http://ms.foundation.org/resources/voices_from_the_field/voices-from-the-field-kirbie-platero-2009-ms--foundation-women-of-vision-awardee

Voices From the Field: Kirbie Platero, 2009 Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awardee


Kirbie Platero is the recipient of the Marie C. Wilson Young Woman's Leadership Award. Platero, a member and organizer at Young Women United, is a 19-year old activist, mother and artist working to secure reproductive justice for girls and women. She recently helped lead a successful campaign in New Mexico that brought young women of color to advocate before state officials for the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education in public schools.

 


2009 Marie C. Wilson Young Woman’s Leadership Award

 

Kirbie Platero, Member, Young Women United, Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

Nineteen-year-old Kirbie Platero knows all too well how to help other young women confront abuse and discover their power. When she was just eight years old, living on a Native American reservation in New Mexico, Kirbie was sexually assaulted by a family member. Remarkably, she had the courage to press charges. But Kirbie, her mother and sisters were ostracized by their extended family, and moved to Albuquerque to start anew.

 

In Albuquerque, Kirbie kept quiet, had few friends and focused on her studies. Then, at age 13, a neighbor invited her to visit Young Women United (YWU), an organization created by and for young women of color to organize around issues affecting their lives.

 

Kirbie remembers this as the moment she began to heal. At a “speak out,” a gathering at which young women share stories of abuse, Kirbie shared her own. It was the first time she had talked about it in years. “They were so supportive of what I went through,” Kirbie remembers. The change was remarkable. She had finally found a safe space to be herself: a survivor, an activist and an artist. As she tells it, since she had survived abuse, it made it easier for her to conduct “activism around women and help them improve their lives.”

 

Kirbie became a full-fledged member of YWU, participating in its Circle of Strength group for ages 13-19. Early on, she brought her best friend, Avicra Luckey, who she says deserves as much credit for YWU’s accomplishments as she does. Kirbie started making art again. Before the abuse, Kirbie remembers drawing whenever she had the chance. Afterwards, she abruptly stopped. Upon joining YWU, she put pencil to paper and hasn’t let up since. “My art has been like a way out of everything, out of my past. It’s helped me grow as a person and be independent.”

 

Kirbie has integrated her artistic talent into YWU’s outreach, making T-shirts, flyers and graffiti art for their campaigns and events. “YWU encourages me to express myself through art,” Kirbie says. “It’s a great outlet for me.” Kirbie has also expressed herself as a leader of YWU’s comprehensive sexuality education campaign, launched in 2003 in response to high drop-out rates among young women of color, particularly teen moms. After conducting a survey in local schools, YWU identified abstinence-only curricula as a primary barrier to raising graduation rates and lowering the prevalence of teen pregnancy.

 

Kirbie has been one of the campaign’s primary spokespeople. Judging from its tremendous success, her voice has echoed decisively through the halls of the state legislature, at school board meetings and among her peers. “Kirbie is very shy, but she’s one of those people who, when she does speak, sounds like thunder,” says Adriann Barboa, YWU executive director. By 2006, the State Departments of Health and Education and the Albuquerque Public School Board had all adopted standards calling for medically accurate, comprehensive sexuality education. And in 2007, New Mexico became the 15th state to refuse federal abstinence-only funding.

 

“This change couldn’t have happened without YWU building relationships and bringing everyone together,” says Adriann. A key factor in these victories was New Mexicans for Responsible Sexuality Education, a coalition that includes Planned Parenthood and other local and statewide groups, which YWU helped form. “People joined the coalition because they recognized that young women’s voices were bringing attention to the issue that nobody had gotten before.” A state senator confirmed this, noting that it wasn’t until YWU’s teenage women became involved that decision-makers really listened. YWU is now focused on ensuring public officials properly implement the new standards.

 

The Ms. Foundation has been there since the beginning with critical support. “I feel like there’s not another foundation like it,” says Adriann. “Ms. could always see, recognize and identify our potential and then help us, by our own determination, build what we needed to make ourselves strong.”

 

Today, while Kirbie continues to help lead the campaign, she is hard at work caring for her son Josiah, born in 2007. When she first became pregnant, Kirbie remembers, “I never thought I’d be the one.” But, refusing to be “just a statistic,” she’s used her experience to advocate for a better understanding of teen pregnancy and its root causes—including the impact of abuse—creating a safe space for other young women to be powerful leaders and survivors.

 

[Download profile: PDF]

 


Who
  Jane S. Comer  


[Jane S. Comer] I am a confident investor in the Ms. Foundation because in its nearly 40 years, it has built the knowledge and expertise to impact the lives of women throughout the US. And as the Ms. Foundation has already demonstrated expertise in effectively supporting sexuality education advocacy in key states across the country, I am confident that my contribution to the Ms. Foundation will catalyze real change for the issues I care most about. Read more

Migrant Health Promotion Women in Construction

Policy Wins

Changing Culture
Read about the policy wins and culture changes produced by Ms. Foundation grantees.


   

2011 Marie C. Wilson Young Women's Leadership awardee, Priscilla Rorie, worked as the Youth Coordinator for Close to Home in Dorchester, MA. Through her work with CTH, Priscilla has inspired dozens of youth to speak out, share their stories, and break the vicious cycle of silence and shame that perpetuates domestic, sexual and community violence. Read more and view the video

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