Hi! I am Kaitlyn Crook, a rising junior at Tulane University, and I am currently studying Public Health and Spanish. This summer, I will be doing some amazing work as a reproductive justice intern at Women With A Vision, Inc. under the direction of Lakeesha Harris.
Women With A Vision, Inc. is a community-based nonprofit organization that advocates for black women, women of color, sex workers, folks that identify as LGBTQ+, and people from low income backgrounds in the New Orleans community. The work of WWAV is based on the understanding of intersectionality, a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw that is defined as the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, or gender that can create an overlapping or interdependent system of discrimination and disadvantage for certain individuals and groups. What is most exciting to see is that this organization truly follows their mission statement to the letter. In recent months, access to abortion has been under fire in states across the country, including Louisiana. Women With A Vision has been at the forefront of protests against the bill that proposed a six week ban.
I have already had so many enriching experiences, during my first month at WWAV. I attended my first Women’s Dinner Wednesday coordinated by the New Orleans People’s Assembly. The People’s Assembly hosts a dinner in the city for individuals that care about various social justice issues and the rights of the most marginalized groups within our community. The discussion at this dinner was great and allowed me to reflect on how I viewed different social structures and the affect they have in our society. As an intern, my main focus will be to create a video infographic that displays the stories of sex workers in the community. Aside from my project, I am also reading several books, such as Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts, to further enrich my intern experience.
I am so thankful and excited to continue working at Women With a Vision and with the Newcomb College Institute, and look forward to a very productive summer, as a reproductive justice intern.