Black Birth Work: Reproductive Violence, Resistance, Care, and Love in the Arizona Borderlands

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Description
Nine Black birth workers serving in the state of Arizona participated in this autoethnographic project. Birth workers are laborers who work with pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people. This includes doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, nurses, obstetricians and more. Participants in this…

Nine Black birth workers serving in the state of Arizona participated in this autoethnographic project. Birth workers are laborers who work with pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people. This includes doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, nurses, obstetricians and more. Participants in this study primarily identified as doulas, midwives, or lactation consultants. I conducted semi-structured interviews with the participants, followed by one or two post visits to verify the data and ask additional questions. Participants reported various reasons for entering birth work that coalesced around a desire to support pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people across their reproductive timeline. Additionally, participating birth workers recounted their preparation to enter the profession and disclosed their thoughts about the perinatal bodymind. Moreover, participants demonstrated the prolific nature of obstetric violence in hospital-based birthing practices along with the ways they resist this violence. Demonstrating their enactment of birth work as activism, participating Black birth workers recalled instances where they have served as a safe and supportive presence for a range of pregnancy outcomes. As participants attested, birth work can be costly for them. They shared the demands of the work as well as the compensation they receive. Furthermore, participants build birth work formations to support their work affectively and materially.
Date Created
2024
Agent

Sanando Juntos: Digital Storytelling as a tool for Destigmatizing Depression in Latina Adolescents

Description

Latinas face among the highest documented rates of depressive symptoms among all adolescent groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 Youth Risk and Behavior Survey, 46.8% of Latina adolescents reported feeling sad and hopeless on a…

Latinas face among the highest documented rates of depressive symptoms among all adolescent groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 Youth Risk and Behavior Survey, 46.8% of Latina adolescents reported feeling sad and hopeless on a daily basis. As a Latina myself, I found myself wondering how we could direct power back to our Latina youth. I turned to the tradition of storytelling, an integral practice in Latino/a communities. Storytelling is a social and cultural tradition, which upholds intergenerational connection, understanding, and education. While many Latinas engage with storytelling in the family space, I wanted to foster a safe space outside of the household for Latinas to connect with one another. I was inspired by psychologist Dr. Lillian Comas-Diaz's concept "Spirita," a synthesizing spirituality among women of color which places emphasis on understanding the shared traumatic experiences and drawing joy from empathetic connections and commitment to creating community with one another. From here, I developed a website called "Sanando Juntos," or "Healing Together," teaching Latinas how to use storytelling as a tool to better understand themselves as well as create a space to foster connections with other Latinas. In order to develop a theoretical framework for the website, a literature review was conducted observing successful methods of digital storytelling in adolescent audiences. I then used this research to develop the main pillars for the website, a storytelling workshop, safe-space building, multimedia approaches, and peer-to-peer interaction. With many young Latina girls disproportionately suffering from suicidal ideation and depression, Sanando Juntos acts as a way to break down the stigma surrounding these difficult conversations while empowering and connecting like-minded Latinas. The final website can be viewed at https://sanandojuntos.com.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Punch Drunk, a Promise of Concussion: A Look at African American Collegiate Athletes' Vested Interest in Football

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Description
The present text identifies issues within the African American collegiate football player's experience on the field after sustaining a head impact. Historically, African American athletes have had a vested interest in performing well on the football field as a means…

The present text identifies issues within the African American collegiate football player's experience on the field after sustaining a head impact. Historically, African American athletes have had a vested interest in performing well on the football field as a means of climbing up the socio- economic ladder. The nature of the athletes' sport makes them vulnerable to low-grade and high- grade head injuries. These individuals then become quick to weigh the options and accept the risks that come with the injuries. Some African American footballers come from lower income backgrounds; and, as such, they have been socialized to utilize sport as a means to gain higher socioeconomic and social status. Only, some head injuries cause greater underlying damage, which makes it more difficult for the individuals to overcome the challenges of gaining a higher status. These physiological damages incurred by the brain may later manifest themselves as psychological disorders or neurodegenerative disorders, including Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. Such incidences correlate with the drift hypothesis, where the athletes' injuries prevent them from gaining ground from the socioeconomic standpoint. It is recommended that education on head impacts be implemented at a younger age in schools. Clinicians should focus their treatment plans on objective measures and implement the guidelines and protocols that have already been instated within the leagues. Athletes must advocate for their own health and well-being, just as they do for their advancement on the field. Furthermore, there should be separation between clinician, team, and business; and, all teams should enforce all regulations for safety.
Date Created
2018-05
Agent

The Importance of Friendship and Community in a Phoenix Homeless Population

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Description
The lonely, empty face panhandling on the street corner has a story to tell. At first glance, most people write the homeless off as less than worthy. However, there is a deeper connection and understanding of relationships and a sense…

The lonely, empty face panhandling on the street corner has a story to tell. At first glance, most people write the homeless off as less than worthy. However, there is a deeper connection and understanding of relationships and a sense of community unseen by the majority of passer-byers. Amidst the humdrum beat of every day life, there is toil to find basic necessities such as food, water, sanitation, and a place to rest. At the same time, there is laughter and friendship as they help one another through the hostilities of their circumstances. Combining the creative elements of photojournalism and qualitative interviewing, the basic daily needs and struggles of the homeless will be delved into to answer how friendship is pertinent to survival on the streets.
Date Created
2012-12
Agent
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