
Today, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina close Season 4 of Las Doctoras with a conversation with two special guests!Our first guest is Monica Simpson, queer Black activist, artist, and executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. She takes us through her over 20 years of social justice work with a keen focus on sexual reproductive justice.Monica starts all of her training sessions at SisterSong with the line: We all have a story to tell. She firmly believes that stories are our fuel. They provide purpose and motivation to all of our work in social justice, whatever the cause.A group of Black women got together in 1994 to discuss healthcare reform for underrepresented communities, and the term they eventually came up with was reproductive justice, which is defined as “the human rights of bodily autonomy”. It’s very much intersectional, and encompasses our right to the children we want in the ways we want, to prevent or end shameful pregnancies and replace them with those of dignity.Community and care are at the heart of the SisterSong movement. Monica talks about their upcoming Let’s Talk About Sex Conference in Dallas, Texas, at which the topic of conversation is the blueprint for body revolution. We're all so eager to start revolutionary work from so many different angles. Monica encourages us to slow down because, the truth is, it all starts with our first environment—our own body!Our second guest is Marsha Jones, Founder and Executive Director at The Afiya Center, which was established in response to the increasing disparities between HIV incidences worldwide and the extraordinary prevalence of HIV among Black women and girls in Texas. TAC is unique in that it is the only Reproductive Justice (RJ) organization in North Texas founded and directed by Black women.Having grown up in an old-school religious environment, Marsha had a lot of paradigms to shift when she came into her work. Her first step as she entered this fight concerning HIV was to center her work around social justice and human rights. She learned that, “It is these systems of oppression that drive HIV among Black women, not who we have sex with and how.”Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, Marsha’s biggest fear is twofold: 1) When you start using language that is criminalizing in any way with people who are closer to the criminal justice system, there will be health and economic impacts; 2) A lack of resources for women who have experienced violent rape and have few or no options now that they are pregnant.Voting is important, but it’s not the only thing we can (or should) do. We need more people to talk about this crucial issue, and to look at it from a reproductive lens to tell the entire story—the entire experience. Aside from the obvious health challenges faced by women with unwanted pregnancies, there are dangers of them losing their jobs or even their homes, especially if they live in an abusive household.There are so many layers to this issue. Reproductive justice allows us to talk about factors which go beyond abortion. It is important, but is just one of many other pieces of the puzzle of reproductive justice!Connect with Monica Simpson:Visit the SisterSong website: www.sistersong.netJoin us at the upcoming Let’s Talk About Sex Conference: www.letstalkaboutsexconference.comFollow Monica on Instagram: www.instagram.com/artivistmonicarayeConnect with Marsha Jones:Visit The Afiya Center website: www.theafiyacenter.orgFollow The Afiya Center on Instagram: www.instagram.com/theafiyacenterConnect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras
Sep 7, 2022

Today, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina take the opportunity to analyze their Human Design Charts with life coach Elyse Preston, the founder of Be More Connected. Listen in as our hosts—both Emotional Generators—learn more about themselves and each other through this unique window into the soul!When you look at a Human Design Chart, you’re essentially looking at a map—a blueprint mapping out the strengths, gifts, and essences that your soul chose to support you in tapping into your highest potential. The areas filled with color are the qualities which are innate to you: the things that your soul specifically chose. The open, white spaces are those qualities which you are more susceptible to conditioning from the outside world.Your Energy Type is your biggest and broadest category of energy. It’s important for us to know our Type because it’s our relationship with how we’re most optimally designed to exchange energy with the world around us.There are nine Centers in Human Design: Head (inspiration), Anja (awareness and conceptualization), Throat (manifestation via speaking and doing), G (self, love, and direction), Heart (ego and willpower), Spleen (immune system and intuition), Solar Plexus (emotional wave), Sacral (life force and sexuality), and Root (adrenaline and stress).The difference between a Gate and a Channel is: A gate is a reflection of a particular energy that is coming out of one of the energy centers. Two open gates make way for that circuitry which blends two different energies together.Everyone is on their own healing journey. To intellectualize the journey is one thing; but, to embody it is another. In fact, to authentically share the process can be healing in itself. Understanding the language of Human Design gives you the tools to validate your experiences, and even embrace all of those experiences—whether you previously perceived them as “good” or “bad”—as assets rather than as flaws.Connect with Elyse Preston:Visit her website: www.elysepreston.comFollow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamelyseprestonConnect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras
Aug 23, 2022

Today, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina sit down with friend, political advocate, and fellow teacher Anna Lily. The three share an inspiring message of change and daily action, encouraging us to go beyond visualizing a utopian future and start creating a system of liberation today.To kick things off, Dr. Renee, Dr. Cristina, and Anna Lily go through a lightning round of fun questions around how they would do things if they were President. The questions include: “Who would you have on to sing the National Anthem?”, “Which book would you swear on at your inauguration?”, “Who would be your poet laureate?”, “What is the main theme of your inaugural speech?”, “Who would you name as your cabinet members?”, “Who would be your presidential bruja?”, and, “Who would be your presidential fashion designer/stylist?”After the rapid-fire questions, Anna Lily talks about her upbringing—being raised in a family of evangelical conservatives—and how Trump’s election became the turning point for her political convictions, inspiring her to campaign heavily on the ground for Joe Biden.Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina assure Anna Lily that she isn’t a “coward” for stopping herself from having political conversations with family members whose beliefs don’t match hers. The three then discuss how to set boundaries and discern the line between having such conversations and keeping politics off the table when it comes to both family and friends.Finally, Anna Lily and our co-hosts attempt to predict what to expect for the rest of the year when it comes to Joe Biden’s presidency.While politics is obviously important, Dr. Renee, Dr. Cristina, and Anna Lily believe that change starts in our own neighborhood. We need to ask ourselves: How do we hold our politicians accountable after leaving the voting booth? And of course, how do we show up in our own communities? We’re a long way off from a truly liberated America—but as with any big vision for change, it all starts with us.Connect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras
Jun 7, 2022

Today, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina sit down with their good friend and former student Bernice to discuss Mariposa de Barrio, the telenovela based on the life of Jenni Rivera.One of the most striking parts of Jenni’s story is the fact that she built a career in a man’s industry. She is a true trailblazer who single-handedly made other women who are fans of Banda—a male-dominated music genre—feel validated.There is a surprising amount of domestic and sexual violence depicted in the telenovela, without trigger warnings nor a narrative that outright condemns these scenes. Our hosts dissect this concerning direction the show takes by touching on old-fashioned family dynamics, addressing the behavior of the male and female characters in particular.Jenni Rivera’s public image projects confidence and total dominance, yet, as Mariposa de Barrio shows, behind closed doors she constantly struggled to find her voice even in her personal life. She was regularly silenced and forced to feel minimized, and found true liberation whenever she was onstage. Yet, as our hosts know, Jenni experienced a lot of joy in her life as well. They bemoan the “tragedy porn” that the show seems to glorify.Finally, our hosts urge against the normalization and, worse, the romanticization of the many depictions of toxic relationships which rear their heads in the show.From the normalization of machismo to women marrying for survival, Mariposa de Barrio illustrates—in 91 episodes—that the patriarchy is alive and well. But our saving grace and hope for a better future rests in having conversations that highlight these common yet often-overlooked issues in our own lives. Through the example of great women like Jenni Rivera, we can take those first steps to creating a more equal society that we’ll have full confidence letting our kids grow up in.Connect with Las DoctorasVisit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctorasEnroll on our Sacred Writing Course: https://lasdoctoras.net/sacredwriting
May 3, 2022

Today, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina sit down with money coach Nathalia, known to most as @mom_money_boss on Instagram to talk all things money and financial freedom.From budgetingto generational wealth, Nathalia wants to be a powerful voice in her community, many members of which lack the mentorship and resources to grow their money mindset and leave a legacy to their family. This hits especially close to home for her as she also had only recently been on a journey to pay down her student loan and $18,000 of consumer debt.“A budget doesn’t mean deprivation,” says Nathalia. You can still live a great life while having boundaries around your spending. It all starts with setting your goals and priorities, then slowly eliminating the things that don’t serve those goals and prioritiesEveryone is on a different stage of the money mindset journey. You have to meet yourself where you are. We all have our own unique money triggers that can be traced back to the way we were raised. Uncover those money memories and really try to pinpoint the emotions that you tie to those memories. That is the first step to untangling your identity from those memories and forging a better financial future for yourself.Finally, despite her impressive grasp of the world of finance and investing as a whole, Nathalia wishes to understand how colonization, patriarchy, and the like have an impact on the relationship that many minorities have with money.“I’m very conscious of the fact that we’re not on a level playing field,” says Natalia. From creating an emergency fund, to opening an IRA, to navigating taxes, to investing in real estate, Nathalia hopes that, through the Mom Money Boss brand, she will be able to make a positive impact on the wider community.Connect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctorasEnroll on our Sacred Writing Course: https://lasdoctoras.net/sacredwriting
Mar 24, 2022

Creativity. It’s a huge part of our lives, and one that Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina believe we all need to have more conversations around. Today, the two specifically zoom into priming our entire being to embody creative states. Believing that creativity requires everything in us—body, mind, and soul—in order for us to express it fully, Las Doctoras encourage us to see creativity as a holistic process that is just as powerful as a tool for meditation as it is a tool for productivity.Most of us think of creativity as a completely heady, utilitarian process. But if we allow creativity to stay in our heads, we experience those “blocks” and, eventually, burnout. We need to learn to step back and create ceremony around our work instead of obsessing over the actual doing of that work. Before writing, Las Doctoras like to meditate or simply move their bodies as a “warmup”, paving the way for flow.We decolonize our writing as we learn to step back and stop treating ourselves like a well-oiled machine every second of every day. This helps us release old messages and step into a new way of being.Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina used to take artwork for granted. Understandably, our go-go-go culture conditioned us into thinking that art is a waste of time. They found, however, that doing art allows them to focus, integrate, and process. In fact, the growth they experience from doing art positively influences their work!Finally, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina invite us to name our process. Admit and embrace the fact that you need more space to doodle, more space to dance, more space to relax, so that you can get those creative juices to flow easier.We need to create spaces for us to create, to dream, to visualize. We need to stop thinking of these activities as things we’re only supposed to do during our “downtime”, or on the weekend. Ultimately, once we embrace our process, life—including work—not only becomes so much more fun, but so much more fulfilling. And what’s more important than that?Connect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctorasEnroll on our Sacred Writing Course: https://lasdoctoras.net/sacredwriting
Jan 25, 2022

Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina sit down with CPA Benjamin Perez (@perezadvisor on Instagram) to touch on his evolving views on masculinity, both within himself and among the Latino community as a whole.Benjamin considers the various aspects of the complex topic that is masculinity from the point of view of his lived experience, particularly as a Latino. He breaks down the old beliefs that he had to overcome such as traditional machismo and gender roles.Speaking of unlearning, Benjamin talks about toxic masculinity and how he had to deal with it both as a victim of its destructive nature, and as a perpetrator himself. He explains that it is especially tough experiencing this toxicity within his own family and that, to this day, he is undergoing the process of decolonization, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically and spiritually as well.After Benjamin’s eyes were finally opened in college when he began to unpack his story while studying disenfranchised groups, the hard part really began: facing his traditional-minded family. He says that he’s the type to call out BS when he sees it, and the empowered Benjamin was willing and able to express his new views. But he had to learn to nip ego in the bud and pick his battles—especially considering it was his own family that he was having these tough conversations with.Finally, Benjamin gives his thoughts on becoming a father in the near future and how he aims to use more appropriate language than what he was raised with when speaking to his children, especially if he were to have sons. More importantly, he intends to model the behaviors he wants them to internalize. For instance, Benjamin won’t just preach the virtues of vulnerability, but won’t hesitate to display vulnerability in front of his kids.Ultimately, Benjamin has come away embracing vulnerability, and he’s happy to report that it’s rubbed off on some of his own family members who have been entrenched in the traditional culture of toxic masculinity all their lives.Our hosts conclude: “Patriarchy harms boys and men as it harms girls and women.” Without a doubt, one of the biggest takeaways of our conversation is the importance of practicing what we preach. By living out healthy masculinity, we overcome its toxic counterpart through sheer example.Connect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras
Jan 13, 2022

Welcome to the 40th episode of Las Doctoras! Today’s topic (and one which Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina will continue to unpack in the next few episodes) is masculinity. Being mothers to young boys, this is an especially personal topic for the two. Listen in as they share how they intend to help their sons navigate a culture where toxic masculinity continues to prevail, as well as how they define the healthy sort of masculinity that they hope their sons can embody growing up.Our hosts reflect on how their parents and grandparents exhibited toxic masculinity in their own unique ways. Having grown up during tough times, that previous generation exercised a lot of that aggression and emotional suppression characteristic of unhealthy masculinity.Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina explain how they had to unlearn a lot of what they were brought up with in order to be vulnerable. They speak on their identity struggles as tomboys in high school. Dr. Renee in particular talks about how she grew up “boy crazy”, probably as a way to attempt to validate her femininity, which at the time she thought can only happen via the approval of boys or men.Because society glamorizes toxic masculinity, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina believed for the longest time that they had to behave like men to be successful. This attitude, they say (speaking from experience) leads to burnout. That’s made even worse by the fact that our capitalist society eggs us on to perform beyond our limits.Because our hosts are intimately familiar with the destructive power of toxic masculinity, they’re determined to ensure their sons don’t end up buying into it as the “ideal” it’s advertised as.Finally, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina invite us to redefine “masculinity” by removing the social constructs around the term in order to pave the way for healthy masculinity.Masculinity, in and of itself, is not toxic. It becomes toxic because of a patriarchal society. There are beautiful things about femininity as there are about masculinity. The key is to erase social constructs around the terms, just as “fatness” becomes a neutral word if we stop equating it to “ugliness”. Once we acknowledge that, we begin to usher in true, healthy masculinity.Connect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras
Dec 21, 2021

Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina continue their discussion on the state of academia and attempt to pull back the curtain behind its hierarchical structure, based on their personal experiences in this world.Today’s guest, Dr. Ana Linda Arellano Nez, first met our hosts through their writing course and today works as the copy editor for Saint Lunita magazine alongside being an ethnic studies professor at California State University, Fullerton.Our hosts and Dr. Ana Linda reflect on their search for home in academia, being the first in their respective families to go through higher education, not to mention the mental exhaustion and lack of recognition that being an adjunct university professor comes with, particularly in California.Dr. Ana Linda shares her experience as an adjunct professor and her search for tenured positions. She chats about her love for teaching and why she had always been completely at home in classrooms and libraries. She also discusses the reality that expectant mothers experience in academia.Dr. Renee explains that “capitalism is exploitation. Academia is capitalism. Therefore, academia is going to be exploitative at all levels, particularly for adjuncts with no stability.”Finally, it’s always important to remember that life is worth more than our career. We shouldn’t be forced to burnout or settle for a lower salary than we deserve. It’s important to call out the exploitation present in academia in order for adjunct professors to start seeing real change and thrive while doing the work they’re so passionate about.Dr. Renee, Dr. Cristina, and Dr. Ana Linda break down the many issues with the university system in California, particularly as it pertains to adjunct professors like themselves.While they absolutely love their work as teachers, the rampant exploitation and underappreciaton of adjuncts is a huge systemic problem. For instance, being a mom shouldn’t be something that you have to hide just because it doesn’t make you as “desirable” a candidate.Las Doctoras hopes that their conversations become catalysts for transformation and grace in the world of academia for the sake of all future Women of Color looking for careers in the university system.Connect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras
Dec 8, 2021

Today, Dr. Renee and Dr. Cristina sit down with Diane Nevarez, a professor in the Education department at University of California Irvine. They do a deep dive into the current state of academia with a focus on the many challenges that the American university system poses, both in general and specifically around the pandemic.There is a lot of exploitation that takes place among adjunct professors precisely due to the contractual or part-time nature of the job. The hiring process is toxic and an air of uncertainty permeates the period in between classes. “I love what I do,” says Dr. Renee, “but I deserve to get paid more.”Elitism continues to characterize the culture of academia, particularly when it comes to state schools. A CV that has Cal State on it isn’t as respected as one that mentions USC or Stanford or another “prestigious” school.As a form of resistance, Diane once talked to her students about being pregnant while teaching. That was because, if faculty or students at USC were pregnant, there was an unspoken agreement to basically disappear until they were no longer pregnant. Unfortunately, this is a reality even in the ethnic studies department.“Spring 2020 should have been cancelled,” says Dr. Renee. She and her fellow professors had no choice but to move their courses from in-person to online in under a week—not to mention they were expected to be “experts” right away at teaching classes online. And now, a speedy transition back to in-person classes is underway even as many students are still unprepared or unwilling to go out in public.Boundaries matter a lot if you’re in academia. The emotional ups-and-downs of today’s educational environment on adjunct professors directly affect their family life; so, it’s more important than ever to set expectations for yourself, even if it means bracing yourself to receive only 50% of your usual salary.Finally, Diane believes that building unity between other professors that look like her, along with celebrating spaces of love and resistance is the first step to seeing real change in academia.Dr. Renee said it best: “My loyalty does not lie with any university or any department. My loyalty is to my students.” She, Dr. Cristina, and Diane have nothing but passion for their work as professors. At the same time, they bear the exploitation that the job comes with. They hope to change the entire landscape through their example and their resistance, especially as racial minorities in a predominantly white space. “What we’re doing,” says Dr. Cristina, “is radical in and of itself—just being there.”Connect with Las Doctoras:Visit their website: www.lasdoctoras.net Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/las.doctoras
Nov 23, 2021
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