Ramon K. Lee

I am a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at SUNY Albany (UAlbany). I am originally from Greenville, MS. I grew up in Atlanta, GA. I have a BA from Hampshire College, where I studied, Africana Studies concentrating in American history and social psychology. My research interests are critical race theory, ethnohistory, gender studies, and black political movements. I am currently conducting research amongst African-descendent activists in Albany, NY. My work examines the ways in which scholars use artistic expression and identity in their struggle for black collective liberation. I also work with black business owners, who use manage collective accountability through social entrepreneurship and activism within the same community (sometimes but very rarely in collaboration with artists). In my research, the two approaches to activism are tied together, due to the kinship and friendship networks of the activists involved and the overlapping politics and debates within and across groups. My research asks: what is the role of art and business in the struggle for black liberation? How does the complexity of intersectional political complicate these methods? How are freedom and liberation defined within black communities in Albany, New York? How do these methods function as politically-engaged and discursive modes of dealing with inequality? What insights does black activism in Albany provide in terms of the betterment of the human condition and mitigating inequality more generally?

Stevie Merino

Stevie Merino is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Anthropology at California State University Long Beach, where she also received her Bachelor’s Degree. As a birth Doula, Stevie has seen first hand the various ways that birth is and can be experienced. These observations have led her to focus on birth for her thesis. Her research interests include birth traditions, how they have been lost or maintained amongst different groups upon coming to the U.S, the medicalization of birth, the disparities in birth outcomes for women of color, the experiences and roles of birth workers (specifically Doulas and Midwives) in providing culturally competent care. Stevie hopes to add to the dialogue on the state of birth in the United States. Her paper at SFAA  looks at the experiences of birth workers of color in Los Angeles County and examines their approaches to using cultural traditions to improve birth experiences.