These Emergent Principles are a reflection of my core values, and serves as a living document. These principles will be adjusted and revised in alignment with the current political climate, and needs of my communities. This document was modeled after and inspired by Girls Rock Philly’s Points of Unity, the work of adrienne maree brown, Miram Zoila Perez’s The Radical Doula Guide, and countless other forces that continue to shape my work. Through these guiding Emergent Principles, we aspire to center love, rather than fear.
Emergent Principles
Full-Spectrum of Choice and Experience
Anti-Oppression
Self-Awareness and Autonomy
We hope to assist individuals in becoming their own best advocates, chiefly by cultivating their sense of radical self-awareness. We support our community and our clients in the choices they make from this space of grounded self-awareness and sense of autonomy.
We acknowledge that access to the time and resources needed to commit to elaborate and commodifed self-study practices are unevenly and unjustly distributed, and so we work with a variety of accessible methods. We believe that articulating and understanding social location is a key element of self-awareness, especially as it pertains to issues of social justice and privilege.
We believe in the power of self-awareness in establishing autonomy – personal, bodily, and political. We aspire to center individuals in the work that we do, rather than operating within the limits of broken systems, or in a way that is dogmatic. We believe that there are many right paths, and we believe that you are the expert in you.
Race
We commit to addressing the enormous impact of race, racism, colonialism, white supremacy, and whiteness on the politics of health and wellness. We stand with the Movement for Black Lives, and alongside POC and seek equity, especially in the context of Reproductive Justice – work named and driven by Black activists which provides a framework for understanding how all work towards equity is Reproductive Justice.
We acknowledge that the injustices that we seek to right within the world of perinatal, sexual, and reproductive health disproportionately effect people of color, in particular Black birthing people. We commit to shining light on these injustices, and amplifying the voices of those who go unheard AND to not getting stuck in white freeze, but rather, taking action to address white supremacy culture on all levels – internal, relational, and systemic. We aspire to engage in ongoing conversations to promote racial equity, and to center working class female, queer, and trans Black, Indigenous, and POC in these conversations.
Gender and Sexual Orientation
We believe that every person has the right to self-determine their own gender identity, gender expression, and sexual identity. Our work centers queer, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. We recognize the erasure of Intersex people, and we stand for Intersex Justice. We celebrate gender expansiveness as a liberating force for all of humanity, and an opportunity to break down the gender binary, which is an oppressive colonialist framework.
We acknowledge that harmful cisheteronormative assumptions are often made when it comes to sexual and reproductive health. Systems of oppression thrive amongst gender injustice. Working within an intersectional framework, we can defy the sexism, mysogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and femmephobia that is inherent in these systems.
We commit to practices that support and affirm gender self-determination and never assume cisheteronormativity. We support all growing families regardless family structure, or their use of genetic donors, surrogacy, surrender, or adoption in their choices to have or not have children. We aspire to engage in ongoing conversations to promote gender equity, and to center working class female, queer, and trans Black and people of color in these conversations.
Bodies and Beings
We recognize that certain bodies are forced into the margins, treated unjustly, fetishized, pathologized, and discriminated against. Regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability or ability, neurodivergence, illness, size, or occupation – we stand with bodies and people that exist within the margins, and that are oppressed.
We acknowledge that current health systems and practices are built around an ableist idea that is not only extremely othering, but also violent and harmful. We believe that individuals are more than just their bodies, and that every person has the right to wellness practices and healthcare that are supportive, non-judgemental, and non-discriminatory.
We commit to making our services more accessible to those who face discrimination by offering select partial and full scholarship opportunities.
We believe that seemingly individual transformative experiences such as self-awareness practice, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and abortion, birth, and postpartum all provide opportunities for expansive social change. All of our individual experiences, no matter how different, are intimately connected.
We value the role of community-centered collaboration in unifying the diverse experiences of many in order to inspire lasting change for all.
“We recognize that we live in a world of many different levels of systematic, interpersonal, and internalized oppressions– including but not limited to those based on white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, and economic injustice and exploitation. We recognize that communities who face oppression on a daily basis are especially equipped with the tools and wisdom to dismantle these systems and envision what collective liberation can look like…We believe in creating brave and supportive spaces where our community members can feel seen, heard, and valued…We recognize that when we are not allowed to show our full humanity and vulnerability, we can inadvertently perpetuate the violent effects of patriarchy by holding ourselves and each other to impossible standards of perfectionism. We commit to upholding a culture of kindness, generosity and respect. We lean into mistakes as courageous spaces of conversation and growth, and realize that when we show our vulnerability, it makes room for others to do the same.” – Girls Rock Philly
We commit to inviting in all of the voices, people, and perspectives that can inform best practices in this work. We aspire to adjust and adapt with grace in order to meet the needs of our community, as we seek to use our work to build a better world. We aspire to approach this challenging work with love, awe, and hope.
Location Note: We acknowledge that we are living, playing, and working on the stolen land of Indigenous peoples as we travel the US.