LUZ: Reproductive Justice Think Tank Manifesto

All things visible.  They are not

Light is seen on a spectrum. What we see is not complete.  Not Whole.

Many people, ideas movements remain invisible.

Invisible because they are red, but not white and blue.

Blue, but not white and red.

Invisible because our current spectrum is limited by multiple intersecting oppressions. 

Oppressive structures can slow things down, and, like a black hole, trap light, creating illusions about the rate of change.  But when we understand how and why the structures operate, we can identify, study, and innovate. 

In the United States alone every second someone gets an abortion and someone has a baby.  That means sexual activity is faster than the speed of light.

With hundreds of thousands of pregnancies per second, impacting widening circles of partners, siblings, grandparents, friends, cousins, aunts, uncles and countless ancestors there is enough human potential to create an enduring hope that will nourish us for the labor required to tend with care to each of those lives. 

With our light, our passions for reproductive justice are diffracted[1]; our beams of ideas spread outside of the oppressions.

Outside of poverty as violence.

Outside of racism as control.

Outside of sexism as alienation

Outside of injustice as convenience.

Outside of globalization, capitalism, imperialism as progress, power and victory.

Outside of ignorance as comfort

Outside of school as education

Outside of bodies as disabling, disabled as unable.

Outside of family as nuclear.

Outside of now.

Because light exists in two forms at once, we acknowledge that we shouldn’t have to choose between our identities.

Because properties of light are fluid, we believe in fluid expressions of sexuality and sexual and gender identity. These expressions do not take only one form.

Because light travels 186,000 miles per second we believe that reproductive justice will have an immediate impact.

Because light exists as a wave and a particle, changing depending on the environment, we acknowledge that reproductive justice is continually changing and evolving; it may take different forms depending on the situation.

Because self-determination and sharing information provide the fastest routes to insight about reproductive justice, we believe in colorful collaboration.

Because light offers growth and sight within oneself and others, I can decide what is best for me while having compassion and kindness for another.

Light, electromagnetic radiation, is energy.  Through this energy we believe sex is normal, natural and healthy. 

Because light reflects, we can see ourselves in each other.  We can speak to something that may not be our experience.  As light we are interconnected.[2]

Transferring our light allows us to share our knowledge while taking into consideration the voices and thoughts of others giving birth to a world where wholeness is a priority.

Because through our fingers we emit light, we will illuminate our path to grab the change we desire, like tentacles of a movement, we will reach into institutions, reach into government, reach into the minds of oppressive systems to demand reproductive justice be our reality.

We model the change, equality and collaboration we wish to see in the world.

We prove young people can and do lead fiercely.

We transfer and create collisions of light among the intersections of life and humanity, which strengthens our energy when we express our sexuality and sexual and gender identities.

We define our own liberation and believe the people directly affected by oppression are the most equipped to name their own solutions.

We advocate for all people to fully exercise their inherent power.

We defend access to family planning, comprehensive sex education, and the right to determine the course of pregnancy and method of childbirth should be available for all people at all stages of life.

Structures that oppress us reinforce and support each other. Therefore we labor, work and cultivate relationships at the intersections to tear them down.

We absorb light.  We reflect light.  We grow.  LUZ