This post is part of a Nat. Brut series in which feminist writers, artists, and activists discuss people, publications, or organizations who are working toward inclusivity. Today, journalist Emily Sides shares her choices.
Corina Carmona
Corina Carmona is an art education graduate student who is working on a mural on the wall of the Whole Woman’s Health clinic in the Rio Grande Valley where upwards of 1.3 million live. The clinic is the only one south of San Antonio that offers abortions.
“Carmona… [is] combating the stigma around reproductive health care rights.”
Mural design contest organizers said they wanted the building to have a welcoming, inclusive wall. Anti-abortion activists, many fueled by religious beliefs, protest at the clinic. Pro-choice activists also show up.
Carmona used influences from all over the world in her intricate designs atop the pillars, depicted a diverse group of women, and didn’t sexualize their bodies.
The clinic is open only thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted an injunction this summer for the McAllen location to stay open. The other clinic that asked for an injunction, located in El Paso, didn’t get it. Texas legislators passed HB 2 in 2013, restricting women’s federal rights to have access to healthcare, and the forty abortion clinics in Texas in 2012 have been cut in about half.
Carmona, Whole Woman’s Health, and two nonprofits — SHIFT and Abortion Conversation Project — are combating the stigma around reproductive health care rights.
Roxanne Schroeder-Arce
Roxanne Schroeder-Arce is a bilingual playwright, director, scholar and professor at the University of Texas-Austin. She taught me the importance of theatre for young audiences, specifically for Latino children.
Years later when I was about to move to the Texas-Mexico border, I remembered that Roxanne had taught high school theatre in Laredo. She spoke about how it influenced her writing, and it was a positive influence for me to move to the border to write.
“Her plays feature Latino characters and actors that are much-needed…”
Roxanne writes about the need for inclusivity in the theatre realm. Her specialty is children’s theatre. She made me realize how important the stories we tell our children are — both for us as adults and for the child’s development.
Roxanne has inspired me as a writer particularly. Her plays feature Latino characters and actors that are much-needed. My favorite is Señora Tortuga, Mariachi Girl and Sangre de un Angel, which is based on a true story. Marichia Girl is about an eight-year-old girl whose father forbids her to be a mariachi performer like him because she’s a girl. She rebels after reading about a female mariachi. The performance has live mariachi music, features Spanish, and has Latino actors.
To combat negative stereotypes of Latinos, we need realistic portrayals. Roxanne’s plays don’t idolize Latinos, but brings them to the stage.
Angy Rivera
Angy Rivera is an activist for undocumented immigrants. Still only in her mid-twenties, she started an advice column for undocumented youth and is now featured in a documentary called No Le Digas A Nadie, or Don’t Tell Anyone. Rivera is a marginalized minority in two ways: she’s undocumented and was sexually assaulted. There are more than 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the country, according to the Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project’s 2013 estimates.
“Angy Rivera is an activist for undocumented immigrants…”
Angy (@AskAngy) is brave to advocate awareness for these issues. I haven’t seen the documentary yet, but I’ve already become a life-long Twitter follower.
Emily Sides is a daily newspaper reporter near the Texas-Mexico border covering local government. She graduated from the University of Texas-Austin with a bachelor’s in journalism. She ran a half-marathon last year as a fundraiser for The Healing Branch, a Dallas-based nonprofit that assists survivors of child sexual abuse. She has worked on the business and editorial sides of journalism.
Nat. Brut is a biannual journal of art and literature that aims to advance equality and inclusivity in all creative fields. To learn more about us, or to order a copy of our latest issue, visit us online!
