"Joyful, terrifying, heart-wrenching, and infuriating"
Vol 4, Issue 5: May 2024
Welcome back to the Lighthouse! As we end Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, I wanted to share this article from the 19th, where AAPI staffers reflected on what it means to them to have a voice in democracy. We’re also just about to tip over into Pride Month, which is a great time to live our best Be Gay, Do Crime lives and reject unjust laws and systems that threaten (our) queer & trans existence. As we continue to see the medicalization of transness creating more barriers to trans liberation — such as with the wildly biased Cass Review driving even more gatekeeping of medical care for trans youth based on shoddy “research” — we all have a duty to reject that gatekeeping in whatever way we can. With Juneteenth approaching as well, it’s a great time to reread this Juneteenth op-ed from 2020 about how There Is No Queer Liberation Without Prison Abolition. Queer & trans liberation is only possible if we reject policing, prisons, and the gatekeeping of care and bodily autonomy.
On the COVID-19 front, levels in Wisconsin are still lower right now. But of course, people using even less precautions during these times typically leads to spikes soon after. It certainly doesn’t help that the CDC will be ending the federal Bridge Access Program providing free vaccines to under- and uninsured adults at the end of this summer due to lack of funding, before the next updated vaccine is ready no less. If you or someone you know could use this program, you have until August! I also want to share two great resources, both of which can help with talking to your loved ones about the on-going COVID pandemic and why we need to build better community care. The first, called You Have to Live Your Life, features a drop-down with common responses from people who want to believe that COVID is “over” or otherwise no longer a threat. Selecting an option will return a page of evidence about that topic, such as studies and articles debunking common myths about COVID. The other is the newly-updated Covid Tips site, which is one of the most robust resources I’ve seen. It contains a ton of information to help talk to loved ones (including kids) about the risks of COVID and what evidence tells us on how to keep each other safe(r).
Meanwhile, multiple states are now trying to ban masking in public, even for medical reasons, because they don’t want protesters being able to protect themselves. This is, of course, closely tied to the on-going college campus encampments1 (with support from many faculty members and nearby high school students, among others) in support of Palestine and demanding their universities divest from Israel. As police continue to brutalize protestors both at the encampments and beyond, now is as good a time as any to learn from and share resources about keeping ourselves and others safe. Jewish Currents created Safer in the Streets during the 2020 protests related to the murder of George Floyd, a free and shareable visual guide to dealing with police at protests. CrimethInc also has a lot of resources, but there’s a good roundup to start with in their Everybody Out! article. The ACLU also has a more general guide about knowing your rights that’s good to refresh yourself on (while keeping in mind that cops often don’t follow the law). And regardless of if you’re going to protests or not, Margaret Killjoy has a great primer for how to get started as a new activist trying to figure out where to start.
Now, onto the newsletter!
What it means to choose pregnancy in post-Roe America
“There is a unique danger to pregnancy for Black Americans, who face higher mortality and morbidity rates because of entrenched, systemic racism. Our medical system and broader culture have struggled to compassionately and competently discuss pregnancy loss, let alone address it. Transgender pregnant people have faced marginalization and discrimination, often struggling to access competent medical care. And Americans who become pregnant in their mid-30s and later — an ever-growing cohort — face distinct difficulties in finding affordable and appropriate medical care.2”
The 19th published a powerful four-part series looking at what it means to choose pregnancy in a post-Roe country, through the lens of four types of experiences: being Black, being trans, being 35+ years old for your pregnancy, and experiencing miscarriage or stillbirth. While much of the post-Roe discourse has focused on abortion access for obvious reasons, it can obscure the interconnected web that a reproductive justice approach can better shine a light on. These four articles explore it all through “joyful, terrifying, heart-wrenching, and infuriating” personal stories and contextualizing information that paint a clear picture of what it’s like to navigate these systems for many pregnant people today.
On top of exploring the (often-overlapping) systems of oppression that impact the care people receive throughout their reproductive journey (whether they are choosing to reproduce or not), these articles also highlight some of the ways we could be doing things differently to create better care and outcomes for people. For example, we could be expanding healthcare, ensuring that healthcare workers respect trans people and understand trans bodies, expanding access to abortion care (for any and all reasons someone may need or want one), and focusing more holistically on ensuring people have what they need to live their fullest lives all around. Many of the potential solutions overlap, too, meaning that even starting with just one change could have far-reaching positive impacts.
And of course, these articles are just a starting point. We can also consider how reparations fit into reproductive justice, or how environmental issues affect pregnant people and their babies, or how paid parental leave would be good for everyone. But I find that it can be especially helpful to start with stories like what you’ll find in these articles, where you can hear the firsthand experiences of what people went through to better understand the nuances of how baked-in the issues they faced really are. Once you start to hear the overlaps in people’s stories, it’s easier to think about broader and more radical approaches to addressing them. And that’s exactly what we need to do to create change!
See also: If you like series like this, Capital B also has one called Dangerous Deliveries, which focuses on the lack of maternal care and the poor birth outcomes in Georgia. They’ve also covered the health toll of racism more broadly.
What's Happening at Lakeshore Liberation?
Nothing new to share this time!
What’s Going on in Reproductive Justice
Researchers have found new evidence about what causes hyperemesis gravidarum, a dangerous condition that causes extreme nausea and vomiting throughout pregnancy. We’re one step closer to finding a way to prevent it!
In Gaza, things continue to worsen. The limited hospitals still able to operate at all are overwhelmed with people in need, including pregnant people who are malnourished, newborn babies that are sick and underweight, and more. There are more stories coming out of babies at risk and dying due to a lack of resources that Israel is blocking, all while famine spreads, impacting the basic needs of those still struggling to survive today — and generations to come. All the while, Israeli forces are bombing and invading Rafah, where an estimated 600,000 children (and of course, many more adults) are sheltering in a supposedly “safe zone.” Palestinian feminists are drawing attention the multi-pronged nature of reproductive genocide that Palestinians face and have faced and contextualizing reproductive justice within that history and the present.
ProPublica created a digital stillbirth memorial with the names (and stories) of 60 stillborn babies to represent roughly how many stillbirths occur daily in the United States.
A Waukesha-based doula and student midwife, Tamara Thompson, was featured in Wisconsin Life! In another article in the same series, she reflects on the loss of her own daughter and how she carries Demara with her in all of her work.
What’s Going on in Wisconsin
Cases of measles and whooping cough are popping up in Wisconsin again, as health officials are urging people to protect their infants with vaccinations. These are incredibly serious, highly contagious, and potentially deadly infections that vaccination protects against.
Gov. Evers once again vetoed a number of varyingly-terrible bills, including restrictions on trans student athletes, limitations on local control of animal welfare on farms, and allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to work without a permit.
The Biden administration has weighed in on the on-going fight of the Bad River tribe against Enbridge over the Line 5 pipeline, and it was a mixed bag. On the one hand, they believe the amount awarded to the tribe relating to the trespassing charges brought against Enbridge was far too low, considering the massive profits made during that time, which is absolutely correct. But they went on to indicate that they are more concerned about US-Canada relations than the tribe’s rights (and the environmental impacts), which is despicable but also unsurprising.
Here in Sheboygan, A Million Dreamz is one step closer to offering 24/7 child care! As they continue to finish the space, they are still looking for donations and volunteers that can help them cross the finish line.
Did you know that FoodShare recipients are able to submit replacement requests to get food spoiled by things like power outages replaced? Few recipients are aware of this, but it’s also not an easy process for everyone since it requires a printed form. Thankfully, Wisconsin (and other states) are working to simplify the process by offering an option to electronically sign forms, although this won’t happen until October.
What I've Been Reading
I really enjoyed the essay Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return, which explains just how unjust and misaligned it is for Zionists to refuse Palestinians the right of return. Even if you already know that it’s wrong, the essay still makes excellent points that really drives it home, especially by embedding it in historical context.
Toward a Just Food System is partly a review of a book I hadn’t heard of, but it raises a lot of really solid points about what it would take to create a more just food system and how little sense it makes to believe that, “agriculture should more closely resemble the settler-colonial ideal of small family farms than what it displaced.” I also read a couple of other great articles about building local food pathways and food sovereignty that I’d recommend.
I never saw Melrose Place, but I loved this deep dive into how radical artists snuck progressive art into the show. A quilt with the chemical formula for RU-486 (mifepristone, one of the medications that can be used for abortions) on it! A sheet set with condoms in the pattern! This was such an interesting read.
Devon Price’s recent article, Bilateral Dysphoria, really hit me. “I will never not be a gender freak. I never was anything but. It doesn’t matter exactly what I do with my body now, only that I retain the power to transform it, interpret it, and re-interpret it however I wish. Every single person is deserving of that power, be they trans, detransitioned, nonbinary, or cis.”
Ragen Chastain gives advice on what to do if you experience medical weight stigma. As with all of her work, it’s a resource worth saving and sharing!
What I'm Watching
I’ve been loving the newest season of Abbott Elementary, a show where I genuinely feel that every episode is a completely hit. (Scalawag did a great article on the powerful choice the show has made to keep cops out of its school entirely.)
What I'm Listening To
I finally got caught up on my backlog of Code Switch episodes, which included a fascinating delve into the history of the Panama Canal (which it turns out, I knew basically 0 about before this!); a look at the trope of the “outside agitator,” from the civil rights movement to today; and why white evangelical Christians are so pro-Israel.
I’m also caught up on my Reveal backlog, which included an episode on how Catholic healthcare mergers impact abortion access even in “blue” states, another on how all pregnancies in Gaza are “complicated” due to the on-going genocide and starvation campaign, and finally one on how all votes are not equal, and that’s how it was intended from the start.
Places to Donate To & Actions to Take
Teen Vogue shared a list of some organizations that are working to provide aid to Rafah, which can all be donated to.
Mother’s Day is past, but you can still contribute to the Black Mama Bailout 2024 fund that helps to cover bail for Black mothers!
The Sheboygan County Food Bank is crowdfunding to help feed students on weekends. Any donation amount helps, with as little as a $5 donation covering one student for one weekend.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Feel free to share them below or contact me directly.
This newsletter is already so long that I didn’t want to try to work in even more, but I wanted to include a few links about some of the Wisconsin encampments (and related actions) and what has happened with them!
I will note that I don’t love that two of the articles included “ob*sity” as a risk factor, despite the fact that anti-fatness comes directly from anti-Blackness and is itself far greater a risk.