Ahead of this weekend’s Fearless Fire for Repro Shabbat, we (virtually) sat down with guest artist Carmen Mojica, an Afro-Dominican certified professional midwife, writer and reproductive justice activist with a particular focus on birth justice.

Jumping right in, where is home for you?
Home for me is the Bronx, in New York.

What’s your favorite thing about the Bronx, or your neighborhood?
My favorite thing about my neighborhood is that everything I need is here – parks, grocery stores, community – and I like that it’s got this older residential feel. I know people in the neighborhood, and I love living where I know people I like.

How did you first find Lab/Shul, or how did we find you?
My good friend, who has been part of Lab/Shul for many years, recommended me to Naomi, based on my expertise in reproductive justice.

How did you first get involved in reproductive justice?

Honestly, I would say that it started from when I was a young child, and then I got a little lost in the world, and found my way back to my desire to help.

While in college, I wanted to share what I was learning and get that information out to my community. I realized I could help more people directly as a midwife. I remember learning about the disparity between maternal mortality rates of white mothers and black mothers, and for me, after learning about such disparity, my natural reaction was to activate and advocate.

This is my form of direct action – this is my way of making sure folks get what they need when they seek health care.

What role does spirituality play in your work?

Oh, wow, where to start? I think there are few thing’s in this world that are more spiritual for me than watching a baby be born. I’ve seen births happen for ten years now, and watching a baby being born…it never gets old. It’s a reminder really, that there’s so much we don’t know.

There’s both a mystery and a miracle – it’s a miracle that childbirth happens so often without any complications, it’s really indescribable, because you’re just watching life come into the world, every time.

You see so much raw human emotion too, from everyone in the room really, myself included. My jaw literally drops and I thinks WOW, there’s a baby coming out of there! And I get really moved by the emotions in the room, it’s the rawest of emotions watching everyone experience this.

What inspires or motivates you to keep doing this work?

My dedication to human rights, really. To decide what you want to do with your body is one of the most basic human rights. For me, I’m encoded, I was really born this way, as an advocate, warrior, defender, older sister. It’s not necessarily a calling, I was born to defend. Even if I wasn’t doing this in the medical field, I would still be doing this work in another way.