About

 
 

Overview

In the Tradition of Our Ancestors (ITOA) Movement is a community-based organization located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At ITOA Movement, the focus is on identifying and addressing disparities and injustices in Black birth and sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Through rigorous research, data analysis, and advocacy efforts, the agency aims to shed light on the root causes of these disparities and develop evidence-based solutions to address them. While we primarily focus on the Greater Baton Rouge Area, our research and advocacy are meant to advance the health outcomes and lives of all Black birthing folk, especially in the Deep South.

Vision & Mission

Our vision is to create a future where Black birth, reproductive, and sexual health outcomes are no longer determined by systemic inequities, paternalistic care models, or the enforcement and acceptance of western birth, sexuality, gender and reproduction ideologies, or neocolonial aid and development models.

Our mission is to address and eliminate birth, reproductive, gender and sexual injustices and disparities in Black obstetrical and gynecological outcomes through research, advocacy, and empowerment of Black birthing individuals and their communities.

Goals

The overarching goals of ITOA Movement are to:

  1. Increase access to culturally responsive and affirming birth journey-related education, programming, care and services for Black birthing individuals in the Greater Baton Rouge Area, especially Black trans- and gender-diverse persons and low-income individuals.

  2. Promote a strong, collective political consciousness and culture of agency within the Black community of the Greater Baton Rouge Area via education and programming rooted in Gender-centric Pan-Africanism, gender justice, birth justice, and reproductive justice

  3. Improve obstetrical and gynecological health outcomes and clinical encounters for Black birthing persons in the Great Baton Rouge Area via evidence-based research and consulting services that address and work to eliminate obstetric racism, queer phobic and transphobic violence, and poor quality healthcare at the systemic level.

Foundational Theories

Our liberatory praxis is grounded in the foundational theories of reproductive justice, gender justice, birth justice, Gender-centric Pan-Africanism, decolonial research methodologies, as well as research and data justice.

Reproductive justice

SisterSong defines reproductive justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.

Gender justice

Third Wave Fund defines gender justice as a feminist movement to end patriarchy, transphobia, and homophobia and to create a world free free misogyny. To achieve gender justice means that people of all genders have a meaningful right to bodily autonomy, safety, health, and opportunity. Gender justice works to deconstruct all legal, structural, and cultural barriers to gender equity.

Birth justice

The Birth Justice Network explains birth justice as the recognition that all peoples can birth and be parents and acknowledges the histories of trauma and oppression that Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), immigrant peoples, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) communities have survived around decisions to have and not have babies. Birth justice includes access to healthcare during the childbearing year that is holistic, humanistic, and cultural centered. This healthcare is across the pregnancy spectrum and includes abortion, miscarriage, prenatal, birth and postpartum care. Birth justice includes the right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy, to choose when, where, how, and with whom to birth, includes access to traditional and Indigenous healers—such as midwives and other birth workers—and the right to chestfeeding support.

Gender-centric Pan-Africanism

Gender-centric Pan-Africanism is a Pan-Africanism that uplifts gender justice, reproductive justice, and birth justice as a means to fully realize the tenets of Pan-Africanism. This theory was coined in direct resistance to single-issue Black liberation agendas, and instead posits that in focusing on gender, reproductive, and birth injustices the missing pieces of political consciousness needed for African liberation will finally be realized. It also intentionally centers the liberation of folks who do not immediately benefit from patriarchy and folks who are impacted by misogynoir and cisheterosexism on visceral levels.

Decolonial research methodologies

According to Rosemary Chigevenga, a “decolonising research methodology is an approach that is used to challenge Eurocentric research methods that undermine the local knowledge and experiences of the marginalized population groups.” (Nhemachena et.al. 2016; Khupe and Keane, 2017; Chilisa, 2012). Factors such as power, trust, culture and cultural responsiveness, respectful and legitimate research practice, social relevance, clear decolonial and indigenizing intent, appreciation of local ontological, epistemological, cultural and value assumptions, contribute towards a research approach constructed from an indigenous conceptual or theoretical perspective, as well as recognition of individual and community assets are critical.

Research and data justice

According to the Coalition of Communities of Color, research justice is a strategic framework, rooted in community-based participatory action research (CBPAR), that seeks to achieve self-determination for marginalized communities. It is driven by the following tenets:

  • Community members are experts

  • BIPOC communities are positioned as researchers rather than the objects of research and inquiry

  • BIPOC communities already have the capacity to conduct critical and systemic inquiry into their own lived experiences

  • BIPOC knowledge and expertise can counter dominant cultural narratives that center deficit models rather than strength-based models

Data justice is an approach that redresses ways of collecting and disseminating data that have invisibilized and harmed historically marginalized communities. Data justice aims to capture forms of knowledge and lived experiences that are community-centered and community-driven to counter the systemic erasure and harm perpetrated on BIPOC communities via oppressive data practices. The fundamental premises of data justice are that data should:

  • Make visible community-driven needs, challenges, and strengths

  • Be representative of the community

  • Treat data in ways that promote community self-determination