Liberation Work

My current projects advocating for justice in our community…

Surviving Racism from womb to cradle: Assessing parent of color nicu satisfaction in oregon

Understanding parent of color NICU experiences is critical to inform and inspire advocacy efforts that hold medical institutions responsible for providing effective family- centered, trauma-informed and culturally-informed care. The aim of this statewide feminist participatory action research project is to better understand how institutional and medical racism shape the postpartum period in ways that either buffer adversity or confer risk for Black, Indigenous and families of color with premature infants. It utilizes mixed methods that are designed to be both process-oriented and outcome focused in order to support advocacy outcomes while also centering the racialized trauma of participants in ways that are therapeutic and beneficial to them in the process. It is being implemented by a team of women and gender diverse individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of color working in reproductive justice. Specifically, it asks: How does racism at multiple scales affect parent of color NICU experience? What insights do their experiences reveal about medical institutional betrayal? How can medical institutions leverage their power to support and empower families of color? This research project is funded by The Center for Institutional Courage.

Our community-based advisory committee

Community Care Squad

The community care squad is a mixed-race, collaboratively run group that supports Black, Indigenous and parents of color. Each month a recipient is nominated to receive care from the squad appropriate to their unique needs. Previous recipients have received massage, childcare, house cleaning and culturally-appropriate home cooked meals among other supports.

We are based on a feminist ethics of care that resists racism and patriarchy by caring for victims of systemic violence through concrete, actionable and emotionally responsive support. We address the embodied and emotional care needs of recipients, such as a need for rest, body work and nourishing food, which are typically repressed in capitalist societies and overlooked in social justice efforts that seek to provoke systemic change at a macro-level. Further, care needs are often framed individualistically within capitalism such that the onus of responsibility is placed on the individual to care for themselves (a.k.a. self care). Instead, we advocate for a model of community care that places the onus of responsibility on the collective to care for individuals of systemic violence. 

Testimonials

“Every interaction with Leticia asks me to grow, laugh, be courageous, and usually dance or sing too. There is no Being on this planet too small for Leticia’s dedication of love and care. Her presence beams through compassionate eyes, and her joyous laugh brings buoyancy to the important work she’s always on duty for. With skillful tact, her words ask us all to grow, and heal, and embody actions that allow others to do the same. I’ve never seen her fierce love waver. It’s there when she guides families into loving more wholly, or guides a group of white women in seeing their fragility that’s holding racism in place. It’s there when she honors the Earth and calls others to join. It reaches out into the community to give to those that give so much without the support of so many. Leticia has shown us how simple and joyful community care really is.” -CCS Member