shackling of women during birth in prisons

h/t radical doula

from rh reality check

check out this article on giving birth in shackles.

Last month, a former Washington inmate sued the state for shackling during her birthing process and high-risk pregnancy, treatment that included a leg iron and a metal chain across her stomach.

Also last month, former inmates of Cook County jail filed a federal lawsuit in Illinois challenging the facility’s shackling practice. Illinois was the first state to have legislation that prohibited shackling; it remains one of four states that make shackling explicitly illegal.

“I had no idea women were treated like that anywhere,” said Tina Reynolds, who was shackled during labor and the birth of her son fifteen years ago.

“Shackling is a brutal and inherently unjust practice, so blatantly draconian,” said Malika Saada Saar, executive director of The Rebecca Project (and contributor to RH Reality Check).

“The problem is that policies for incarcerated men are extended to women without adapting to distinct circumstances,” Saada Saar added.

i am really glad to hear that the activists around this issue are framing it as a human rights violation.  that this is cruel and unusual punishment.  and that it is torture.

because that is what it is.  it is a practices that causes physical and psychological trauma to the mother as well as child.  someone in the article described it as ‘draconian’ and i kept imagining these medieval torture chambers.

what i have a hard time imagining is the justification for this practice.  really?  so that the woman doesnt escape incarceration.  something tells me that this was said by someone who has not gotten to experience the glorious miracle of labor.  ummm….in the middle of labor is the woman really going to have the energy to break out of prison?

Leaders in the anti-shackling movement credit the campaign’s momentum to centering the experiences of women who were shackled. Their stories are featured at press conferences, in letters, in briefs, and other campaign vehicles. Many are collected through Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH), an association of formerly incarcerated women founded by Reynolds.

“It may be possible to resist changes (to the practice of shackling), but when you’re confronted with the reality of women who’ve had to endure this, that’s a hard position to maintain,” said Rhoad.

i was thinking earlier that we dont center the voices and experiences of the marginalized simply because it makes us look good.  no, we (as community builders) do so not only because it is ethical but also because it is effective.

chrysallis

it turns out that butterflies come from chrysallis not cocoons…

well, chrysallis is a prettier word anyways…

early manual for negro midwives

hey in the comments i just received this link to:

Early Manual for Negro Midwives in Mississippi

and it looks interesting. i would love to own a copy.

This is wonderful historical nursing collectible, the “MANUAL for MIDWIVES” printed by the Mississippi State Board of Health in 1939. The manual was to be used by Negro Midwives who traveled all counties of Mississippi on horseback and by wagon (As shown) to help deliver 1000’s of babies before W.W.II. and after. The 40 page manual is in excellent condition without torn or missing pages and has many wonderful photographs including “Mother, Daughter, Granddaughter” all midwives.The manual contained all the information the Midwife would need, including Official Recognition and Registration, Permit and a copy of the Midwife Record. There is a list of “Equipment of Midwife” (Pictures) and “No Instrument Other Than Those Listed Shall Be Carried Or Used By The Midwife” The manual has detailed instruction on how to set the room up for delivery, what is “Needed at the time of Delivery”, how to put her gown on, care of the baby and detailed instructions on what to do for each emergency. Everything they could think of is in the book. The manual also lists the songs the Midwives had to learn and the “PRAYER WRITTEN BY NEGRO PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE FOR MIDWIVES” This is a little Nursing Treasure and an Heirloom for Midwives. Includes shipping and may be returned anytime in the future for more than you paid for it.

when it aint a fair trade

just a thought on this conversation over at vegans of color:

…if you are vegan because you reject animal exploitation this wouldn’t even be an argument because no craving would stand in the way of your moral obligations as a compassionate person .

veganism is the practical expression of anti speciesism. and more specifically against the enslavement or murder of innocent sentient beings. and for this reason vegans boycott animal products, including leather and fur. then are also as stringently to boycott products made by human slave labor. since human beings are sentient beings too. and what if we cannot boycott products made by slave labor. (for instance i have no idea how i would buy clothes or most things that were not made by slave labor here in egypt…there is not much ‘fair trade’ market here) and thus i still wear and use products made from the enslavement and murder of human beings…does this mean that i cannot call myself vegan according to this standards set by certain members of this convo at vegans of color blog?
i am not asking that as a tongue in cheek question. i seriously want to know. to what extent are we truly dedicated vegans? to what extent are we against the enslavement and murder of the innocent?
or do we figure hey i am really against the enslavement of human beings so i try my best to not purchase slave products…but you know simply because where i am in my life and within the structural realities of the socio-economic system sometimes i do have to buy slave labor products. and it sucks. and i do it.
i mean if you are going to call yourself vegan…then you need to walk the talk.

self improvement

1. what if this entire project…that each of us is participating in…this entire project of self-improvement…is an illusion.

as in.  what if.  self-improvement is impossible?

i think about how much time i spend trying to be a better person.  how much energy i spend with that project.

and what would we do if such a project was and illusion?

what if there was no such thing as self-improvement?

and we all just are?  just us?

would we be free?

jaded hippy replied to this first part:

I think when it comes down to it, at some point we are just us. And we’re all we can be. But I’m very unsure where that line is drawn…

and my reply in return:

i am starting to think that that line is drawn now…
and all this constant self improvement be a better person all these personal goals of being a healthier, more aware, more moral, etc. person is fictitious.  that there is really just this.  who we are…and it is enough…
its like im cis privileged/trans phobic.  and i am not going to become less so by ‘trying’.  by working on my psyche or my mental state or my attitude.  or whatever.

some words by krishnamurti

“How is the mind which functions on knowledge – how is the brain which is recording all the time – to end, to see the importance of recording and not let it move in any other direction? Very simply: you insult me, you hurt me, by word, gesture, by an actual act; that leaves a mark on the brain which is memory. That memory is knowledge, that knowledge is going to interfere in my meeting you next time – obviously. … Knowledge is necessary to act in the sense of my going home from here to the place I live; I must have knowledge for this; I must have knowledge to speak English; I must have knowledge to write a letter and so on. Knowledge as function, mechanical function, is necessary. Now if I use that knowledge in my relationship with you, another human being, I am bringing about a barrier, a division between you and me, namely the observer. That is, knowledge, in relationship, in human relationship, is destructive. That is knowledge which is the tradition, the memory, the image, which the mind has built about you, that knowledge is separative and therefore creates conflict in our relationship.”^[105]

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“The brain has been trained to record for in that recording there is safety, security, a sense of vitality; in that recording the mind creates the image about oneself. And that image will constantly get hurt. Is it possible to live without a single image about yourself, or about your husband, wife, children, or about the politicians, the priests, or about the ideal? It is possible, and if it is not found you will always be getting hurt, always living in a pattern in which there is no freedom. When you give complete attention there is no recording. It is only when there is inattention that you record. That is: you flatter me; I like it; the liking at that moment is inattention therefore recording takes place. But if when you flatter me I listen to it completely without any reaction, then there is no center which records.”

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to set free

an excerpt of a comment of a blog that i will probably not be writing for again…no need to provide the link:

but there is a far more troubling assertion on this thread than the ones simply steeped in ignorance about the living conditions of a lot of folks on this planet.
there is the assumption that i cannot know what i need for me body and my life. that my self knowledge. my deep understanding in this body and this life for three decades is not adequate for me to be able to be my own expert on my own existence.
and this troubles me because it cuts to the heart of the question of anti oppressive anti authoritarian radical ethics and politics.
who is the authority on our lives? who is the authority on the black experience. or being queer. or being working class. or being a refugee. who owns these stories?
who owns this knowledge?
can you tell the story of my life better than i can?
what gives you the right to say what i needed and what i wanted?
only i can say that.
only i can say what i needed for my survival. and that i believed that my survival, that my childs survival, were worth it.
perhaps you disagree.
i hope not.
we like to think that we are so knowledgeable that we understand all of the factors of another persons life. well that is just hubris. we can never know what some one else’s life truly requires.
isnt the point of anti speciesism that we all have the right to survive?

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i have read krishnamurti off and on for years…and whenever i read him i felt like something he was saying or trying to impart felt illusive.  slippery.  i would think i had it and then…nope…still in the dark…

but today it didnt slip from my hand.  and im not trying to grasp it:

I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or coerce people along a particular path.

“This is no magnificent deed, because I do not want followers, and I mean this. The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth. I am not concerned whether you pay attention to what I say or not. I want to do a certain thing in the world and I am going to do it with unwavering concentration. I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: to set man free. I desire to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found religions, new sects, nor to establish new theories and new philosophies

on plato’s republic and the deconstruction of western philosophical assumptions and some shit…

i know that we say that plato is the father of european philosophy.  who is it who says that all other philosophy is a footnote to plato?

but in thinking today about greek philosophy and literature.  specifically plato’s apologia, odyseus and the plato’s republic- i am wondering if plato could better be seen as a the high critic of this european project.  in that the republic is a critique of the foundations of european philosophy.  and if it can be seen as a deconstruction of european totalizing and idealizing foundations.  i mean plato puts forth the idea of the perfect state.  right?  the perfect government.  and the philosopher-king to rule us all in perfect wisdom.  but within this we know that plato is not advocating for such a government but showing us the impossibility of such a government.  showing us the impossibility of achieving such an ideal.  and in his work, he reveals the incredible violence and destructiveness of creating and living by these ideals.  and yet he is acknowledging that we as human cultures do create these ideals.

so in real life.  our project.  rather than trying to re-construct the ideal.  on this earth.  is to create a world that is open to all of the imperfections (aka not ideal) aka diversity in the world.  nothing is ideal.  right?  but in place of the ideal.  we get variety.  we get multiplicity.  we get hybridity.  we get fractures.  and pieces.  or at least that is how it seems to us looking through the paradigm of the ideal.

once we realize this.  then we can begin to talk about how can we contribute to a world that supports this diversity.

i mean what does one see in the blinding light outside of the cave?  color.  colors.  so many different colors.  and so much life in so many different forms and shapes and movements and embodiments…so so much…

where ive been

hey there

you may have wondered why i havent been posting as frequently lately. well, as i had stated before i was cocooning.

and in the interim i thought you might want to be alerted to some things going on in our lil world.

like:

#i have been guest blogging at flip flopping joy for the past week.  and will be doing so for at least another week or so.  so if you want to check out the posts…

messy but necessary

1. one of the things i have learned in community building is that communities are not monolithic.  now this may seem to be an obvious point.  but one of the principles of my community work has been that we must follow the leadership of the oppressed marginalized excluded.

and in theory.  on paper.  on screen.  that looks really ethical.

in practice.  on the ground.  off line.  these clear lines get much messier.

some posts about the iranian protests

non-violence, palestine, and land

after years of thought and work, i have stopped referring to myself as non-violent.  non-violence to me is a series of tactics that one uses in order to achieve a more just world.  non-violence is a tactic.  not a goal.  in the non-violent org i used to work for (the same one that joy worked for in palestine) we used to joke: non-violence is the answer.  non-violence is the answer.  non-violence is the answer.  now what was the question?

fluency and coalition

1. We as a society give so much more credit to a white person who is fluent in a third world or people of color language, cultural style and lifestyle than we give to a person of color or third world person who learns intimately a white person’s language and cultural style.

For the white person who masters the others language he or she is made into a ‘master’ of that language and culture. And of Language and Culture in general.

In a person of color such parallel mastery of white folks language or another poc or third world communities language is considered to be ‘par for the course’. In other words it is to be expected of a poc with any ambition to be able to mimic the language and cultural norms of white folks. I am not sure why this is exactly.

i am also also blogging at raven’s eye.  and have altered some what the format of the blog.  you can check it out here.

also i just posted an article here at vegans of color:

survival foods

A nuclear Iran wouldn’t be that bad if it was chummy with Israel.

a fascinating post on the iranian protests.

So the protesters are a heteroclite assemblage of small groups and individuals ranging from bourgeois who would like to see Iran join NATO, to extreme leftists. But many if not most of them are not demanding the overthrow of the regime. According to my bro, what they would settle for is better economic policies to address unemployment and to stop the Ahmadinejad’s demagogic disaster, and the removal of dress restrictions for women: veil and coat. Basically people want to live better. Austerity is not the modern youth’s favored mode.

The Baseej, of course, are on the other side. They support Ahmedinejad and they also form a significantly large group of young people. There are regional differences in the distribution of the relative importance of the two groups, but, unlike what has been implied, not one group has the monopole of the rural or the urban fabric, or of the provincial cities versus Teheran. There is everything everywhere.

An issue of relevance to Palestine and Lebanon is that dislike (not to say repugnance) of Ahmedinejad and of his policies is spilling over on what he is seen as political choices he has imposed, especially in regional politics: Palestine and Lebanon. So while it was Musawi who had institutionalized the Iran-Hizbullah relationship when he was president (and this was during Hizbullah’s darkest days), support to Palestine and to the Lebanese group is now being seriously criticized by those who are contesting the results of the elections. This is where support to the protests gains increased importance for the US-Israel agenda in the region. A nuclear Iran wouldn’t be that bad if it was chummy with Israel. Remember the Shah?