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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2018)
January 10, 2018 The Skanner Page 3 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Black Women Need Real Change, Not Just Thanks By La’Tasha D. Mayes (Executive Director, New Voices for Reproductive Justice) A fter Roy Moore’s defeat at the hands of Alabama voters — driven by Black voter turn- out, especially the votes of Black women — we saw the celebration, credit-taking, and mean- ing-making that usually accompanies a progres- sive electoral victory. But one thing was differ- ent this time. This time, mainstream media and social media feeds flood- ed with messages ac- knowledging and thank- ing Black women for our role in the outcome. Welcome to the reality Black wom- en have known about — and named — for de- cades. One of the hashtags that took off amid the Al- abama election returns and the following days was #TrustBlackWom- en. But what does it mean to trust Black women? What does it mean to advance a policy agen- “ PHOTO COURTESY OF LA’TASHA D. MAYES It’s well past time America began to truly trust — and listen to — African American women La’Tasha D. Mayes, the founder and executive director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice, says that Black women are already leading the way in reproductive health, rights, and justice policy. Black women are al- ready leading the way in reproductive health, rights, and justice poli- cy. In 2015, after decades of work by Black wom- en advocates, Represen- tative Barbara Lee (D-Ca- lif.) led the introduction of the EACH Woman Act to repeal the Hyde Amendment’s Reign of Terror on poor wom- en, and the bill today has 128 co-sponsors in the House, even in this incredibly hostile politi- cal moment. We want a future where we can live with respect, health, and justice da that addresses the is- sues Black women face in this country? Black women voters are not a monolith — we’re diverse, complex, and deeply engaged in national, state, and local policy debates. We don’t all agree. But there is a set of values most Black women hold close to our hearts: we want a future where we can live with respect, health, and justice. Where we can decide whether and when to have children, and raise those children with- out fear of hunger, vio- lence, or discrimination. Where we can realize our dreams and highest human potential. For a start, I hope that this election can finally put to rest the ludicrous question of whether a progressive agenda must include support for abortion access. Not only are Black women overwhelmingly sup- portive of abortion ac- cess, but nationwide, keeping abortion legal has the highest levels of support in decades. Being able to make our own decisions about our bodies, pregnancy, and parenting is crucial to Black women’s dignity and self-determination. In another show of leadership, women of color in the Senate and their colleagues sent a bold and defiant letter to Trump demanding that he strip the Hyde Amendment and other bans on abortion cover- age from the budget. I doubt anyone is holding their breath for him to do the right thing, but that should never stop our leaders in Congress from taking a principled pro- active stand. But a reproductive health, rights, and justice platform that respects Black wom- en must go beyond abor- tion. Black women in the U.S. are dying in child- birth at many times the rate of White women, a national health crisis that has gone largely ig- nored. Black women also suffer and die at dispro- portionate rates of re- productive cancers like breast and cervical can- cer. In addition to con- traception and abortion care, we need access to quality affordable health care and coverage for the full range of reproduc- tive care including can- cer prevention, screen- ing, and treatment, and prenatal, maternity, and postpartum care. The Affordable Care Act — a law Black women cham- pioned — was a monu- mental step in the right direction. Today, we’re fighting to hold on even to that, and we know a better solution is needed. Every day in this coun- try, Black women face nearly impossible odds to raise our children with dignity, love, and abundance. But the cru- el anti-family budget and tax policies of the conservative GOP have decimated funding for nutrition, housing, and other necessities while lining the pockets of their wealthy donors — even as they have failed to reauthorize the Chil- dren’s Health Insurance Program also known as CHIP. We must do every- thing in our power to reverse this dangerous redistribution of wealth and well-being from the poor to the super-rich. Finally, we must ad- dress the ways in which police and prisons have been weaponized against Black Americans to rob us of our loved ones through mass in- carceration and deadly police violence. Black lives matter is more than a hashtag, organization, or move- ment. It’s the urgent cry for justice from the mouths of mothers, sis- ters, wives, partners, and daughters. Time and time again, Black women have been told to wait our turn. No longer. It’s time for this coun- try to do more than thank Black women — it’s time to put our issues in the center of the politi- cal table and follow the leadership of Black wom- en as we construct a new nation that affirms the human rights of us all. La’Tasha D. Mayes is the founder and executive director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice. You can follow her on Twitter @duxfemfac.
