“So when Roe fell, I wasn't on staff, at any organization, I was a consultant, because I'd been doing consulting work, but still very much in my RJ space, I was consulting with the National Network of Abortion Funds, Liberate Abortion, still working with ARC-Southeast, was working with Access Reproductive Justice here in California. And so it was, I think, a very interesting moment for me, because as Roe fell, I was seeing the impacts of it from like, so many different vantage points of like, yes, what it looks like, the impact on a one organization, but also the coalition work that I was doing was like helping me to understand like, when Roe fall, who all does it impact. And I think, again, being on the advocacy side of work, we start to lose sight of like, who were doing this work for and actually, who is the most impacted by these things that we're fighting against. And like, it's like, sometimes in meetings, I'd be like, this is all theoretical for us, because we work at these jobs where if we need an abortion our job, we probably have health insurance that will take care of it. There are people in our communities who are calling abortion funds right now, who when Roe falls, it has an actual impact on their lives y'all. So like, let's get serious about some shit. I think that I think being a part of ARC and being involved in abortion funds and having relationships with people who work at clinic kind of like, sharpened me in a certain way. Like some of these things that we talk about actually don't fucking matter. Because something is happening right now that actually has a major impact on people's actual life, like some after Roe has fallen, yes, abortion funds exist. Yes, practical support organizations exist and will support as many people as they can. But there are many people across this country who are being forced to continue pregnancy that they do not want to continue because there is not a federal- a federal legal protection for them. We have to be honest with ourselves about that we have to be honest with ourselves about what we're fighting for or against has impact on people's lives. And being clear about our position to that. I am no longer someone who has been most impacted by the issue that I'm fighting for, because of my financial position that I sit in, and where I live. I live in California now. Like Roe falling doesn't impact me in the same way that it did when I was in Atlanta. And my naming that there's nothing wrong with naming that. Because I think sometimes people don't want to name that because they feel like it undermines their credibility or their status. I'm like it doesn't undermine it. It makes us more honest, like what is wrong with being more honest with ourselves, because also when we're clear about who we are, and where we stand, it also makes it clear who isn't in the space with us. And often we wont to have clinic workers we do not have direct service providers. We do not have actual community members in space with us. Because there are too many of us pretending like we're those people and we're not, you know. And like If all of us are ED's sitting in a room together and making six figures, how the fuck do we think we're experts on how economic repression impacts people? That is not our live anymore? Yes, I grew up very poor. That is not my life anymore. And I can be honest about it. I do not give blood to pay bills in the same way that I did when I live in Orlando. I'm very grateful for that. But that also means I don't get to act like I'm an expert on what it looks like right now to lose my job in a pandemic, and then potentially be pregnant and have to figure out how will I continue?”

Quita On Critiques Of The RJ Movement

Georgia Dusk is an intergenerational oral history of southern liberation movements documenting Black, queer, & feminist organizers and cultural workers in the state of Georgia.

Quita On Critiques Of The RJ Movement

Georgia Dusk: a southern liberation oral history