Source: Courtesy of Tyler Harden / T. Harden
‘Straight From The Mouths Of Mississippi’ is an ongoing series that centers the Black lives, experiences, histories and geographies of the Magnolia State. As Mississippi continues to be a victim and site of national and state politics and racism, with the highest population of Black people and the poverty rate in the U.S., MADAMENOIRE’s goal is to share real and rich stories straight from the horses mouth.
Mississippi taught the world how to organize. – Tyler Harden, MS State Director of Planned Parenthood-Southeast
As headline after headline began reporting the overturning of Roe V. Wade, Mississippi wasted no time stripping vulnerable Mississippians of abortion access. Just barely two weeks after it was announced, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, also known as “The Pink House” was forced to close its doors. The last and only abortion clinic, gone.
A major setback in a state that already made it incredibly difficult for folks to access abortion, activists and organizers across the state refused to take this loss sitting down. Tyler Harden, a Mississippi native and Reproductive Justice advocate, is one of many folks on the ground working tirelessly to restore the reproductive rights of Missisisppians.
Speaking with Tyler on what brought her into this work, she discusses how her family history and unplanned pregnancy inspired to advocate for abortion access, especially for Black folks in Mississippi.
Tyler serves as the Mississippi State Director at Planned Parenthood Southeast, and much of her organizing efforts emphasize education and breaking the stigma around abortion. A part of that work means meeting folks where they are and getting the conversation started, regardless of where they stand on the issue.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, another aspect of her work is ensuring that Mississippians are aware of their options and have the necessary resources to get the care they need.
One of the biggest hits to abortion access in Mississippi was the closing of The Pink House. Tyler shares her complicated feelings about this loss and how the community, namely Black women, has continued to show up for another through it all.
Mississippi state leaders on both sides of the political spectrum stand firm on their intent of making this state uninhabitable for Black folks. This raises the question of why. Why do Black folks, especially Black women, continue to fight in a state hellbent on killing them? Tyler understands that dissonance deeply, but it doesn’t deter her. It is love that keeps her going. Love for her community, love for her predecessors, and love for the place she calls home.
We are owed this. Perhaps the most powerful declaration of the entire conversation. Black folks are owed so much from a state that was, in the ominous words of Fannie Lou Hamer, built on the Black Back. That legacy of slavery, violence and evil still permeates every institution in the state of Mississippi. It is a legacy that remains dedicated to controlling and brutalizing its most vulnerable citizens. Tyler reminds us that this fight is an extension of our ancestors who never got what they were owed..
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