Highbrow Magazine - Latinas https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/latinas en Why Planned Parenthood Matters https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/5178-why-planned-parenthood-matters <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 08/05/2015 - 16:18</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1plannedparenthood.jpg?itok=0bpMXO9v"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1plannedparenthood.jpg?itok=0bpMXO9v" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>From our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2015/08/its-not-about-planned-parenthood.php">New America Media</a></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Commentary</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Earlier this week, the Senate voted on a measure that would have defunded Planned Parenthood. While the measure was defeated by a narrow margin, more political showdowns over Planned Parenthood funding are expected, even perhaps leading to a government shutdown.</p> <p> </p> <p>While such efforts face fierce opposition from champions in Congress and the White House—it is sobering to consider what might happen if they were to be successful. Defunding Planned Parenthood would unquestionably destroy access to health care for millions, including hundreds of thousands of Latinas who rely on these clinics for sexual and reproductive health services, including critical preventive care.</p> <p> </p> <p>The defunding vote in Congress comes on the heels of a manipulative and inflammatory campaign to spread misinformation about Planned Parenthood and demonize abortion providers and the women and communities who rely on them for care. The zealots behind the campaign have been relentless in attacking reproductive healthcare services, even going so far as to hack and disable websites that patients rely on for medical information.</p> <p> </p> <p>But as much as Planned Parenthood appears to be the focus of these attacks, this isn’t ultimately about any one organization. These attacks are merely the latest salvo in a far-reaching, systematic, ideological crusade to deny personal reproductive health decision-making. Those behind this crusade, and their allies in Congress, want to deny legal abortion, contraception and other services to anyone and everyone. Falling short of that goal, these extremists will content themselves to undermine the health and autonomy of those who are already most marginalized: the young, the undocumented, and those struggling to make ends meet.</p> <p> </p> <p>Attacks on abortion providers are nothing new. For decades, anti-choice extremists have used harassment, intimidation, misinformation, and even murder to terrorize abortion providers and try to prevent them from caring for their patients. This latest campaign of manipulative media and cyberattacks, coupled with calls to defund Planned Parenthood, is intended to scare, shame, and shut down health care providers that women and families rely on.</p> <p> </p> <p>Despite the claims and political theatrics, the reality is that defunding Planned Parenthood would have little to no effect on actual abortion services. Since federal funds are currently withheld from being used for abortion, cutting funds to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers would really mean Congress taking away resources that are currently being used for birth control, STI screenings and prevention, cancer screenings, and other health care services. Those resources helped provide nearly 11 million medical services to nearly three million people in 2012, and helped to prevent approximately 515,000 unintended pregnancies. One fifth of these patients are Latina/—who often seek care at Planned Parenthood clinics after being turned away elsewhere due to income, immigration status, or insurance.</p> <p> </p> <p>While it’s true that people of all walks of life utilize Planned Parenthood health services, make no mistake about who truly depends on this care. Seventy-nine percent of Planned Parenthood clients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level. It’s not surprising, then, that Latinas -- one in three of whom lives in poverty -- would be especially harmed by a withdrawal of federal funds.</p> <p> </p> <p>We already know what would happen. We need only look at Texas. In 2012, the Texas state legislature defunded Planned Parenthood—a longtime provider of quality care in the region—with shocking effects. The following year, Texas met only 13 percent of the need for publicly funded contraception—less than half of national totals for the same year. A human rights report, Nuestro Texas, documented the aftermath: one woman reported living for years with lumps in her breast and no way to know if they were cancerous; another woman reported sharing her birth control prescription with her sister, since she couldn’t afford a whole pill pack. Still other women reported living with debilitating pain and being forced to discontinue contraception use altogether, resulting in unwanted pregnancies.</p> <p> </p> <p>Latinas—who are more likely to be low-income, of reproductive age, and to experience unintended pregnancy—bear the brunt of defunding in Texas and would be immeasurably harmed if Congress followed Texas’ bad example. Latinas are among the most likely to suffer and die of cervical cancer, an almost entirely preventable and highly treatable disease, for the simple reason that we can’t get preventive care.</p> <p> </p> <p>The extremists behind these proposals unquestionably want to ban abortion—they will do anything to reach that goal. But the real agenda is much broader and would cut off all reproductive health care, especially for those with limited resources.</p> <p> </p> <p>This is about our health, our lives, and our decisions. Whether that decision is to end a pregnancy, access a Pap smear, know one’s HIV status, or simply talk to someone about sexual health. This is much bigger than Planned Parenthood.</p> <p> </p> <p>So, yes, as the hashtag says, stand with Planned Parenthood. But more than that, stand with the millions of people in this country whose futures may hang in the balance. Because this is about all of us.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Jessica González-Rojas is the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.</em></strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/planned-parenthood" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">planned parenthood</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/senate-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">senate</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/defunding-planned-parenthood" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">defunding planned parenthood</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cancer-screenings" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cancer screenings</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/contraception" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">contraception</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latinas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Latinas</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/birth-control" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">birth control</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jessica González-Rojas</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Google Images; Wikipedia Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 05 Aug 2015 20:18:29 +0000 tara 6248 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/5178-why-planned-parenthood-matters#comments The Problem of the Latina Sex Symbol in Hollywood https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4248-problem-latina-sex-symbol-hollywood <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 08/25/2014 - 11:30</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1latinas.jpg?itok=W5Ok-EqD"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1latinas.jpg?itok=W5Ok-EqD" width="480" height="329" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>From <a href="http://aldianews.com/">Al Dia</a> and reprinted by our content partner New America Media</strong>:</p> <p> </p> <p>It’s no news to anyone that Latinas don’t get much diversity of roles in popular entertainment media.</p> <p> </p> <p>On TV we have sexy domestic workers Ana Ortiz and company on <em>Devious Maids</em>, and sexy bimbo Sofia Vergara on <em>Modern Family</em>. On film, we’ve got sexy badasses Zoe Saldana in <em>Colombiana</em> and Michelle Rodriguez in the <em>Machete </em>and <em>Resident Evil</em> flicks. We’ve got sexy prostitutes and strippers, too, like Rosario Dawson and Jessica Alba in <em>Sin</em><em> City</em><em> 1 and 2</em>. We’ve got Eva Mendes as the sexy homewrecker on film in <em>The Women</em>, and Eva Longoria as the sexy wife who wrecks her own home on the <em>Desperate Housewives </em>of relatively recent memory.</p> <p> </p> <p>Nothing wrong with being sexy, of course, but the sheer redundancy of the preceding paragraph should give us pause when we think about Latinas and their representation on big or little screen. As it happens, a recent study from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the University of Southern California gives cause for more than just pause. One of the findings in a study on race and ethnicity in 600 popular films conducted by Stacey Smith, Katherine Pieper and Mark Choueiti is that while Latinas were more likely to be featured in popular films than any other race or ethnicity, no other race/ethnicity is more sexualized.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Nudity or showing exposed skin between the mid chest and upper thigh region varied by race/ethnicity,” the report states. “Hispanic females (37.5 percent) were more likely than females from all other races to be shown partially or fully naked on screen.”</p> <p> </p> <p>In numbers, the report found that 36.1 percent of the Latina characters were depicted in sexualized attire (White women - 32.2 percent; Black women - 24.6 percent; Asian women - 23.6 percent; other races/ethnicities - 26.1). Additionally, 37.5 percent of the Latina characters were depicted partially or fully naked (White women - 31.9 percent; Black women - 23.5 percent; Asian women - 18.2 percent; other races/ethnicities - 21.7 percent).</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2latinas.jpg" style="height:625px; width:599px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>And, since these numbers didn’t necessarily correlate to attractiveness (only 11.1 percent were referenced as “attractive” or “hot” according to the study), the findings indicate such portrayals are tied to limiting and abiding cultural stereotypes.</p> <p> </p> <p>This last is borne out by another finding of the report — that Latino men were also the most likely of any of the races/ethnicities in the study to be depicted in “tight, alluring or revealing” clothing.</p> <p> </p> <p>The study further reports on the representation of speaking roles (wherein a “living being” speaks more than one word overtly on screen) across 100 of the top-grossing films of 2013. Of the 3,932 speaking parts evaluated, 74.1 percent were White; 14.1 percent were Black; 4.9 percent were Latinos; 4.4 percent were Asian; 1.1 percent were Middle Eastern; less than 1 percent were American Indian or Alaska Natives and 1.2 percent were from “other” races and ethnicities). Since 16.3 percent of the population is Latino, the report states, “Hispanics clearly are the most underserved racial/ethnic group by the film industry.”</p> <p> </p> <p>The entertainment industry is telling Latinas: Shut up and get naked. If you want to get on screen, this is how we see you.</p> <p> </p> <p>It is time for Latino audiences — who purchase 25 percent of all movie tickets and command $1 trillion in spending power — to demand a change.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>From <a href="http://aldianews.com/">Al Dia</a> and reprinted by our content partner New America Media</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sofia-vergara" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sofia vergara</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/modern-family" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Modern Family</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latina-actresses" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">latina actresses</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latinas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Latinas</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latinos" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">latinos</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hollywood" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hollywood</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sex-symbol" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sex symbol</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/nude-scenes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">nude scenes</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/film" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">film</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/television" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">television</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sabrina Vourvoulias</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Google Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 25 Aug 2014 15:30:49 +0000 tara 5117 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4248-problem-latina-sex-symbol-hollywood#comments Cell Phone Initiative Helps Latinas Battle Health Issues https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3834-cell-phone-initiative-helps-latinas-battle-health-issues <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 03/19/2014 - 10:01</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3cellphone%20%28Colorlines%29.jpg?itok=HvClPDRq"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3cellphone%20%28Colorlines%29.jpg?itok=HvClPDRq" width="480" height="313" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><em>From <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/03/can_cell_phones_improve_womens_health.html">Colorlines</a> and our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/03/can-cell-phones-improve-latinas-health.php">New America Media</a>: </em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>“Remember that your legal status does not matter. If your children are citizens, they can use public services like MediCal without affecting your residency process.”</em></p> <p><em>“Instead of junk food, choose a healthy meal from your country. Eat cactus, chia seed or verdolagas to take advantage of all their benefits.”</em></p> <p>“Nobody wants to get involved in problems, but if a friend’s husband hits her, tell her there is a way out. Give her the Marjaree Mason Center number, <a href="tel:559-237-4706" target="_blank">559-237-4706</a>.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Every few days, text messages like these pop up on the phones of more than 1,000 women in Fresno County, in California’s Central Valley. The messages come in Spanish, alternately offering referrals for affordable healthcare and domestic violence services, legal tips and affirmations. Any resource offered via text has been vetted by a team of women behind the project, called Únete Latina, to confirm that providers there speak Spanish and won’t ask for a Social Security number.</p> <p>Those are the conditions Latina immigrant women in Fresno need in order to feel safe taking care of their own and family members’ health, according to Alejandra Olguin. Since late last year, Olguin has led the project as a staffer at Youth Tech Health (YTH), an Oakland, Calif.-based organization that uses technology to educate young people about health. Long before setting up Únete Latina’s text blasts and mobile website, YTH showed up at free legal clinics where people learned how to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and surveyed hundreds of women there as they waited for counsel related to immigration questions. The results pointed to the barriers of isolation and intimidation the project’s organizers would have to overcome.</p> <p>“Immigrant women experience a palpable fear every single day,” Olguin told me via email from Oaxaca, Mexico. “Whether it’s driving their children to school without a license or being asked for their Social Security number at a clinic, there’s fear about being involved in anything that seems ‘official,’ including our text messaging program.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Immigrants comprise nearly <a href="http://csii.usc.edu/documents/FRESNO_web.pdf" target="_blank">a quarter</a> of Fresno’s population and two-thirds of those born outside the U.S. have come there from Mexico, drawn in part by agricultural jobs in this largely rural county. Nearly 40 percent of Latino immigrant adults in the county are undocumented.</p> <p> </p> <p>Despite the skepticism someone might have around texting the word “unete” (which means “join us”) to a short code, women have signed up since the launch late last year. They’ve been encouraged by the dozen Fresno residents who have worked with Olguin and San Francisco’s Immigrant Legal Resource Center to design and run the project. But they’re also drawn by the low barrier to entry. One clear message that came out of the surveys YTH conducted was that the best way to reach people is through their cell phones.</p> <p>Nationwide, Latinos have <a href="http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&amp;context=sppworkingpapers" target="_blank">lower rates</a> of access to broadband Internet at home than other racial and ethnic groups, and California is no exception. Just over half of Latinos in the state use broadband, compared to 71 percent of blacks, 75 percent of Asians and 81 percent of whites, according to the <a href="http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/jtf/JTF_DigitalDivideJTF.pdf" target="_blank">Public Policy Institute of California</a>. Using a computer to get online is a particular challenge in the Central Valley. Just 60 percent of the region’s residents have broadband access at home, compared to 80 percent of Bay Area residents, 77 percent in Orange County and San Diego and 64 percent in Los Angeles.</p> <p> </p> <p>Sasha Costanza-Chock, an assistant professor of civic media at MIT, is part of a growing movement of organizers and activists addressing this divide in digital access. In 2006, he began working with day laborers in Los Angeles and the Institute of Popular Education of Southern California to develop a cell phone-based journalism tool called VozMob (Mobile Voices/Voces Movíles).</p> <p> </p> <p>“For low-income folks, particularly first-generation immigrants and especially Spanish-speaking recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America, their primary means of communication access is through a mobile device, and not necessarily an Internet-enabled one,” Costanza-Chock said.</p> <p> </p> <p>YTH’s research in Fresno bears this out. Seventy percent of the women surveyed said they had access to the Web on their phones and a data plan, compared to 90 percent who said they use text messaging. Cost plays a role as well: 84 percent said they had an unlimited texting plan, compared to just half who had an unlimited data plan.</p> <p> </p> <p>The design of Únete Latina’s <a href="http://unetelatina.org/" target="_blank">website</a> makes it easy to search for health and legal services on a phone, but the texts—including the uplifting messages sprinkled among them—help build the rapport and trust needed to draw women to the resources. “It’s like these text messages come right at the moment you need them most,” one undocumented woman told YTH in a focus group. Another said, “I like the text messages that remind us that we are important, because if you don’t believe that you will just stay in your fear.” Four out of five women who received the texts say they intend to use the resources as well, according to Jamia Wilson, YTH’s executive director.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2mediumhealthcare.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p>The sensitivity with which texts are written is also part of Únete Latina’s strategy to address <a href="http://www.fresnostate.edu/studentaffairs/vpp/domesticviolence/dvstatistics.html" target="_blank">high rates</a> of intimate partner violence in the county. All of the 250 women YTH surveyed said they knew someone who experienced domestic violence. Experts <a href="http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/reports/2009/rwjf38645" target="_blank">have found</a> that intimate partner violence is no more common in immigrant communities than among other groups, but getting help can be especially hard for women in Fresno.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Undocumented women in particular are more vulnerable because of their immigration status,” said Kimberly Inez McGuire, director of public affairs at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH). “Abusers will often use a woman’s status against her as a tool of control and intimidation.”</p> <p>The threat of being exposed to immigration officials, potential loss of a partner and co-parent to deportation and financial dependence are among the reasons women may stay in an abusive situation, says McGuire, whose organization lobbied to include provisions protecting immigrant survivors of domestic violence as part of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act last year. </p> <p> </p> <p>Únete Latina’s approach has been to craft culturally relevant messages that will resonate with recipients, Olguin of YTH said via email. “Instead of asking, ‘Are you a victim of domestic violence? Call this number,’ we would say, ‘Did your husband drink too much over the weekend? You are not alone. There is an organization that can help you. Call this number. They speak Spanish and do not ask for your Social Security number.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Wilson, YTH’s director, said the organization intends to expand the project into other parts of California, where <a href="http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf" target="_blank">a quarter</a> of residents either don’t speak English well or at all, according to Census data.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Even for Latinas who live in urban areas where there’s less isolation, language is a huge barrier,” said McGuire of NLIRH. “The likelihood of finding a provider who’s culturally competent, linguistically competent and with whom someone’s comfortable—It’s a tall order and many Latinas can’t find that.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><em>Dani McClain’s  reporting on reproductive health and sexuality is supported by the Nation Institute.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>From <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/03/can_cell_phones_improve_womens_health.html">Colorlines</a></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latinas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Latinas</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care for immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cell-phones" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cell phones</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medcal" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medcal</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-problems" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health problems</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/disease" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">disease</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/domestic-abuse" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">domestic abuse</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hispanic-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hispanic immigrants</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Dani McClain</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Colorlines; Flickr</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 19 Mar 2014 14:01:26 +0000 tara 4459 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3834-cell-phone-initiative-helps-latinas-battle-health-issues#comments How Catholic Latinas Became the Ambassadors of Islam https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1971-how-catholic-latinas-became-ambassadors-islam <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 01/22/2013 - 08:16</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumlatinamuslims.jpg?itok=wQ7uaomo"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumlatinamuslims.jpg?itok=wQ7uaomo" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/01/latina-immigrants-the-new-ambassadors-of-islam.php">New America Media/The Muslim Link</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> SOMERSET, N.J. -- Tucked away in a quiet rural neighborhood in Somerset, New Jersey is an old brownstone that houses the New Jersey Chapter of the Islamic Center of North America’s (ICNA) WhyIslam Project. Within its confines, in a second floor office decorated with rose-colored walls, sits the administrative assistant and only female employee of the department, Nahela Morales. 
</p> <p>  </p> <p> In a long black garment and gray headscarf, Morales sits in front of a computer entering notes and taking phone calls from the program’s hotline, 1-877-WhyIslam, a resource for individuals hoping to learn more about the religion. A Mexican immigrant and recent convert, Morales is the national Spanish-language outreach coordinator for the program, part of ICNA’s mission to disseminate information about Islam nationwide.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But Morales’ efforts go beyond U.S. borders: the 37-year-old recently led a trip to bring Islamic literature, food and clothing to her native Mexico.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Morales, who was born in Mexico City but later moved to California and then New York, is part of a growing population of immigrant Muslim converts from Latin America – many of them women -- now helping to bring the religion back to their home countries.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Immigrant Latinas Find a Place in Islam</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> “Many immigrants are here by themselves,” says Morales, noting that Latina immigrant women are drawn to Islam because of the sense of “belonging” they find within the Muslim community. “When they come into the mosque and see smiling faces, they feel welcome.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> According to WhyIslam’s 2012 annual report, 19 percent of the some 3,000 converts it assisted in 2011 were Latinos, and more than half of those (55 percent) were women. The 2011 U.S. Mosque Survey, which interviewed leaders at 524 mosques across the country, found the number of new female converts to Islam had increased 8 percent since 2000, and that Latinos accounted for 12 percent of all new converts in the United States in 2011.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Experts attribute the phenomenon to recent migration trends.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Muslim and Latino immigrants are increasingly living side by side in urban neighborhoods across the country, from California, Texas and Florida to New York and Illinois, states that according to data from the Migration Policy Institute constitute 72.5 percent of the total foreign-born population from Latin America in the United States. At the same time, these five states are also home to the highest number of mosques, The American Mosque 2011 Report shows, reflecting a growing Muslim presence as well.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Wilfredo Ruiz, a native of Puerto Rico who converted to Islam in 2003, is an attorney and political analyst specializing on the Islamic world. In addition to working with various non-profit organizations, including the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA), he also serves as the imam at his local mosque in South Florida.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “More women than men convert, both in AMANA offices and in the mosques in Southern Florida,” Ruiz says. Latina immigrants, he explains, often feel exploited both in Latin America and the United States. The higher status afforded women in Islam and their modest dress, he believes, offers a sensible alternative.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I have heard from Latina women that they seek protection, and they find [that] protection and respect in Islam,” he adds.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Juan Galvan, executive director of the Latino-American Dawah Association and author of Latino Muslims: Our Journeys to Islam, believes that Islam may also hold another, distinctly religious appeal to Latino immigrants because it reveals to them what he calls a more profound understanding of monotheism.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Most Latino Muslim converts have had personal experiences with Muslims that first drew them closer to Islam,” he explains. “These Muslims may be their friends, acquaintances, classmates, coworkers, bosses, marriage partners, or others. By interacting with Muslims, a non-Muslim learns about Islamic monotheism for the first time.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Because Islam emphasizes God’s, or Allah’s, oneness, Galvan says, it presents Latinos with a unique alternative to traditional Christian theologies that accept the existence of holy deities – Jesus, the Holy Spirit, saints and miracle workers -- which are connected to, yet distinct, from God.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “While Protestantism may have fewer intermediaries than Catholicism, Latinos come to Islam because they believe in a concept of God that acknowledges Him as the Most Powerful and therefore, needs no son,” says Galvan, who is himself a Mexican-American convert to Islam.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Prayers Answered</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Morales found her own place in Islam after a turbulent past.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In 1979, Morales’ mother risked crossing the border into the United States illegally and alone, leaving her infant daughter behind in Mexico under her grandmother’s care. When Morales was 5 years old, she was finally reunited with her mother, who by that time had settled in Los Angeles. Mother and daughter gained amnesty under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. However, even as a U.S. citizen, Morales recalls feeling out of place.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It was a very difficult adjustment since I did not speak English,” says Morales. “I remember entering the school system and not being able to communicate with my teachers or peers. I wanted to go back home [to Mexico].”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Adding to her difficulties, Morales was the victim of years of neglect and abuse at home, and as a pre-teen she was removed from her mother’s custody and placed in foster care and group homes, until ultimately she was able to settle on her own and finish college.</p> <p>  </p> <p> She moved to New York in 2001. Shortly after her relocation, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred at the World Trade Center. When news reports blamed Muslim extremists, Morales began to research Islam.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I was watching the news and they were always showing [Muslim] people shouting ‘Allahu-akbar,’ God is great, so I thought, if your God is so great, why is he allowing you to kill people? If Muslims say Islam [is about] peace, then this doesn’t make sense.” She decided to find the answers herself and purchased a copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book. Morales also began befriending Muslim women on MySpace.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “They were so nice, and I became more curious. One of the Muslim women I met happened to be Puerto Rican, and she got in touch with someone in California that could send me an information package about Islam with books, a Quran, a prayer rug, and a hijab [headscarf].”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Morales continued to make contact with Muslims through the Internet and searched online for the closest mosque to her new home in North Bergen, New Jersey. She began visiting the mosque and eventually converted in 2003, and continues to be an active member of the North Hudson Islamic Educational Center, or NHIEC.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Situated in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, 30 percent of NHIEC’s congregants are Latinos. The Latino influence is so great that the mosque offers simultaneous Spanish translation of its Friday sermons and Islamic studies classes, and even hosts an annual “Hispanic Muslim Day.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> During one of her visits to the NHIEC mosque in 2009, a WhyIslam worker overheard Morales speaking Spanish and asked if she would be interested in a bilingual position with the company.</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumlatinamuslims%20%28Ed%20Yourdan%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 450px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> “I asked [God] to please send me a job where I would be able to worship and wear my veil. I knew right then my prayer was being answered,” recalls Morales.</p> <p>  </p> <p> She has now been working with NHIEC for more than three years, and recently led a campaign to deliver Islamic literature and audio, clothing, and toiletries to a needy Muslim community in Mexico City.</p> <p>  </p> <p> During that trip Morales met with her own family members in Mexico, who are mostly Catholic. She says that initially they were not accepting of her decision to practice Islam or of her modest style of dress. They accused her of turning her back on her culture. But on her most recent trip to her hometown of Cuernavaca, she took the opportunity to talk to them more about her religion.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It is obvious that Islam is still very strange in Mexico,” admits Morales, who says that since her last visit her own family has become more receptive. “But it is also very clear that people want to learn about it.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Latina</strong><strong> Muslims, At Home and Abroad</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Isabela Duarte has been in the United States since the age of seven. A Muslim convert living in Chicago, the 30-year-old left Mexico with her family in 1990, crossing the border illegally and moving to the Windy City, where she attended school while her parents worked. After high school, she says, she had no other choice but to follow in her parents’ footsteps.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I figured that there was no possibility of furthering my education because I’d lack assistance due to my status,” she explains. She eventually landed an administrative position in a social services agency, but thanks to the recession she soon lost her job.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “That’s when my real struggles began. I searched for jobs everywhere. Immigration laws became tougher … most places of employment denied me any type of opportunity regardless of the experience I had.” She ultimately settled for babysitting jobs that paid under the table.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In the winter of 2008, while her parents faced foreclosure, unemployment, and a divorce, Duarte had an emotional breakdown. Seeking help, she came upon a YouTube video of Quran recitations. Her best friend, who was Puerto Rican, had already become a Muslim, and Duarte soon followed in her footsteps.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But while she has found solace and community, participating regularly in events held by the Latino Muslims of Chicago, an Islamic group that serves the needs of Latinos, she says her immigration status continues to be a struggle.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “This is my home,” she says. “Chicago has been my home and I don’t recall any other.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Part of a growing Hispanic population in the United States, Duarte is also among a Muslim community that, according to the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, is expected to increase dramatically over the next 20 years, thanks largely to immigration from South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In North and South America, the estimated Muslim population in 2010 was 5,256,000. This number is expected to more than double by the year 2030.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Thirty-four-year-old Liliana Anaya, a Muslim convert from Colombia and a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., is familiar with the trend. The mosque in her hometown, Barranquilla, Colombia, reports an average of four conversions a month.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Anaya, who converted to Islam in June 2002, is a graduate of Rollins University in Orlando, Florida, where she majored in political science and international relations. She later attended American University to complete a Master’s Degree in international peace and conflict resolution.</p> <p>  </p> <p> After graduating, she got a job at a non-profit organization offering mediation for criminal, district, and county court systems in northern Virginia. During this time, she met her husband, a Muslim convert from Argentina, and together they applied for U.S. citizenship.</p> <p>  </p> <p> While Anaya was expecting their first child, she decided to travel back to her country to give birth. After their arrival, she and her husband discovered the Othman bin Affan Mosque in Barranquilla, a small Muslim community that lacked adequate resources. Because Anaya’s husband had earned a degree in Islamic Propagation from Umm Al Qura University in Saudi Arabia, they became involved in the mosque, organizing and teaching classes.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I felt that Muslims in the states are already part of the fabric of the society,” Anaya explains. “But here [in Colombia], we are in the baby steps. If I want something, I have to create it. If I want Islamic classes for my children, I have to create them.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Anaya and her husband are now in the process of establishing an Islamic school for the Muslims of Barranquilla. Both say that given their commitment to the work, return to the United States is unlikely.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “The Muslim community here needs us,” says Anaya, “so we can’t move.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <em>This story was made possible by a grant from Atlantic Philanthropies, and was produced as part of New America Media’s Women Immigrants Fellowship Program.</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong><em>Image: Nahela Morales touring Mexico City with a group of Muslim women from the congregation of Al Hikmah Center mosque in Mexico City.</em></strong></p> <p> <strong><em>Other photo: Ed Yourder, Flickr (Creative Commons).</em></strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/01/latina-immigrants-the-new-ambassadors-of-islam.php">New America Media</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/catholics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">catholics</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/catholicism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">catholicism</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latinas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Latinas</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latino-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">latino immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/islam" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Islam</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/muslims" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Muslims</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/muslim-converts" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">muslim converts</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/religion" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">religion</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Wendy Diaz</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:16:38 +0000 tara 2238 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1971-how-catholic-latinas-became-ambassadors-islam#comments Plan B Contraceptive Restrictions Pose Dangers for Young Latinas https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/plan-b-contraceptive-restrictions-pose-dangers-young-latinas <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 12/11/2011 - 16:35</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumplanb.jpg?itok=uGYwuAVf"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumplanb.jpg?itok=uGYwuAVf" width="480" height="286" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/news/">New America Media</a>: This week, politics interfered with health care when young women were again denied the ability to obtain over-the-counter emergency contraception (EC) despite recommendations from the nation's leading health experts.</p> <p>  </p> <p> After extensive review of safety data, the FDA decided to lift restrictions on access to emergency contraception for teens. In a disturbing political move, however, the nation's top health official, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, instructed the FDA not to follow their own recommendation and instead to continue requiring that young women obtain a prescription for emergency contraception.</p> <p>  </p> <p> As a result, Latina teens will still face insurmountable barriers to using this important birth control option. The Latino community has the highest uninsured rate of any group, and immigrant teens typically have very little access to traditional healthcare. Emergency contraception must be taken within five days, making obtaining and filling a prescription both costly and impractical for most Latina teens.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Young Latinas face the greatest obstacles to accessing birth control, and this political interference in health care has only reinforced a harmful climate that leaves Latina youths without options. Because of immigration status, lack of health insurance, residence in rural areas, and other structural barriers to accessing health care and services, young Latinas will be particularly affected by failures to increase access to EC, which represents only the latest instance of mixed messages sent to women about their rights and place in society.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Pregnancy rates among Latina teens is higher than other groups, and have fallen more slowly than in other teen subpopulations. Misconceptions about the underlying factors contributing to unintended pregnancy rates continue to perpetuate a stigma about Latinas rather than promote solutions. In fact, Latinas do not report having sex more than white women, but are at higher risk for pregnancy because they have significantly lower rates of contraceptive use. This disparity in contraceptive use is based not on simple preference, but is closely connected to social and economic inequity.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Barriers to accessing birth control should be torn down for young Latinas, not reinforced. Yet this year we've seen state after state slash access to the programs that help some Latinas overcome these barriers. Punitive immigration policies and cultural and linguistic differences often make Latinas the last to know what birth control options are available. The ability to directly access emergency contraception in a pharmacy could be a critical last-chance for Latina teens to control their fertility.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Lack of access to birth control in this country has always been the result of political agendas, not health concerns. In a legal case filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights (Tummino v. Hamburg), our organization urged the courts to intervene and grant young women access to over-the-counter emergency contraception. An earlier ruling from 2009, issued by federal Judge Edward Korman, found that with regard to older teens the FDA "acted in bad faith and in response to political pressure."</p> <p>  </p> <p> It is imperative that Secretary Sebelius recognize that failing to grant young women (ages 16 and younger) prescription-free access to EC is inconsistent with the view that preventing pregnancy is a health care issue and inconsistent with the goal that people of all ages, sexes and ethnicities be given the same opportunity to thrive.</p> <p>  </p> <p> It is imperative that Latinos/as speak out in support of FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg's decision to recommend over-the-counter access to emergency contraception for teens. Any political gains that have resulted from the denial of her recommendation are made most significantly on the backs of young Latinas.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Jessica González-Rojas is the executive director of National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, which works to secure access to reproductive health and justice for Latinas, their families and their communities through public education, community mobilization and policy advocacy.</em></p> <p> <em>--<a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2011/12/plan-b-pill-restrictions-dangerous-for-young-latinas.php">New America Media</a></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/plan-b-contraceptive" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Plan B contraceptive</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/latinas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Latinas</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/fda" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">FDA</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/secretary-kathleen-sebelius" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Secretary Kathleen Sebelius</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:35:18 +0000 tara 308 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/plan-b-contraceptive-restrictions-pose-dangers-young-latinas#comments