Undivided Rights, with a new introduction, presents a fresh and textured understanding of the reproductive rights movement by placing the experiences, priorities and activism of women of colour in the foreground. This book raises tough questions about inclusion, identity politics and the future of women's organising, while offering a way out of the limiting focus on 'choice'. Undivided Rights articulates a holistic vision for reproductive freedom. It refuses to allow human rights to be divided up and parcelled into isolated boxes.
Undivided Rights, with a new introduction, presents a fresh and textured understanding of the reproductive rights movement by placing the experiences, priorities and activism of women of colour in the foreground. This book raises tough questions about inclusion, identity politics and the future of women's organising, while offering a way out of the limiting focus on 'choice'. Undivided Rights articulates a holistic vision for reproductive freedom. It refuses to allow human rights to be divided up and parcelled into isolated boxes.
Marlene Gerber Fried (PhD, Brown) is known nationally and
internationally as a writer, lecturer, and advocate for
reproductive justice. She was founding president of the National
Network of Abortion Funds,served on the board of the Women's Global
Network for Reproductive Rights, and was Interim President of
Hampshire College in 20102011. She is currently Faculty Director of
CLPP (Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program). She edited From
Abortion to Reproductive Freedom:Transforming a Movement and is a
co-author of Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for
Reproductive Justice. She received the first Marlene Gerber Fried
Abortion Access Vanguard Award (NNAF, 2015), the Felicia Stewart
Advocacy Award (APHA, 2014), and a Warrior Woman Award from
SisterSong (2014).
Elena R. Gutierrez is an associate professor of Gender and
Women's Studies and Latin American and Latino Studies at the
University of IllinoisChicago. She is author of Fertile Matters:
The Politics of Mexican-Origin Women's Reproduction and curator of
the Reproductive Justice Virtual Library. She is committed to
reproductive justice advocacy and documenting the activism of women
of color.
Jael Silliman was a tenured associate professor of Women
Studies at the University of Iowa from 1996 to 2002, where she
worked on issues of race, reproductive rights and health, and
gender and the environment in the United States and South Asia. She
has published widely on these issues. Jael served as Program
Officer for Reproductive Rights and Women's Rights at the Ford
Foundation in New York (20032009). She has been an activist in the
transnational women's movement for four decades and served on the
boards of many women's organizations. She is currently an
independent scholar and writer documenting her community, the
Bagdadi Jews of Calcutta, and has curated jewishcalcutta.in.
Loretta J. Ross was the National Coordinator of the Sister
Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective from 2005 to
2012. She has appeared on CNN, BET, Lead Story, Good Morning
America, The Donahue Show, the National Geographic Channel, and
Charlie Rose. She has been interviewed in the New York Times, Time,
the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, among others. She
helped create the theory of reproductive justice in 1994 and led a
rape crisis center in the 1970s. She co-authored Undivided Rights:
Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice in 2004.
"Undivided Rights is the most complete account of the vital
contribution made by women of color to the contemporary
reproductive rights movement. By giving these organizers the
attention they deserve, the authors illuminate a distinctive vision
for reproductive health and freedom that demands an end to social
inequities. Essential reading for anyone committed to the struggle
for reproductive justice."
—Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body: Race,
Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
"For most women of color in the United States, our herstories are
grounded in the sobering fact that our foremothers and our mothers
didn’t have control over their reproductive freedom. And yet, many
valiantly resisted. I am a generational beneficiary of that
resistance.Undivided Rights is a necessary and compelling
documentation of African-American/Black, Indigenous/Native
American, Latin@, Asian and Pacific Islander women health
activists’ radical organizing, which resulted in the reproductive
justice movement. Moving beyond the important question of “choice,”
this groundbreaking text demonstrates how reproductive justice is
“theory, a lived practice, and a strategy,” which focuses on all
aspects of women of color reproductive health and lives. It
squarely places those women who are the most marginalized front and
center of any dialogue or movement that is focused on all women’s
health. Undivided Rights is as timely in 2016 if not more so now
than it was when it was first published in 2004."
—Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Producer/Writer/Director, NO! The Rape
Documentary
“A thorough and impassioned history of the too-often hidden
activism of women of color, Undivided Rights is a welcome and
necessary addition to feminist literature.”
—Sonia Shah, Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe
Fire
“What is unique about Undivided Rights is that it demonstrates that
women of color have always been central in the struggle for
reproductive rights and corrects the white-dominated narratives of
the history of reproductive rights movements. Because it focuses on
women of color organizing, it helps decenter the ‘pro-choice’
paradigm and situates reproductive justice within a larger
framework of social, political, and economic justice.”
—Andrea Smith, founding member, INCITE! Women of Color Against
Violence
“Undivided Rights offers an impressive account of specific African
American, Native American, Asian American, and Latina organizations
that have fought to make a variety of reproductive health rights a
reality for women of color. It demonstrates the overlaps and
differences between issues of reproductive health as they arise in
various communities of color and documents both historical and
contemporary contours of community struggles for reproductive
justice. An accessible and important resource for anyone who wishes
to understand the ways in which women of color have both
practically and theoretically expanded the terrain of feminist
concerns about reproductive rights and justice.”
—Uma Narayan, author, Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions,
and Third World Feminism
“Undivided Rights brings together stories of victory and challenge
of women of color reproductive rights organizing. It documents the
foundation of our current work and provides newer organizations and
younger activists with lessons learned and with the inspiration to
continue the struggle for reproductive justice. This book is a much
needed and long awaited contribution to women’s history.”
—Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina
Institute for Reproductive Health
"Undivided Rights is the most complete account of the vital
contribution made by women of color to the contemporary
reproductive rights movement. By giving these organizers the
attention they deserve, the authors illuminate a distinctive vision
for reproductive health and freedom that demands an end to social
inequities. Essential reading for anyone committed to the struggle
for reproductive justice."
Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body: Race,
Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
"For most women of color in the United States, our herstories are
grounded in the sobering fact that our foremothers and our mothers
didn’t have control over their reproductive freedom. And yet, many
valiantly resisted. I am a generational beneficiary of that
resistance.Undivided Rights is a necessary and compelling
documentation of African-American/Black, Indigenous/Native
American, Latin@, Asian and Pacific Islander women health
activists’ radical organizing, which resulted in the reproductive
justice movement. Moving beyond the important question of choice,”
this groundbreaking text demonstrates how reproductive justice is
theory, a lived practice, and a strategy,” which focuses on all
aspects of women of color reproductive health and lives. It
squarely places those women who are the most marginalized front and
center of any dialogue or movement that is focused on all women’s
health. Undivided Rights is as timely in 2016 if not more so now
than it was when it was first published in 2004."
Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Producer/Writer/Director, NO! The Rape
Documentary
A thorough and impassioned history of the too-often hidden
activism of women of color, Undivided Rights is a welcome and
necessary addition to feminist literature.”
Sonia Shah, Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe
Fire
What is unique about Undivided Rights is that it demonstrates that
women of color have always been central in the struggle for
reproductive rights and corrects the white-dominated narratives of
the history of reproductive rights movements. Because it focuses on
women of color organizing, it helps decenter the pro-choice’
paradigm and situates reproductive justice within a larger
framework of social, political, and economic justice.”
Andrea Smith, founding member, INCITE! Women of Color Against
Violence
Undivided Rights offers an impressive account of specific African
American, Native American, Asian American, and Latina organizations
that have fought to make a variety of reproductive health rights a
reality for women of color. It demonstrates the overlaps and
differences between issues of reproductive health as they arise in
various communities of color and documents both historical and
contemporary contours of community struggles for reproductive
justice. An accessible and important resource for anyone who wishes
to understand the ways in which women of color have both
practically and theoretically expanded the terrain of feminist
concerns about reproductive rights and justice.”
Uma Narayan, author, Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions,
and Third World Feminism
Undivided Rights brings together stories of victory and challenge
of women of color reproductive rights organizing. It documents the
foundation of our current work and provides newer organizations and
younger activists with lessons learned and with the inspiration to
continue the struggle for reproductive justice. This book is a much
needed and long awaited contribution to women’s history.”
Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina
Institute for Reproductive Health
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