WIND RIVER  | a film 
Hell or High Water, meets Manchester By Sea, meets the tragedy that is the history of how the United States has treated the First Nations Peoples since the founding of our nation. This film is Written and Directed by Taylor Sheridan (and before you movie buffs jump on me, I wrote that first sentence before I knew that Sheridan also wrote 'Hell or High Water'). This film is brutal, moving and for me it was crazy emotional.

My partner, my bae, my TK; He is the movie buff in our relationship, mostly, he picks what we see on the big screen, he reads reviews and is always up on what we should see and how which reviewers felt about it. When I was informed that I would be seeing a movie highlighting Indigenous actors I didn't ask any questions, I just grabbed some popcorn and tagged along. Thank goodness I hadn't worn makeup or put my contacts in, I spent more than a third of the movie sobbing, at some points loudly, uncontrollably. 

So there is a dark story here, darker than murder, darker than life on a reservation. It is the story of Native Women, a story was so many painful prongs that it is hard for me to even begin to write something that I might consider adequate. But what is inadequate is allowing our country to continue living in a reality that does not acknowledge how bleak things really are for this population.
- 1 in 3 Indigenous women will be raped in her lifetime
- 3 in 5 will be physically assaulted 
- twice as likely to be stalked as other women
- NATIVE WOMEN ARE MURDERED AT TEN TIMES THE NATIONAL AVERAGE
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This moving film uses one story, one fictional example to depict the disturbing norm that can easily define what it's like to live in the body of a Native American woman. Parts are hard to watch, parts are filled with action, and some of it is sweet and hopeful. The fact that the film is not being marketed as a social issues film, as a progressive attention grabber is great. I honestly thought it was just a thriller and it turned out being about this issue that is so close to my heart. But on another hand a lot of people are going to go into this movie having no prior knowledge of this plight and that is amazing. People are going to see this movie who didn't know their heart was going to explode with pain and they just might be the exact people that need a push to build that empathy. 

About half way through the movie I figured out who she was, who the FBI agent was played by, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's sister, it must have been her adorable nose! Elizabeth Olsen plays a young FBI agent from the South who just happens to be in the area when this murder takes place. I really enjoyed watching Olsen and Renner embody this story, their characters establish an unexpected respectful bond within this extremely trying situation. 

 -- Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women – Why Not to Dress as Pocahottie for Halloween  - MUST READ. 

- FUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCE - The Facts on Violence Against American Indian/Alaskan Native Women - seriously heavy stuff.

- Indigenous people face higher rates of violence in N.L., statistics show

-  ​Savanna's Act aims to bring justice for missing, murdered Native American women - Senators response to the lack of stats highlighted in the film

SEE THIS MOVIE, encourage others to see it. Educate yourself further on the issue AND THE SOLUTIONS! This movie could just be a movie, but I urge you to let the story sink into your heart. If you feel called to not just let it be a movie you see and then never thinking about again, push yourself further and let the emotion drive you to a new place. Maybe you could just talk about it a lot, make sure that everyone you know now knows this story. Maybe you could donate to organizations like FRIENDS OF PINE RIDGE, or buy something from MY SISTER (which is helping to end Sex Trafficking). Read about the work of NACB, or Mending the Sacred Hoop, or Indian Law Resource Center. There are many ways to help and by seeing this movie you are opening your heart and mind up to a new perspective that could forever change your outlook and your actions.

xoxox, katia

This book is important, it has answers as to how we talk about this issue, how we, PRO - CHOICE individuals take back the moral high ground - because it is ours. Women need us to take this seriously and learn how to vocalize this issue in light of equality and human rights! 

Dr. Willie a male doctor from the South who provides abortions, an example of constitutionally protected reproductive health care for women. This is an admirable career. He is a admirable man. This semi-autobiographical book tells just enough of his story for anyone to fall in love, he mixes in the history of reproductive politics, Parker pulls on heart strings while also inspired the mind to wrestle. 

Dr. Parker does not believe that anti-abortionists deserve to be referred to as 'Pro-Life.' I tend to agree. Anti-abortionists neglect to see the woman right in front of them as human enough to know what is right and wrong for her and any life that she may choose to bring into this world. But before this book I had very minimal language with which to speak about this. The way Parker wrestles with his God, the way he takes religion and rational past the easily obtained understanding and pushes himself to truly accept woman as equal humans is uplifting and date I say inspiring?! I am an atheist but the way that Parker writes about his relationship with his God did spark a bit of.. jealously perhaps? I could ramble about that specific aspect of the book but I won't because, the bottom line is that this book is a must read for anyone whose ever had an abortion, who might have one in the future, who has a uterus, who doesn't have a uterus, someone who enjoys people with uteri, etc, etc. This book allows new light to be shown onto the abortion debate and if we ever expect equality we need all the light we can get. 

I have listened to this book twice on Audible and each time I focused on the specifics of Parker's argument about women's equality being based on this choice. He talks about fetal tissue, he talks about states that make him straight out lie to women, he tells real stories of women who need this health care. This man, this book, I am so grateful! I plan to buy a physical copy, read and reread, I have a few people who I want to gift it to. AND THEN I will take this information out into the world. I will talk, I will debate, I will demand the moral high ground when it comes to women's reproductive freedom because true equality depends on it. 

A twenty five year old woman argued the famous Supreme Court case ROE v. WADE and this book, 'A Question of CHOICE' is her story. This woman's name is Sarah Weddington and she wrote this book about twenty years after the ruling. A lot of people are unaware of Weddington and her notably young age during the trail, in the new millennium we were all very proud of Lena Dunham for directing an HBO show but forty years before Sarah Weddington was the same age as Dunham while she argued a case in front of the highest court in the entire country. It's time we give Sarah Weddington her kudos by educating ourselves about her work, she is a lawyer, an activist, a former elected official, she published this book in 1992 and I read it in 2017; This story is more important than ever for everyone in the United States to know!

I have said it before and I will probably say it a million more times but I love shopping for books at thrift stores! They offer a weird and satisfying glance into what people in the area have read. I could not be more glad that somehow this book caught my attention in a second-hand store because reading it added a fuel to my fire that was perfectly timed.

The story this book tells is heartening. It's full of set backs and the human realities of being an activist, a lawyer, a young person, a woman. This story gave me energy, hearing about Weddington's early, unsuspecting, involvement and life long dedication to this and other causes is reminiscent of the labor of love that got women the right to vote, a struggle that took over 70 years of hard campaigning! Weddington didn't get involved in this because she wanted to become some public figure, she wasn't looking for recognition or fame, she wanted to give a group of woman volunteers piece of mind. There was a group of women who volunteered answering phones, giving out information about where to obtain safe health services. They wanted to know what legal trouble they might be inviting, enter Sarah Weddington - deciding to help find the answer to that question is the simple act that would change her life forever and imbed her in this struggle for reproductive freedom. 

The content of this book was honestly life changing for me. I knew that women had fought for reproductive equality, I definitely knew that we needed to continue fighting because currently the momentum is headed in the direction opposite of equality and reproductive freedom. I knew that Roe v. Wade was important, but I did not know just how the whole thing began or how it came to fruition. The details of the case are everything, they tell a story that will motivate women for years to come. The copy of the book that fell into my hands that fateful day, I believe, was signed by Sarah Weddington herself - WHICH IS FREAKIN' COOL AS HELL! It is dated 7 years after the book was published but who other than the author wold write their note to the receiver, of this book, across the title page with such flourish? 

I obviously can't say for sure it was her but if it was... I have so many questions, who is Carol? I am inspired by her being an educator and she worked with the the American Association of University Women, very cool! How did Carol let this treasure slip out of her book collection? Did she mean to donate it or was it lost? ugh. So. Many. Questions. I will probably never have answers but I will cherish this book, recommend it to men, woman and students alike! It's story is a story we need to take with us into the fight for reproductive freedom, because in 2017 we aren't far from where she was in the 1990s when this was written. We need to continue this work with the dedication of Sarah Weddington, FOR SARAH WEDDINGTON and FOR THE FUTURE GENERTATIONS OF WOMEN WHO DESERVE TO BE RESPECTED & GIVEN THEIR HUMAN DIGNITY UNDER THE LAW.

- Salon Article about new reproductive rights documentary

- Dr. Willie Parker's Twitter Feed or his book 

- ​PODCAST: Toward reproductive sovereignty, not reproductive rights