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Undivided Rights | Praise
"With a gaping void of literature on feminists of color organizing for reproductive justice, in a time when feminists need to defend 'Roe v. Wade' but also must transcend the self-serving and racist legacy of pro-choice politics, Undivided Rights is essential in understanding the obstacles and opportunities that lie ahead."
—Bitch Magazine
"Undivided Rights is a stunning book. It accomplishes nothing less than redefining 'reproductive rights,' drawing on the histories and the agendas of reproductive rights organizations founded and led by women of color in the past generation, offering crystal clear explanations of the differences between pro-choice work and working for reproductive justice."
—NWSA Journal
"Undivided
Rights is the most complete account of the vital contribution made by women
of color to the contemporary reproductive rights movement. By giving these organizers
the attention they deserve, the authors illuminate a distinctive vision for
reproductive health and freedom that demands an end to social inequities. Essential
reading for anyone committed to the struggle for reproductive justice."
—Dorothy Roberts author of Killing the Black Body: Race,
Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
"What
is unique about Undivided Rights is that it demonstrates that women of
color have always been central in the struggle for reproductive rights and corrects
the white-dominated narratives of the history of reproductive rights movements.
Because it focuses on women of color organizing, it helps de-center the 'pro-choice'
paradigm and situates reproductive justice within a larger framework of social,
political, and economic justice. "
—Andrea Smith, author of Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide and founding member of INCITE! Women
of Color Against Violence
"Undivided
Rights offers an impressive account of specific African American, Native
American, Asian American, and Latina organizations that have fought to make
a variety of reproductive health rights a reality for women of color. It demonstrates
the overlaps and differences between issues of reproductive health as they arise
in various communities of color and documents both historical and contemporary
contours of community struggles for reproductive justice. An accessible and
important resource for anyone who wishes to understand the ways in which women
of color have both practically and theoretically expanded the terrain of feminist
concerns about reproductive rights and justice."
—Uma Narayan, author of Dislocating Cultures: Identities,
Traditions, and Third World Feminism
"Undivided
Rights brings together stories of victory and challenge of women of color
reproductive rights organizing. It documents the foundation of our current work
and provides newer organizations and younger activists with lessons learned
and with the inspiration to continue the struggle for reproductive justice.
This book is a much needed and long awaited contribution to women's history."
—Silvia Henriquez, Executive Director of the National
Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
"A
thorough and impassioned history of the too-often hidden activism of women of
color, Undivided Rights is a welcome and necessary addition to feminist
literature."
—Sonia Shah, author of Dragon Ladies: Asian American
Feminists Breathe Fire
"At
last—a book that thoroughly challenges the myth that movements for reproductive
rights and freedoms have been a mainly white, middle-class women's domain. Through
meticulous documentation of African American, Asian and Pacific Islander American,
Latina, and Native American women's activism since the 1960s to achieve sexual
and reproductive justice for all, Undivided Rights sets the record straight
about the broad meanings and anti-racist, anti-colonial roots of struggles to
achieve reproductive justice in the United States. This book is a must read
for everyone interested in the intersections of gender, race, and class; the
dynamics of contemporary social movements; and the power of women of color to
change history."
—Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, author of Global Prescriptions:
Gendering Health and Human Rights
"Undivided
Rights goes a long way toward breathing new life into the 'our bodies, our
choice' mantra. By examining reproductive rights issues through women of color's
eyes, the authors force a conversation that focuses not merely on one's sex,
but also on one's race, class, and social status, therefore radically obliterating
the notion that reproductive justice issues are colorless, ageless, and classless.
This is a necessary book that will help guide the reproductive rights movement
into the twenty-first century."
—Dawn Lundy Martin, author of The Fire This Time: Young
Activists and the New Feminism
"Give
Undivided Rights your undivided attention! This excellent book is a valuable
gift to activists, scholars, and others interested in the powerful, vibrant,
and inclusive reproductive justice organizing by women of color over the past
quarter century in the US. The authors reveal a history too rarely told of African
American, Latina, Native American, and Asian and Pacific Islander American women
developing theory, organizations, and public policy agendas that encompass the
diversity of women's reproductive health needs and the mighty potential of an
inclusive vision of reproductive rights."
—Sandra Morgen, author of Into Our Own Hands: The Women's
Health Movement in the US, 1969–1990
"Undivided
Rights provides powerful, provocative stories of grassroots organizing and
community health among contemporary women of color."
—Vicki L. Ruiz, author of From Out of the Shadows: Mexican
Women in Twentieth-Century America
"Undivided
Rights is feminist political history at its finest. Its case studies bring
alive the powerful story of how women of color organizing has transformed the
reproductive rights movement by courageously challenging both population control
and anti-abortion forces. In analyzing the political experiences of the past,
Undivided Rights provides a rich legacy of strategies for the present and future.
Clearly written and persuasively argued, it will appeal to a broad audience
of activists, students, scholars, and anyone interested in the history of race
and reproduction and progressive feminist organizing in the US."
—Betsy Hartmann, author of Reproductive Rights and Wrongs:
The Global Politics of Population Control
"Does
'reproductive choice' mean something different for women of color than white
women? In Undivided Rights, Silliman, Fried, Ross, and Gutiérrez
unequivocally answer the question by deconstructing the dichotomy of "pro-choice"/"pro-life"
and usher us into the realities of women of color where reproductive rights
are inseparable from issues of class, race, sexuality, ability, and nationality,
and the struggle for individual rights transforms into collective movements
for comprehensive justice. Foregrounding the work in four communities of color … the
authors not only document the histories of women's organizing and resistance,
but also challenge the myth of minority women's apathy and follower mentality.
Undivided Rights is incisively analytical, affirming of women of color,
and yet, charts the possibility of interracial collaboration as well as redefining
'reproductive rights' for all. Truly inspirational!"
—Shamita Das Dasgupta, author of A Patchwork Shawl: Chronicles
of South Asian Women in America
"Undivided
Rights is an important addition to both the history of reproductive rights
and the current movement. By documenting the contributions and struggles of
women of color, Undivided Rights highlights rarely heard perspectives
and facets of women's ongoing fight for justice. These strong voices speak to
the movement and to the greater society. The authors' own activism enriches
the narrative and analysis. A must read for anyone interested in women's lives."
—Laura Kaplan, author of The
Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service
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