Participation Type
Workshop
Session Title
Reproductive Justice 101: Imagining and Training for Liberated (Reproductive) Futures in Appalachia
Session Abstract or Summary
What is reproductive justice? How does it impact communities in Appalachia? Who is on the ground advocating for it now? How can reproductive justice help us fight for more sustainable and liberated futures for all peoples in Appalachia?
The Southern-based, Black-led, queer and trans ally organization SisterSong is a leader in the reproductive justice movement. They define reproductive justice as the human right to have children, not have children, and parent children in safe, healthy environments.
Reproductive justice pushes the language of reproductive rights beyond the middle-class, racially white discourse of abortion to provide a critical framework for us to consider how Black/ black and brown populations of all classes and white people of low incomes exist in spaces which have historically threatened their lives and futures. At the center of reproductive justice is the dismantling of white supremacy.
In this workshop, Ash Williams of SisterSong will lead participants through a training to understand the theoretical and practical logic of reproductive justice. The training will historicize eugenics in Appalachia, trace the region’s mortality rates for infants and mothers, map dispossession and trauma and foreclosed futures, emphasize the relationship between toxic environments and toxic bodies, explore how prisons disrupt landscapes and families, and more.
Participants of various backgrounds and interests will learn how reproductive justice can be a tool for organizers, community workers, and researchers to support Appalachia’s communities. Participants will contextualize the history of reproductive justice, consider the interventions it makes possible, and are invited to imagine how reproductive justice applies to their work.
Presentation #1 Title
Reproductive Justice 101: Imagining and Training for Liberated (Reproductive) Futures in Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
What is reproductive justice? How does it impact communities in Appalachia? Who is on the ground advocating for it now? How can reproductive justice help us fight for more sustainable and liberated futures for all peoples in Appalachia? The Southern-based, Black-led, queer and trans ally organization SisterSong is a leader in the reproductive justice movement. They define reproductive justice as the human right to have children, not have children, and parent children in safe, healthy environments. Reproductive justice pushes the language of reproductive rights beyond the middle-class, racially white discourse of abortion to provide a critical framework for us to consider how Black/ black and brown populations of all classes and white people of low incomes exist in spaces which have historically threatened their lives and futures. At the center of reproductive justice is the dismantling of white supremacy. In this workshop, Ash Williams of SisterSong will lead participants through a training to understand the theoretical and practical logic of reproductive justice. The training will historicize eugenics in Appalachia, trace the region’s mortality rates for infants and mothers, map dispossession and trauma and foreclosed futures, emphasize the relationship between toxic environments and toxic bodies, explore how prisons disrupt landscapes and families, and more. Participants of various backgrounds and interests will learn how reproductive justice can be a tool for organizers, community workers, and researchers to support Appalachia’s communities. Participants will contextualize the history of reproductive justice, consider the interventions it makes possible, and are invited to imagine how reproductive justice applies to their work.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
PRONOUNS: THEY/THEM
Ash Williams is a trans non-binary femme from Fayetteville, NC. As a Black Lives Matter organizer, Ash has educated the NC community about state-sanctioned violence as it relates to trans and queer people of color. Ash is a 2016 Human Rights Advocacy Fellow in Residence and Ignite NC Fellow. Ash won the Cyrus M. Johnson Award for Peace and Social Justice in 2014 and the Charlotte Pride Young Catalyst Award in 2016. They hold a MA in Ethics and Applied Philosophy and a BA in Philosophy from UNCC. Ash is also a dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher.
Reproductive Justice 101: Imagining and Training for Liberated (Reproductive) Futures in Appalachia
What is reproductive justice? How does it impact communities in Appalachia? Who is on the ground advocating for it now? How can reproductive justice help us fight for more sustainable and liberated futures for all peoples in Appalachia? The Southern-based, Black-led, queer and trans ally organization SisterSong is a leader in the reproductive justice movement. They define reproductive justice as the human right to have children, not have children, and parent children in safe, healthy environments. Reproductive justice pushes the language of reproductive rights beyond the middle-class, racially white discourse of abortion to provide a critical framework for us to consider how Black/ black and brown populations of all classes and white people of low incomes exist in spaces which have historically threatened their lives and futures. At the center of reproductive justice is the dismantling of white supremacy. In this workshop, Ash Williams of SisterSong will lead participants through a training to understand the theoretical and practical logic of reproductive justice. The training will historicize eugenics in Appalachia, trace the region’s mortality rates for infants and mothers, map dispossession and trauma and foreclosed futures, emphasize the relationship between toxic environments and toxic bodies, explore how prisons disrupt landscapes and families, and more. Participants of various backgrounds and interests will learn how reproductive justice can be a tool for organizers, community workers, and researchers to support Appalachia’s communities. Participants will contextualize the history of reproductive justice, consider the interventions it makes possible, and are invited to imagine how reproductive justice applies to their work.
