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Madeline T. Morcelle

@reprolawyer.bsky.social

2.9K followers 610 following 830 posts

Senior Attorney @nhelp.bsky.social fighting for reproductive health via Medicaid, health care reform, & civil rights. Feat. NBC, Politico, Mother Jones, SELF, etc. Creative writer. Mutant (hEDS & co.). Opinions mine. www.madelinemorcelle.com

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 2d

🏜️Ahead of #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we have to talk about why it’s time to drop “health care desert” (and similar desert imaginaries) from our vocabularies. 🧵

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 9h

Thank you!

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 9h

I spent a year living in the desert in my 20s. I couldn’t agree more. Awe is exactly the right word.

Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

Mattslew Batberg-Mothfit (any/all) @mbrobergmoffitt.bsky.social · 1d

Explain to me why “conversion therapy” is banned in 28 countries and ABA is not, when they have the same creator (O. Ivar Lovaas) and utilize similar if not identical principles, techniques, and goals (forced assimilation).

Mattslew Batberg-Mothfit (any/all) @mbrobergmoffitt.bsky.social · 1d

Autism $peaks is the largest and most popular Autism organization (among allistics), who continues to be 100% in support of ABA. They have lobbyists who push ABA as the “gold standard Autism treatment.” It utilizes same practices as “conversion therapy,” which is currently banned in 28 countries.

Mattslew Batberg-Mothfit (any/all) @mbrobergmoffitt.bsky.social · 1d

ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) is the “gold standard” of “treatment” for Autism, and was created by the person as “Conversion therapy” (see Lovaas) with similar techniques and goals. It’s torture that continues to have widespread support and acceptance.

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 15h

Lovely to see you on here! Such a fan of your work.

Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

Arrianna Marie Planey, PhD MA @arrianna-planey.bsky.social · 18h

I avoid using any of the "desert" metaphors & describe the problems (grocer redlining; agricutlural subsidies that prioritize profit over well-being; punitive policy design, as seen in nutrition programs) rather than the outcomes (food insecurity; lack of access to nutritious and affordable food)

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Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

Citizen.Coping @propcazhpm.bsky.social · 21h

This is the kind of thread I love.

Deserts are full of life and connected to everything and everyone. They are alive.

#LangSky #Language #IndigenousPeoplesDay

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 2d

🏜️Ahead of #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we have to talk about why it’s time to drop “health care desert” (and similar desert imaginaries) from our vocabularies. 🧵

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Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

Nikki Wallschlaeger @nikkimwalls.bsky.social · 21h

deserts are very much alive

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 2d

🏜️Ahead of #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we have to talk about why it’s time to drop “health care desert” (and similar desert imaginaries) from our vocabularies. 🧵

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Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

Freyaa🍉❤️‍🔥🇵🇸 @freyaa.bsky.social · 21h

Time to share the excellent book I got at my beloved Xaytun's group show with other Palestinian artists in London a few years ago! (The show was a banger too)

Cover of a book in black and white called "Deserts are not empty" using a pointillism style texture. Edited by Samia Henni in the bottom right hand corner

Back of a book in black and white. Text reads: Colonial and imperial powers have often portrayed arid lands as "empty" spaces ready to be occupied, exploited, extracted, and polluted. Despite the undeniable presence of human and nonhuman lives and forces in desert territories, the "regime of emptiness" has thus inhabited, and is still inhabiting, many imaginaries. Deserts Are Not Empty challenges this colonial tendency, questions its roots and ramifications, and remaps the representations, theories, histories,. and stories of arid lands-which comprise approximately one-third of the Earth's land surface. The volume brings together poems in original languages, conversations with collectives, and essays by scholars and professionals from the fields of architecture, architectural history and theory, curatorial studies, comparative literature, film studies, landscape architecture, and photography. These different approaches and diverse voices draw on a framework of decoloniality to unsettle and unlearn the desert, opening up possibilities to see, think, imagine it otherwise.

With contributions from Saphiya Abu Al-Maati, Menna Agha, Asaiel Al Saeed, Aseel AlYaqoub, Yousef Awaad Hussein, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Danika Cooper, Brahim El Guabli, Timothy Hyde, Jill, Jarvis, Bongani Kona, Dalal Musaed Alsayer, Observatoire des armements, Francisco E. Robles, Paulo Tavares, Alla Vronskaya, and XgSu.

978-1-941332-74-0

COLUMBIA BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 15h

See blog post above for an expanded discussion with an answer to this question, but TL;DR: after ongoing discussions with colleagues, we don’t think that a pithy replacement term should be the goal. Instead, we should strive to explicitly name root causes and who’s responsible.

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Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

SJ Zanolini (李思捷) @plantmaize.bsky.social · 18h

This is also true of the phrase "food desert." In "Black Food Geographies," Ashanté Reese outlined historical factors limiting grocery competition around DC in the later 20th century, leading to neighborhoods undeserved by or without any grocery stores. It's a structural problem, not a natural one.

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 2d

🏜️Ahead of #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we have to talk about why it’s time to drop “health care desert” (and similar desert imaginaries) from our vocabularies. 🧵

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

And if you're more advanced in your career, I'd love to know: what do you wish someone told you when you were just starting out?

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

I also share thoughts on the importance of rest, self-compassion, and knowing how and when to ask for help.

If you’re feeling unsure, overwhelmed, or just curious about what comes next, I hope these reflections help you feel a little more grounded and a little less alone.

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

It contains advice on how to strengthen your job applications and interviews, how to spot stepping stones toward your dream job, how to build a network, how to manage imposter syndrome, and how to own your power and embrace what makes you “too much.”

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

Over time, and often through trial and error, I’ve picked up lessons that I wish someone could have told me at the beginning. The post I link to above is a collection of those lessons.

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

Breaking in can feel especially daunting if you don’t come from a white collar household, are a first gen undergraduate, grad, and/or doctoral student, or are a member of a marginalized community that’s underrepresented in the field.

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

Building a public interest career can feel like finding your way in the dark. Many law and graduate schools lack strong public interest career advising services, so there’s no one to explain what’s expected, normal, & beneficial. #EarlyCareer #PublicInterest www.madelinemorcelle.com/blog/things-...

Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me (Advice for Early-Career Public Interest Professionals) — Madeline T. Morcelle

Struggling to break into public interest law or advocacy? This guide offers practical advice for early-career professionals on job searching, networking, managing imposter syndrome, owning your unique...

www.madelinemorcelle.com

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

If you’ve ever been told you’re “too much”—too intense, too direct, too passionate—please don’t make yourself small. The thing that makes you not fit into their boxes might be exactly what this world needs.

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

Today, I'm a movement lawyer fighting for reproductive justice in health care. The thing inside me that she warned me about (whether you want to call it a fire, force, or hurricane) has helped me secure wins for community and movement clients that more experienced advocates told me couldn't happen.

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

Fifteen years later, I’ve come to understand that while “hurricane” was never the right metaphor, that staff person was right about one thing: I've always been a force. But that wasn't something I needed to tame: it was, and is, my superpower.

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

Her comment stuck with me for a long time. For a while, I wondered if being myself—curious, direct, persistent—would always be seen as a problem. I worried that my passion and sense of justice were liabilities. That speaking up would close doors.

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

I know I wasn’t always graceful in how I moved. I was young, still learning how to navigate systems that weren’t built for people like me. I was still learning, about power and myself.

I was fiery, but my goal was never disruption. It was to contribute, to make things better.

Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

When I was in college, someone from the honors college staff told me I was "like a hurricane."

Not as praise, but as a warning.

She meant I was too much. Too intense.

Not easy to manage. Not easy to box in. Not one to stay silent when something didn't seem right. 🧵

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Madeline T. Morcelle @reprolawyer.bsky.social · 1d

Just horrible.

Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

Students Demand Action @studentsdemand.bsky.social · 1d

More lives taken or forever changed by our nation's preventable gun violence epidemic.

Everytown for Gun Safety @everytown.bsky.social · 1d

Mass gun violence has devastated yet another community in America this weekend after four people were killed and 20 others were wounded in a shooting at a bar in St. Helena Island, SC. This shooting followed a mass shooting in Mississippi that killed at least four people and wounded 12 others.

4 Killed and at Least 20 Injured After Mass Shooting at Busy Bar in South Carolina

At least four people were killed in a mass shooting at Willie's Bar and Grill on St. Helena's Island off South Carolina, on Sunday, Oct. 12, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) said in a news ...

people.com

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Reposted by Madeline T. Morcelle

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 2d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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