Birth Bruja Podcast

Spoiler alert! These are two success stories!

Our host Eri, dedicates this episode to fellow survivors.

"Recently, Rachel & I realized we've both had similar experiences of navigating reproductive care as survivors of sexual assault. It can be powerfully healing to see yourself reflected in someone else's story. We knew, as survivors and community educators, that this is a conversation we wanted to share with others.

Join us for a two part, vulnerable deep-dive into what it can look like to navigate reproductive care as a survivor. In part 1, Rachel speaks to her experience in somatic therapy, strategies utilized prior to her medical visit, and what an empowering experience can look like!

MEET RACHEL

Rachel Sementilli (she/her) is a queer full spectrum birthworker, holistic fertility & menstrual cycle healing guide and a reproductive health educator based in so-called Southeast Michigan. She also spends time doing work as an intuitive energy healer and yoga teacher. Rachel was brought to this work, like so many of us, by her personal experiences, healing journey and drive for political activism. She is passionate about this work and about devoting herself to a praxis that is self-healing, community healing and cultural healing all at once.

Learn more about her work on social media @The_Rach_S and by visiting RevenirServices.com.

Podcast production by Cat Petru of We Rise Production. Questions & feedback welcome! Contact [email protected] | https://www.weriseproduction.com/

For those dedicated to healing & justice, to unlearning harmful ways of being… Let’s explore the colonial concept of the gender binary & toxic gendering. Our guest, Khye Tyson guides us through examples of how toxic gendering perpetuates systemic violence, particularly inside the US, as well as in the birthroom. We’ll talk about the complexity - especially for those of us who identify as BIPOC - of maintaining connection with our communities & families, while simultaneously challenging the gender binary within these beloved circles. We’ll take a look at gender & power dynamics in labor, media, and daily life, and explore how to connect across difference & support folks as they navigate gender on their birthing journeys.

MEET KHYE

Khye Tyson (they/them) is an unapologetic southern queer Black femme who enjoys yoga, building community, laughing, subverting the gender binary, and reminding people that they can fire their doctors. Khye is a sacred transition guide, entrepreneur, healer, consultant, and educator. As the founder of Kuluntu Reproductive Justice Center (founded in 2018), Khye is working toward a world in which Black women and femmes can live, thrive, and raise healthy families freely within a healthy community. Khye loves to hike, sew, thrift, create art, sing, and dream of a world in which education is intuitive and culturally responsive. They are originally from Nashville, TN and currently reside in Atlanta.

@kulunturjc | http://kuluntu.center/

After the second series of their workshop Decolonized Approaches to Facilitation, Eri sits down (virtually) with co-facilitator king yaa and participant & birthworker Josie Rodriguez-Bouchier to explore lessons learned, challenges experienced, and growing edges still to come in decolonizing their approach to facilitating reproductive care education, and… their lives.

MEET OUR GUESTS

king yaa (always lowercase, thank you!), pronouns are they/them/king!

king yaa is a genderqueer person of trans masculine experience and their sexuality is queer AF. Their Blackness is their superpower!

king is an intersectional feminist and their work centers queer, trans, and non-binary folx well-being through full spectrum of life experiences, including grief & loss and sex & pleasure. They also train intentional health and wellness practicioners on developing the competencies to care for and to create safer and inclusive practices for queer, trans and gender diverse people.

king yaa supports folx of all gender identities, sexual orientations in all bodies to have the audacity to intentionally & unapologetically have compassion for self, in all their complexities, as a radical act of taking up space and insisting on themselves. They are invested in decolonizing health and queering up reproductive justice, as well as, the collective healing and liberation of queer, trans and nonbinary folx, especially People of the Global Majority, aka BI&POC.

links:

www.kingyaa.co.za

https://www.instagram.com/queerbirthworker/

Josie Rodriguez-Bouchier L.Ac. (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, Latinx fertility acupuncturist, and Queer Reproductive Health and Justice advocate. Since 2008, they have been supporting folks with wombs to conceive with the help of Traditional Chinese Medicine and other ancient healing modalities. Josie's mission is to re-center queer, trans, and non-binary BIPGM in the reproductive healthcare realm and beyond. Josie is the host of The Intersectional Fertility Podcast and creator of the Whole Self Fertility Method™. They live on stolen Cheyenne land, colonially known as Lakewood, Colorado, with their wife, two children, and two rescue pups.

links:

https://www.intersectionalfertility.com/

@intersectionalfertility

This episode is a love & inspiration fest. You've been warned!

Eri is joined by Emilie Rodriguez and Guramrit LeBron of The Bridge Directory (www.thebridgedirectory.com). Em & G share their journey as Black and Brown birthworkers who answered the needs of their community through building The Bridge Directory- a direct response to addressing the Black maternal mortality rate in NY and a community that is spreading across the US.

We talk about building a business & community that is based in activism, mentorship, and connection. They share experiences & strategies that range from how to build community through social media, building accountability with a council of elders, connecting to funders, and more.

Learn more about their work!

@The BridgeDirectory & @BridgeCommunityFoundation

www.TheBridgeDirectory.com

MEET OUR GUESTS

Emilie Rodriguez (she/her)

Founder, Operations

Emilie is a Black traditional birth and postpartum doula and founder of Ashe Birthing Services based in the Bronx, New York. After spending several years supporting hundreds of families in NYC, she dreamed of creating a resource to help families of color find providers who understood, believed, and trusted them. We know the statistics. Emilie believes we can create real change from grassroots efforts by community.

Guramrit LeBron (she/her)

Founder, Chief Marketing Officer + Communications Director

Guramrit is a birth and postpartum doula and Certified Lactation Counselor. She studied Magazine Journalism at Syracuse University and spent the first few years post college working at various publications including Parenting Magazine before working in marketing at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Guramrit completed training as a holistic health counselor and transitioned to working at GrowNYC Farmers Markets as a Market Manager all while publishing her first cookbook, Yogi Eats. After much resistance to birth work, she jumped right in and immediately felt in alignment. Guramrit believes that all people deserve to have the birthing experience they desire in an environment where they feel safe and supported because birth is sacred and transformative. Nurturing, educating and uplifting families during such a transformational event is essential to her work as a doula.Guramrit calls the boogie down Bronx her home and lives with her partner and son. Guramrit is currently pursuing a masters in Infant + Maternal Nutrition with a focus on a holistic approach to pregnancy, postpartum and infant/toddler feeding.

In this episode we are joined by Angelique "Omi" Geehan (any pronoun); a baby wearing consultant focused on transformative justice, cultural competency and diversity.

We discuss the ways in which baby wearing has helped Omi heal through reparenting, parenting their own children, their journey to becoming a baby wearing consultant; and ways in which birthworkers and people alike can advocate, and help ensure baby wearing remains accessible to everybody that wants to baby wear.

MEET ANGELIQUE

Angelique works as a coach, consultant, editor, and facilitator to support and repair the connections people have to themselves and their families, communities, and cultural practices. She builds intergenerationally, with a commitment to transformative justice, to question and depolarize the beliefs and practices that can lead to isolation and feelings of powerlessness — and co-create or reclaim ways that can promote resilience and healing from historical and social harms.

A queer asian gender (binary) non-conforming parent, Angelique founded Interchange, a consulting group that offers anti-oppression support through materials and process assessments, staff training, and community building. She organizes as a part of Baby Carriers Provided, the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance, Houston Babywearing Resource, National Perinatal Association’s Health Equity Workgroup, the Health and Healing Justice Committee of the National Queer and Trans Asian and Pacific Islander Alliance, the Houston Community Accountability and Transformative Justice Collective, the Taking Care Study Group, QTPOC+ Family Circle, and Batalá Houston.

[email protected] / fb and twitter: mumwooga / linkedin and ig: AngeliqueGeehan

Ep. 24 | Decolonize Birth: A Traditional Birthworker's Story with Mickey McHenry

Mickey McHenry (she/her/ella) is a Traditional Birthworker and the Operations Manager at Birth Bruja!

She shares her journey of being raised with ancestral knowledge of birth & postpartum care, navigating the pressures for certification to be a "legitimate" birthworker, how she has woven social justice/political consciousness into her birthwork, and more.

Visit www.BirthBruja.com for episode transcripts.

MEET MICKEY

Micaela "Mickey" McHenry (she/her/ella) has been a full spectrum doula for over a decade. Mickey's work is rooted in her ancestral traditions; Lakota/Apache/Mexika, and focuses on navigating reproductive care, birth and the postpartum experience holistically.

Mickey has worked with various family centered non-profit organizations throughout her lifetime, and believes that through healing families we can heal communities. Additionally, she enjoys spending time in community with other birthworkers, and is always ready to lend an ear, and share experience. Some of her hobbies include cooking, eating, napping, writing, yoga, hiking, dog momming, and traveling.

Follow Mickey on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bossa_novaaa/

Ep. 23 | Running an Anti Capitalist Doula Business with Khye Tyson

We are joined by Khye Tyson (they/them) to discuss the foundation of building an anti-capitalist doula business.

We answer the following questions & more:

*Why is having a critique of capitalism, let alone a strategy for anti-capitalism, something that we should be considering when we are shaping our business plans?

*What did the process of evaluating their relationship with giving & receiving look like and how did they use this information to inform their business structure?

*What are some examples of reciprocity outside of monetary exchange?

*What can it look like to weave your values into your business plan? How do you know if you've veered off track?

Khye Tyson (they/them) is an unapologetic southern queer Black femme who enjoys yoga, building community, laughing, subverting the gender binary, and reminding people that they can fire their doctors. Khye is a sacred transition guide, entrepreneur, healer, consultant, and educator. As the founder of Kuluntu Reproductive Justice Center (founded in 2018), Khye is working toward a world in which Black women and femmes can live, thrive, and raise healthy families freely within a healthy community. Khye loves to hike, sew, thrift, create art, sing, and dream of a world in which education is intuitive and culturally responsive. They are originally from Nashville, TN and currently reside in Atlanta.

Follow Khye on social media: https://www.instagram.com/kulunturjc/

Check out the Kuluntu Center's Birth Justice Guardians:

Birth Justice Guardians is a 3 month container for birthworkers who are working toward birth justice, burnt out, and looking for a community to strengthen their work. This pilot program will be a group of 10-15 birthworkers looking to deepen their practice through self and community care.

Check out their full list of courses & resources: https://kuluntureproductivejusticecenter.vipmembervault.com/

This is Part 1 of the We Rise Series- a series dedicated to showcasing soulful decolonizing strategies.

This episode is for all of those who are wanting to move from theory to action.

TO SIGN UP FOR THE GATHERINGS:

Consciousness Rooting in the Heart of Autumn

Inspired by the legacy of Consciousness Raising circles from 1960s & 70s freedom movements, Consciousness Rooting is about: grounding & deepening ~ reflecting on our origins, our ancestors’ lineages & histories ~ storytelling & remembering as a form of resistance, to begin to heal and to help us navigate these tumultuous & transformational times…

This work aims to inspire deep reflections, help us center through ongoing distractions & stresses, and support us as we face daily struggles & many frontlines.

racialized as white circle

Tuesdays 6PM-7:30PM PST

pilipinx circle

Wednesdays 6:30PM-8PM PST

open circle

Thursdays 6PM-7:30PM PST

~~~

by donation / no one turned way for lack of funds

to register email:

by October 13th*

*Please email us if the date has passed and you are still interested in registering!

ABOUT OUR GUESTS:

We Rise Production is a collective of cultural producers who engage creative collaborations to support the freedom movements of our time.

Through multimedia, digital and live productions, We Rise challenges audiences to think critically about the systems that oppress us all, and uses community-driven art to inspire active solidarity.

Our collaborators include Movement Generation, Palestinian Youth Movement, KPFA/First Voice Media, DiaspoRADiCAL, Mycelium Youth Network, Liberation Spring, Birth Bruja, Cal Shakes, TheatreFIRST, the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective, and decolonial, feminist artists, educators, and organizers. We vision with ancestors and future generations in mind.

IG: @weriseproduction

TW: @weriseproducers

weriseproduction.com

FB: @weriseproduction

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/werise

This is Part 2 of the Black Diamonds Series: Journey of a Queer, Black Student Midwife.

Rafeal joins us 1 month into her student midwifery journey and has a powerful & juicy report back! She speaks to navigating an education that centers the cis, white experience while grounding herself in her practice of self nourishment. We speak to the themes of healing & justice, Dharma and spiritual practice, the need to uplift our youth and our elders, how to have a sex life amidst a student midwife life, and SO MUCH MORE!

Be a part of Rafeal's journey! Support their work by donating and including #BlackDiamondsSeries in the notes <3

Venmo: @cypressdoula

Paypal: paypal.me/cypressdoula

Cashapp: $cypressdoula

Learn more: https://www.cypressdoula.com/midwifery

Visit www.BirthBruja.com to access upcoming workshops & events <3

Producer: Catherine Petru of We Rise Production |www.weriseproduction.com |@WeRiseProduction

Theme Song created by DiaspoRADiCAL Soundscapes @diaspoRADical

This is part 1 of the Black Diamonds Series: Becoming a Queer Black Student Midwife with Rafeal Newport. This 12 month diary will document the first year of Rafeal's student midwifery journey.

In today's episode, we will meet Rafeal and dive into the how and why she found this work. We talk about ancestors, community, universal calling, the DIRE NEED for queer & trans black femmes to be doing this work and much more.

Be a part of Rafeal's journey! Support their work by donating and including #BlackDiamondsSeries in the notes <3

Venmo: @cypressdoula

Paypal: paypal.me/cypressdoula

Cashapp: $cypressdoula

Learn more: https://www.cypressdoula.com/midwifery

Visit www.BirthBruja.com to access upcoming workshops & events <3

Producer: Catherine Petru of We Rise Production |www.weriseproduction.com |@WeRiseProduction

Theme Song created by DiaspoRADiCAL Soundscapes @diaspoRADical