Reproductive justice for Black, Indigenous, Women of Color: Uprooting race and colonialism

Abstract

Historically, atrocities against Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color's (BIWoC) reproductive rights have been committed and continue to take place in contemporary society. The atrocities against BIWoC have been fueled by White supremacy ideology of the “desirable race” and colonial views toward controlling poverty and population growth, particularly that of “undesirable” races and ethnicities. Grounded in Critical Race Theory, this paper aims to provide a critical analysis of historical and contemporary violations of BIWoC reproductive rights; discuss interventions based on empowerment and advocacy principles designed to promote women's reproductive justice; and discuss implications for future research, action, and policy from the lenses of Critical Race Theory and Community Psychology. This paper contributes to the special issue by critically analyzing historical and contemporary racism and colonialism against BIWoC, discussing implications for future research and practice, and making policy recommendations.

Imperial algorithms: Contemporary manifestations of racism and colonialism

“…Suarez‐Balcazar and colleagues’ (2024) piece, Reproductive Justice for Black, Indigenous, Women of Color employs critical race theory to examine the historic and ongoing violations of Black, Indigenous and Women of Color's reproductive rights. They discuss empowerment‐ and advocacy‐based interventions designed to promote reproductive justice with implications for policy and the field of community psychology (Suarez‐Balcazar et al, 2024). Sharma and Kivell (2024) in their piece A self‐heuristic inquiry interviews racialized psychotherapists practicing across Canada and the United States to explore how decolonization and other ways of knowing can be used in therapy practice.…”