Reproductive Justice and Healthy Living w/Dr. Alisha Liggett

Have you heard of the term reproductive justice? Many often confuse reproductive justice with reproductive rights. The two are distinctly and philosophically different. Reproductive rights are centered around the legal right to access reproductive care services. Reproductive justice bridges reproductive rights with social, political, and economic inequalities that affect a woman's ability to obtain reproductive health care services. With much at stake in this year's election in the United States, Monique brings you a BONUS episode with Dr. Alisha Liggett. Dr. Alisha shares how she advocates and educates women and families in the Bronx, New York.

Monique and Dr. Alisha also discuss how hundreds of years of systematic racism within reproductive oppression contribute to the mistrust that black and other brown women have with medical professionals and the healthcare system. Statistically, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and native people have limited access to quality reproductive care and higher rates of reproductive issues. Dr. Alisha and Monique also discuss how to develop healthier eating and lifestyle habits and becoming more aware of what we put into our bodies.

Dr. Alisha reminds us to be gentle with ourselves and circumstances. Connect with Dr. Alisha here "The reproductive-justice movement came into its own in June 1994, when a group of mostly white women gathered at a conference in Chicago to hear about the Clinton Administration's proposal for health care reform, which de-emphasized reproductive health care in an attempt to head off Republican criticism. The few black women present were concerned. There was little focus on health services like pre- and postnatal care, fibroid screenings, STI tests, and seemingly no understanding of how black women's "choices" around parenthood and reproductive care were often constrained by things like income, housing, and the criminal justice system.12 black women leaders gathered in a hotel room to discuss how to address these disparities. The group called themselves the Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice and bought full-page ads in the Washington Post and Roll Call that featured over 800 signatures calling for any health care reform package to include black women's concerns. Three years later, 16 organizations, including black, Asian. American, Latina, and indigenous women, got together to create SisterSong, a collective devoted to women's reproductive and sexual health and gender-nonconforming people of color, based in Atlanta." -Time Magazine.

Dr. Alisha is known as "la doctora," she is a board certified family medicine doctor, with a clinical practice based in New York City. She graduated with a bachelors degree from Columbia University, then earned her MD degree from University of Maryland, Baltimore.

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