Lucy C. Félix knows about the life of migrant workers firsthand: her father is a migrant farmworker who brought the family to South Texas from Mexico in 1997. Félix had been a social worker in Mexico; when she saw what life was like for many women in rural Texas, especially those without documentation, she knew she had found her calling.
A decade later, Félix is a leader in the community-based reproductive justice movement. In 2000, she joined Migrant Health Promotion (MHP), an organization dedicated to improving the health of farmworker and border communities. She was hired as a promotora de salud to work within local communities to promote health and access to health care services. But Félix found that the energy and commitment of the people she worked with inspired her to assume an even greater role.
When the MHP program La Voz Latina (The Latina Voice, LVL) was created in 2001 with a grant from the Ms. Foundation, Lucy immediately signed on. LVL uses the promotora model—which is based on the premise that community members are best equipped to promote health in their own communities—to promote migrant women’s reproductive health. But then it goes a step further by building women’s capacity to advocate for themselves and defend their rights.
Many of LVL’s participants lack migratory documents and few speak English, so the only work they can find, if any, is in very low-paying jobs. Some of the colonias, the border-area settlements in which they live, are so remote and neglected by government that they often have no commerce, no paved roads and limited or no access to public services like water, electricity, or sanitation.
When Félix and the other promotoras first went to the colonias, they found many barriers—a lack of understanding about reproductive health and no real idea of where to find services. But what appeared particularly fundamental was a lack of transportation. They approached a representative of Hidalgo County’s transit system, but he didn’t believe the communities existed—they weren’t on any of his maps. After intense lobbying, they persuaded him to come see for himself. That convinced him. Now several colonias have regular bus service so that residents can get to clinics for check-ups, annual tests—even just go to the store.
Transportation is just part of the problem for colonia residents. Medical insurance is only a dream for many migrant workers, so women often go without regular checkups. Problems like breast and cervical cancer aren’t usually addressed until they’re far advanced. And where there are programs for women, such as free Pap tests, there are many of restrictions as to eligibility.
Still, with support from the Ms. Foundation, LVL is making great strides to improve women farmworkers’ access to reproductive health care. Félix and LVL have organized a network of migrant women who play a leading role in LVL’s advocacy. They’ve organized marches that have garnered significant press coverage, and as a result of their ever-more active role with LVL, they confidently express what they think and feel to hospital administrators, policymakers and the media. Félix and her promotoras see local leadership as key to advancing progressive change at all levels. Their current overarching goal is to use a combination of community organizing, leadership training and lobbying to persuade the Texas legislature to restore full funding for family planning and reproductive health services.
A powerful voice for reproductive justice, Executive Director of MHP Gayle Lawn-Day calls Félix, “a force of nature.” Her drive comes from her concern for others. “When Lucy comes she makes us laugh, she makes us cry, she makes us change,” says promotora Maria Trevino. “She gives her whole heart to the community.”
Where other people would say, “There aren’t enough resources,” she makes things happen. Lawn-Day says, “We use the term social justice, but it’s very hard to turn it into a reality. Lucy sees social justice as something that you live every day.”
