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>> SPEAKER: Our next speaker will be Sandra Criswell from Oklahomans for Reproductive Justice.
(Cheering)
>> SANDRA: Good morning everyone.
I want to begin by thanking my colleagues from OK4RJ, AKA the hostile flyover crew who were able to join me today.
We flew in from Oklahoma, Wichita, St. Louis, and Albuquerque and boy are we ever super in love with each other.
I especially want to thank Jen ***, my partner in crime and fellow OK4RJ board member and Take Root organizer,
as well as everyone who was able to make the Take Root conference possible, especially Dr. Jill Irvine,
And the faculty and staff at OU women's and gender studies, Dr. Carol Mason, our many sponsors and partner organizations,especially Provide
Lynn Paltrow, and National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
I'd also like to take a quick second to recognize my colleagues from Trust Women, who were unable to join me today
Because they were busy doing this little project of bringing abortion care back to Wichita, Kansas.
(Applause)
Julie Burkhart and the rest of my family at Trust Women, you've given me the honor of
joining you and supporting you in a truly historical moment and rest assured to everyone here.
We are just getting started.
I get many responses when I tell people that I do the work that I do, where I do it.
There's the classic "you're so brave" and "thank you." What always feels best is when it's coming
from someone from home because I know that they appreciate exactly how dire our situation is,
but they also understand why I do it. Because Oklahoma and Kansas are worth it.
Then there are the folks that say "sorry" and wonder why in the world I would do work
around abortion access and reproductive justice in states like Oklahoma and Kansas.
They suggest that, as if it's some kind of revolutionary concept, that I consider moving to the east or west coast.
So in order to achieve reproductive justice, I must leave the places the least access and the least amount of resources.
This is similar to another line that many of us flyover activists get, and just general residents,
"Why don't all the women, the people of color, the *** people, the trans people, the most marginalized
folks move out of Oklahoma and Kansas?" Sure do you all wanna cover the bill?
It's serious to say that I must move to social justice hotspots on the coasts and that people
must leave their homes in order to maintain their basic human and civil rights is not a solution. It's a symptom of a larger sickness.
When the economic privilege present in that suggestion is absolutely glaring because the most marginalized people
tend to have the most restrictive movements, it also has probably never entered into these peoples minds that maybe we like it there.
Until we have people working in all communities to end reproductive oppression, we will never achieve reproductive justice.
(Applause)
>> SANDRA: Don't get me wrong though, the east and west coast have been extremely good to us.
CLPP has been an important part of my experience as a reproductive justice organizer from the very beginning.
It has served for the inspiration for the 2 loves of my life, OK4RJ and Take Root.
It is the first place where I was really able to immerse myself into reproductive justice and it was also the first place I recognized
that there was a missed opportunity for a much larger dialogue about what it means to build a reproductive justice movement
for all regardless of where people live. It was here that they also provided a space where I could express my frustration, and
where I could express to people that southerners deserve reproductive justice, Midwesterners deserve it, conservative people deserve it.
Reproductive justice is not something you need to prove that you deserve.
(Applause)
>> SANDRA: So it's for all these reasons that Take Root exists. The conference focuses on elevating the work that people
in "red states" are doing, and offers the opportunity for them to collaborate. I thought about the best way
to bring a piece of Take Root to CLPP would be to bring everyone here but that's I guess pretty logistically impossible so
I'm bringing you some of the words of the participants instead and if their words move
you or peak your interest, I hope you will join us February 22, 2014.
"I make no illusions about my love for the Midwest and the city I grew up in and I get
tired of being told what my life looks like and being asked, quite frankly, insulting
questions about how 'backwards' my life must be. Take Root was an explosion to answer these questions."
"It can be very isolating to work on reproductive justice and other leftist and liberal activism
in conservative places. Sometimes it feels like you are all alone in a windstorm that
will rip you to pieces, trying to make yourself heard over the roaring. For these 2 days none
of us were alone. We were surrounded by others who were as committed to the fight and shared
our struggles. If we can stand united, maybe our fights will not seem so insurmountable.
And I learned that being honest is nothing to apologize for."
Thank you.