TURNING TIDES

is an exploration of advocacy as it has become a form of domestic labor for many mothers who have been impacted by the opioid epidemic. There are countless women who have cared for children living through addiction, who have lost their children to substance use, or have navigated motherhood through their own substance use, and have been beckoned to filling the gaps in our systems. These are mothers who operate syringe programs in their communities, who buy suboxone off the street to help their children recover when they are facing medical discrimination. They rally in front of places like the Supreme Court demanding justice and responsible spending of opioid settlement dollars, which they call “blood money” materialized off their children’s deaths.

This trend is in keeping with a long history of mothers as arbiters of social change as well as conductors of invaluable domestic labor. “Turning Tides” investigates the experiences of 3 particular women, Asia Betancourt, Alexis Pleus, and Corky Clark, and creates a record of their intersecting stories.