Episode One: Model of Care
Episode Summary
Our premiere episode begins with Chicago Women’s Health Center’s roots in the feminist health movement of the 1960s. Terri Kapsalis, author and long-time CWHC Collective Member, describes the clinic’s model of care, its historic context, and how it remains at the heart of our work 45-years later.
How does CWHC continue to create a place for clients to receive health care that’s actually about care and not profit? What is the historic foundation for CWHC’s approach and why is this approach as important as ever? And...why “mirror and a flashlight”?
Join Terri as she explores these questions, and tune in throughout this season to learn more about how each of CWHC’s programs practice the model of care that has been evolving since 1975.
A Note from CWHC: This episode contains archival audio that identifies Andrea Smith as a member of the Cherokee Nation, a false claim made by Smith that has been harmful, as documented in The New York Times', "The Native Scholar Who Wasn't."
Learn More
For more information on some of the topics discussed in this episode, we recommend the following resources:
The History of the Women’s Health Movement
Bodies of Knowledge: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Women’s Health in the Second Wave by Wendy Kline
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English
“The Campaign to Eliminate the Midwife” by Kate Dawley
Women of Color and the Reproductive Rights Movement by Jennifer Nelson
More than Medicine: A History of the Feminist Women’s Health Movement by Jennifer Nelson
New View of a Woman’s Body: A Fully Illustrated Guide by the Federation Of Feminist Women's Health Centers
The History of Gynecology and Sterilization in the United States
Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology by Deirdre Cooper Owens
No Mas Bebes (2015), directed by Renee Tajima-Peña
Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide by Andrea Smith
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross and Rickie Solinger
Witches, Witch Hunts, and Women by Silvia Federici
Killing the Black Body by Dorothy E. Roberts
The Face of Women's Health: Helen Rodriguez-Trias by Joyce Wilcox
Black Panthers and Young Lords Health Clinics
Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination by Alondra Nelson
Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power: Community Organizing in Radical Times by Amy Sonnie and James Tracy
Jane, the underground abortion service
The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan
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Connect With Us
Learn more about Terri Kapsalis and her work here.
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Episode Credits
This episode was produced by Ari Mejia and edited by A.J. Barks, Sarah Rebecca Gaglio, and Terri Kapsalis, with additional editorial support from Lisa Schergen.
Thanks to the generous clients who shared their experiences.
Archival work featured in this episode:
Black Panther Health Clinics, featuring Fred Hampton
Taking Our Bodies Back: The women’s health movement, from Cambridge Documentary Films
Andrea Smith at Women’s Worlds 2011
Mirror and a Flashlight is made possible by our community of support. Our special thanks to Corbett Vs Dempsey, Women Unite!, Early to Bed, Women & Children First Bookstore, Laura McAlpine Consulting for Growth, Mats Gustafsson and Catalytic Sound.