-EatonMaisie KaiserOnea Engel-BradleyRachael StricklerRory WoodardValentina Forte-Hernandez

CLPP is supported by Hampshire College, individual donors, and the following foundations:

Anderson-Rogers FoundationThe David & Lucile Packard FoundationThe Ettinger FoundationFord FoundationFoundation for a Just SocietyGallagher Family FundGeneral Service FoundationThe George Gund FoundationThe Huber FoundationMary Wohlford FoundationThe Moriah FundThe Oma Fund of the Ms. Foundation for WomenThe Overbrook Foundation

2 — Civil Liberties and Public Policy

Civil Liberties and Public Policy is a national program dedicated to educating, mentoring, and inspiring new activism and leadership for the reproductive justice movement. Combining activism, organizing, leadership training, and movement building, CLPP programs advance a broad and inclusive agenda that connects reproductive freedom and autonomy with other social justice issues.

PROJECTSAnnual Reproductive Justice ConferenceCLPP’s national conference for student and community activists, From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom, connects people to organizations and campaigns locally, nationally, and internationally, and provides them with information, analysis, and “how-to” organizing to bring back to their own campuses and communities. Join us next year, April 8-10, 2016!

Reproductive Rights Activist Service Corps (RRASC)RRASC is a national program that supports the leadership development of local students interested in connecting their academic studies to reproductive justice activism through summer internships.

New Leadership Networking Initiative (NLNI)NLNI is a training and leadership-building network for new and emerging activists working in the movement. Through semi-annual convenings and a Summer Leadership Institute, members gain valuable skills and create new relationships and collaborations that are energizing and expanding the movement.

CLPP Student Activist GroupThe CLPP student group consists of activists from the Five Colleges and broader community who want to develop their skills to organize for reproductive and social justice. The group runs “Activist 101” trainings and is the driving force behind CLPP’s annual conference.

Classes and Community Engaged LearningCLPP faculty and staff teach courses at Hampshire College that introduce students to a broad range of reproductive justice issues and the history of activism surrounding them. Local students can fulfill high school, college, and graduate-level community service and community engagement requirements through involvement with CLPP.

WHAT IS THE CIVIL LIBERTIES AND PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAM (CLPP)?

CLPP staff and students at the 2015 Conference

Winter 2015 — 3

education and environmental justice. I presently work with

an organization called the DREAM Home, which is an organization that provides free supportive housing to student DREAMers. We also do work in the community facilitating DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival) workshops with local high school students. As the lead organizer, I also do work attempting to keep tuition rates low at my university. Learning the obstacles some of my friends had to go through just to go to college really forced me to check my privilege as a “citizen” and learn how unfair it is that my journey is so much easier just because I was born fifteen miles north of the border.

I do this work because education should be accessible to every person regardless of citizenship status, and the Rio Grande Valley has a lot of folks who were brought to the U.S. as children. They should be able to attain a college degree in the country they grew up in without being forced to accrue hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. Further, the DREAMers are people who, more likely than not, will have a positive impact on our community. In addition to my educational work, I have been organizing

with the local anti-LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) initiative. We frequently protest LNG companies when they hold informational “community” sessions. We also reach out to our legislators and local city officials to call for their opposition of this dangerous work. The LNG companies are targeting our community because we have many low-income folks of color who would be willing to take the small amounts of

money companies are offering in order to exploit the rights to their land.

These corporations target us because they believe that we are easy to take advantage of and are unable to organize effectively. Clearly they are wrong! We have gotten Council members on South Padre Island and in Los Fresnos, Port Isabel, and the Laguna Madre area to publicly take a stand saying they oppose LNG in their communities. This organizing has taught me how to explain the connections between environmental justice, reproductive

justice, and the overall health of our communities. Honestly, I love that I am able and have the time to be involved in my community. I truly care about the Rio Grande Valley and want to give back to it in the best way I know how, through reproductive justice activism.

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I do this work because education

should be accessible to every person

regardless of citizenship status.

Sarah Hwang (RRASC 2015) celebrating World Breastfeeding Week, with A Better Balance in New York City

Namrata Jacob, Gabriela Noa Betancourt, Alex Williams and Travis Noddings at the 2015 RRASC training

MariaJose Chevesich (RRASC 2015) at a Washington D.C. rally for the EACH Woman Act with Physicians for Reproductive Health

Gabriela Noa Betancourt (RRASC 2015) at the United Nations for the NYC Global Day of Action, with National Advocates for Pregnant Women

RRASC 2015 (not pictured: Anny Rodriguez, Robyn Sutton-Fernandez)

4 — Civil Liberties and Public Policy

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTSACTIVIST SERVICE CORPS39 EMERGING ACTIVISTS BUILDING THE MOVEMENT FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2015 RRASC INTERNS!Alexandria Williams Tulane University, LAWomen With A Vision, New Orleans, LA

Allie Hill Arizona State UniversityNational Network of Abortion Funds, Boston, MA

Ally Batchelder University of Massachusetts AmherstPolitical Research AssociatesBoston, MA

Amber Tinsmon Hampshire College, MAMotherWoman, Hadley, MA

Andy Escobar University of Texas at AustinSylvia Rivera Law Project, New York, NY

Anny Rodriguez University of Massachusetts BostonIbis Reproductive Health, Cambridge, MA

Armonte Butler Sewanee: The University of the South, TNSPARK Reproductive Justice NOW and Southerners on New Ground, Atlanta, GA

Cecelia Lim Smith College, MABirthmark Doula CollectiveNew Orleans, LA

Daniel Orr Swarthmore College, PANational Domestic Workers Alliance, Oakland, CA

Donzahniya Pitre Guilford College, NCLegal Services for Prisoners with Children, San Francisco, CA

Elvin Bruno Holyoke Community College, MANational Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Oakland, CA

Emma Hyche Auburn University, ALNARAL Pro-Choice Colorado,Denver, CO

Gabriela Noa Betancourt Tulane University, LANational Advocates for Pregnant Women, New York, NY

Jazmin Gonzalez University of Texas at BrownsvilleColorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, Denver, CO

Kalila Kirk University of California, BerkeleyBackline, Oakland, CA

Keanan Gottlieb Pitzer College, CAThe Trans Buddy Program through the Vanderbilt Program for LGBTI Health, Nashville, TN

Lauren Garretson Hampshire College, MAProject South, Atlanta, GA

Maria Perez Smith College, MACalifornia Latinas for Reproductive Justice, Los Angeles, CA

MariaJose Chevesich University of UtahPhysicians for Reproductive Health, New York, NY

Maritsa Loaiza Duenas Rutgers University, NJNational Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, New York, NY

Megan Skipper Auburn University, ALAid to Inmate Mothers, Montgomery, AL

Namrata Jacob Hampshire College, MANational Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Washington DC

Nancy Uddin Hunter College of The City University of New YorkJustice Now, Oakland, CA

Noah Foster Hampshire College, MAStonewall Youth, Olympia, WA

Olivia Beres Washington University in St. Louis, MOKentucky Health Justice Network, Louisville, KY

Ozakh Ahmed Rhodes College, TNIllinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, Chicago, IL

Patrice Williams Rutgers University, NJThe Doula Project, New York, NY

Quasia Heru University of Wisconsin-MadisonAdvocates for Youth, Washington DC

Raksha White University of Bridgeport, CTSadie Nash Leadership Project, New York, NY

Randiss Hopkins Northern Illinois UniversityYoung People For, Washington DC

Robyn Sutton-Fernandez Mount Holyoke College, MASafe Passage, Northampton, MA

Sarah Hwang Mount Holyoke College, MAA Better Balance, New York, NY

Sequoyah Moore University of MissouriThe Audre Lorde Project, New York, NY

Sophia Schilling University of IowaThe Reproductive Health Access Project, New York, NY

Sophia Shaw Hampshire College, MABoston Doula Project, Somerville, MA

Terrius Harris University of MississippiTewa Women United, Espanola, NM

Timothy Lehmberg Skidmore College, NYHealthRight International, New York, NY

Travis Noddings University of FloridaLaw Students for Reproductive Justice, Oakland, CA

Vincent Creer Hobart and William Smith Colleges, NYPride Center of Vermont, Burlington, VT

Winter 2015 — 5

Keanan GottliebRRASC Placement: The Trans Buddy Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TNHometown: Cardiff, CACollege and Major: Pitzer College, Public Health

What draws you to reproductive justice work, and why did you apply to RRASC?

I actually was not directly involved with reproductive justice work prior to or during my internship. However, I was involved with its intersections of queerness, race, and class. Because my internship was in the health care field, which a lot of reproductive justice focuses on, and was specific to trans health, it still is influenced by and intersects with reproductive justice. I applied for RRASC because of the focus on healthcare and social justice, and the strength of the program.

What did you like about the location of your internship?

I liked how different Nashville is from Southern California. I wanted to experience a different part of the country for an extended amount of time, and being in a major city in a rural state fulfilled this. There is a lot to do in Nashville, like roller derby tournaments, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and weekly drag shows. I also learned a lot from the people I met around the city who were not only from Nashville but from the surrounding towns and counties as well.

What is your advice for future interns?

My advice to future interns is to make the

most of your summer by exploring your surroundings, going to events, and taking advantage of opportunities presented to you by your supervisor, co-workers, etc. However, learn to say no if you have to. It can be hard to find a balance between taking advantage of everything offered and also not burning out.

How do you plan to bring what you learned this summer to your future activist work, either on your campus or in your community?

I plan to take what I learned this summer back to my campus by trying to start an advocacy program for students who interact with emergency medical services. Like the Trans Buddy Program, it will focus on support, empowerment, and education.

Sophia SchillingRRASC Placement: The Reproductive Health Access Project, New York, NYHometown: Minneapolis, MNCollege and Major: University of Iowa, Communications and Nonprofit Management

What was the most exciting, engaging, or meaningful part of your internship?

One of the most exciting parts of my internship was being a doula in our affiliated clinic two days a week. I loved this part of my job because I got to interact with patients face-to-face and gained invaluable experience in a health care setting, as well as perspective on the health care system in general.

It was also very meaningful to see the materials produced by the Reproductive Health Access Project used in a real-life clinic setting. It helped bring context to the work we were doing in the nonprofit and made me realize how important the work RHAP does is to patients and physicians.

What draws you to reproductive justice work, and why did you apply to RRASC?

I have always had a desire to work for the common good, and reproductive justice seemed like a logical place to start. I was raised by a single mother who taught me the value of my voice and the importance of making it heard, especially when it came to the health and safety of myself and the people I love. This is what inspired me to get involved, and I got my first internship with Planned Parenthood in Minneapolis and fell in love with reproductive justice.

I applied for RRASC because I was interested in doing advocacy work outside of the Midwest and out of my comfort zone. I also applied because I was interested in meeting other young people who had similar interests and passions that I have, and was definitely not disappointed on either front!

What is your advice for future interns?

Keanan Gottlieb (RRASC 2015, third from left) with staff of the Trans Buddy Program, part of the Vanderbilt Program for LGBTI Health, in Nashville, TN

INTERVIEWS WITH OUR 2015 RRASC INTERNSThis summer, students in our RRASC program worked with 40 organizations across the country, ranging from grassroots organizations to international advocacy groups. Students gained hands-on learning experiences and provided invaluable support to their host organizations. Here are some highlights from some of our students’ summers:

6 — Civil Liberties and Public Policy

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want and what you need. And always remember self-care! I feel that so many people who work in reproductive justice have such big hearts and always want to throw themselves into every cause they are involved in, but it is so important to take a step back for yourself and remember that your mental health and wellbeing is just as important as the cause you’re fighting for.

Ally BatchelderRRASC Placement: Political Research Associates, Boston, MAHometown: Chesterfield, MACollege and Major: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

What was the most exciting, engaging, or meaningful part of your internship?

Coming to this internship with a background in gender studies, I found it exciting to shift my lens to a more explicitly political analysis. I was able to apply theoretical feminist concepts to my research on anti-abortion legislation to identify strategies utilized by the opposition and think about trends in anti-abortion organizing.

While my research focused specifically on the political workings of the anti-abortion movement, my time at PRA exposed me to research on the U.S. Right more broadly. I now have a stronger sense of how the Right enforces economic, racial, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic oppression through intertwined corporate, religious, and political networks. I’ve considered

how various political issues are connected to each other in ways I hadn’t thought of before, such as how the frame of religious liberty is used by the Right to justify attacks on reproductive rights and the rights of LGBTQ people. This makes it apparent that our theorizing and activist work must be broad and intersectional in order to truly achieve reproductive justice for everyone.

Studying the opposition has also been a way of rationalizing it. PRA has encouraged me to recognize that being dismissive of the opposition is not a useful approach to activism.

What draws you to reproductive justice work, and why did you apply to RRASC?

I was introduced to the concept of reproductive justice through my studies at UMass, where I began exploring an academic focus in reproductive rights. A reproductive justice framework allowed me to make meaningful connections between my own experiences and larger systems of oppression.

When I found out about RRASC, I thought it was such an exciting opportunity and a unique program. The variety of reproductive justice focus areas and internships offered by RRASC was exciting to me because my interests are very broad. Attending the CLPP conference during RRASC training solidified my commitment to being involved in reproductive justice work. I was amazed by the theory in practice that happened at the CLPP conference. It is definitely a special space for people of all identities to come together and work in solidarity for reproductive freedom.

Would you be a RRASC intern again?

Yes! This summer was truly transformative for me. The RRASC program changed my life in a way I didn’t know was possible — I am in a very different place now than I was a year ago. A lot of this has to do with being able to work through some aspects of my

personal relationship to my politics — in particular to abortion and mental illness. The opportunity to be involved in efforts for reproductive justice through research and to be a part of a community with shared values was very healing for me.

Through directly confronting the opposition to reproductive rights, I have become more confident and less afraid to speak out about why I think fighting for reproductive justice is important. I have continued to realize that I am not sad or ashamed about the personal experiences that brought me here. I was able to do this difficult work that I am passionate about while feeling supported by CLPP staff and empowered by my fellow RRASCs.

What did you like about the location of your internship?

I loved living in Boston for the summer! I grew up in rural Western Massachusetts and am going to school here, so it was exciting for me to have the opportunity to experience city life. The convenience of public transportation was awesome since it’s not so easy to get around in Western Massachusetts without a car. Boston was perfect for me because it is relatively small for a city and not too overwhelming. What was really exciting was that I had access to local organizing and activism that was going on so I was able to meet new people, form connections, and expand my social justice network beyond my hometown.

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Raksha White (RRASC 2015) with some of her students at the Sadie Nash Leadership Project in New York City

Winter 2015 — 7

Jazmin GonzalezRRASC Placement: Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive RightsHometown: Harlingen, TXCollege and Major: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Political Science and Sociology

What draws you to reproductive justice work, and why did you apply to RRASC?

What draws me to reproductive justice work is being a Queer Xicana from the Rio Grande Valley. I want to do reproductive justice work because of all the intersections that I live everyday, and because in my opinion this is the best way to approach work that makes strides for healthy womxn and families. I applied to RRASC because I had never heard of such an amazing opportunity before and I really wanted to do an internship with one of the amazing Latin@ organizations listed.

How do you plan to bring what you learned this summer to your future activist work, either on your campus or in your community?

I learned a lot more about DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) II and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents), as well as birthing justice and health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. I have been able to directly bring my DACA/DAPA information into my new job working at the Dream Home, which is supportive housing for students who benefit from the Dream Act. I plan on helping people learn more about the Affordable Care Act through one of my organizations at school, since we are hosting informational sessions about how to sign up for health insurance as a student.

What did you like about the location of your internship?

I love Denver—it’s a beautiful city inside a beautiful state. My office was located down the street from the Capitol where I was able to go to protests and marches throughout the summer. Also the hiking, camping, and concerts in Colorado are A1!

Join Us in Building the Movement for Reproductive Justice

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AND EVALUATION OFFICER AT THE COLORADO HEALTH FOUNDATION

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Nancy Uddin (RRASC 2015) at Justice Now in Oakland, CA

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