Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Lopez.
Leslie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My passion for social justice started when I was around 14 years old. Trayvon Martin’s murder was a huge turning point in my life, and it ignited something in me. From then on, I became interested in learning more about social justice and politics. Fast forward to 2017, I graduated high school and went to the University of North Texas. It was through learning about Black feminism, having tough conversations with classmates, and finding a political home within the reproductive justice movement that I got to where I am today. My work currently includes social and reproductive justice education through different mediums such as my podcast, Tejana Feminist Talks.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
One of my struggles has been accepting that I have made and will probably continue to make mistakes. I came into the reproductive justice movement through an amazing internship program, the Reproductive Rights Activist Service Corps (RRASC). The internship site and the movement space that I was introduced to felt like home. When I came back to UNT that fall, I had this idea for an organization that would focus on educating the campus community over social and reproductive justice issues. A friend helped me begin to execute that vision, and the organization was established in October 2018. But by the end of that school year, I was incredibly burnt out and lost a friendship in the process. I had been overly ambitious, so I wanted to make it a point to make space for other people to step into the organization and movement. I have learned so much in the two and a half years of being in the movement, and countless other individuals have supported me.
In terms of the podcast, I’ve struggled with doubting if my work is good enough for the public. When you are learning about difficult topics in such a public space, it can be scary to think that you may mess up and others will witness it. However, this has helped me, an extreme perfectionist, in learning to accept and make peace with the fact that mistakes are inevitable.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
First and foremost, I want to define reproductive justice for those unfamiliar with this phrase. Reproductive justice is a term that was coined by 12 Black women in 1994. It refers to having the right to have children, not have children, raise the children one does have in safe and violence-free communities, and the right to personal bodily autonomy (SisterSong, 2020). With that said, I identify as a reproductive justice educator, meaning I facilitate training and use various mediums to provide folks with knowledge about social and reproductive justice. This is where Tejana Feminist Talks comes in! I had the idea of starting a podcast floating around in my brain for a while, but it didn’t take off until March of this year.
I’m incredibly proud of the support I’ve gotten from my friends and other community members, organizers, educators, activists, and advocates. I always said that if just one person listened, I’d be happy, so it’s really exciting to see this grow. I also think that one thing that sets me apart is that I’m also learning, and I make that very clear. Just because I am an educator does not mean I know everything! At the beginning of each episode, I say that this is a space to “learn… and unlearn harmful ways of thinking and behaviors,” and I stand by that. Learning is an ongoing process; it just never stops, which means that you will make mistakes. Being intentional about this has helped me face some of my fears.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I never planned to be active in the reproductive justice movement. If I had psyched myself out of applying for that internship program, I wouldn’t have come into this movement space in 2018. I do believe that my being a reproductive justice educator is fate so I’m confident that I would’ve discovered this passion one way or another. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have the support of so many other people and, without them, I would not be doing this. As hard of the year 2020 has been, this is one of the good things that has come out of it and I don’t take that lightly. It’s a sort of fuel that carries me forward and allows me to continue doing this work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tejana-feminist-talks/id1520241936
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tftalkspodcast/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/1KH9nrA5oo5HITvhd4C51z?si=o_AFVmTbTDOKYVdRBd56KA
Image Credit:
Olivia Najera-Garcia
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