Resources & care for Texans facing pregnancy-related decisions | Rev. Deneen Robinson | Tiny Pulpit Talks: 014
In this episode of Tiny Pulpit Talks, Rev. T. J. FitzGerald welcomes Deneen Robinson, Executive Director of Truth Pregnancy Resource Center in Dallas, Texas for a conversation about caring for pregnant people in a state where abortion is illegal, making dignity a non-negotiable in reproductive care, and how faith can inform social work and healthcare.
00:00 – Rev. T. J. Fitzgerald welcomes Deneen Robinson, Executive Director of Truth Pregnancy Resource Center
00:42 – What is Truth Pregnancy Resource Center
02:41 – An update on TPRC since they opened on April 26th
04:21 – Deneen’s personal story and what sparked her passion for caring for people who are facing pregnancy-related decisions
06:37 – Making dignity a non-negotiable in reproductive care
08:09 – How faith has informed Deneen’s journey as a social worker and as the Executive Director of TPRC
09:37 – The history of the term “Reproductive Justice.”
13:12 – The many ways that TPRC serves the community and makes connections.
25:02 – How to support Truth Pregnancy Resource Center
About Truth Pregnancy Resource Center
Truth Pregnancy Resource Center provides support for those facing pregnancy-related decisions. We provide truthful, comprehensive resources and compassionate care informed by the Reproductive Justice Framework to individuals seeking support for reproductive health.
Learn more about TPRC
Give to TPRC
About Rev. Deneen Robinson
Deneen’s mission is to create the world she wants to live in. In everything, she works to live out this mission. As her mother likes to say, she has always been helping someone. She served in her church locally as a young girl and was the BTU Sword champion because she had the best partner – her granny who she affectionately called ‘Mama’ while also mastering the flute, oboe and the piano. She left home to go to school but and cut it short and got married. After a period of being homeless due to leaving her marriage, Deneen would return to school and raise her two daughters in Austin, Texas. While completing her last year of school, she became ill. While hospitalized, Deneen learned she was HIV+. She returned to Dallas after being told she had less than five years to live.
The diagnosis took her life on a different course. She summed it up like this: “I want to plant seeds so my daughters will remember me.” The journey in understanding, educating and ultimately becoming an advocate for herself and others impacted by HIV began. Deneen has planted many seeds. Her work in understanding HIV began as a personal quest so she could be here for her children. Then others saw and begin to ask her questions. One of her most noted accomplishments is the women’s group, At the Kitchen Table which began in September 1999. In March 2000, she participated in the African American HIV University Fellowship in Los Angeles. The Fellowship gave her the additional skills needed to educate, to write and teach on HIV disease.
The new skills provided her opportunities to share information with a larger audience. She has been featured in the Dallas Examiner, Newsweek, HIV Plus, the Dallas Voice, the Dallas Weekly and POZ. She has written articles that can be found on The Body, aidsmeds.com, TPAN, and has articles translated to Spanish, French and Russian. She has authored two columns; one on HIV and women; entitled “Ain’t I A Woman” and a second entitled “The Privileged Gardner” for the Black AIDS Institute. She has appeared on various media outlets and the Tavis Smiley show.
In this iteration of her life, Deneen focuses her work on Black women, specifically maternal mortality, and other birth justice issues. She began this work with The Afiya Center as the Program Director. Deneen wrote the 1st iteration of the report, “State of Black women in Texas”. This report, released in May 2017 and each year following, was part of a larger campaign to focus on the reproductive health landscape, including access to abortion. In 2019, she began serving as the Policy Director for The Afiya Center. Under her leadership, the organization established itself as an organization able to influence policy that positively impacted the lives of Black women, their families, and their communities.
Deepening her service to living out Reproductive Justice, Deneen currently serves as the Executive Director for Truth Pregnancy Resource Center. In this role, she gets to use her work in ministry to serve and create change on behalf of those most marginalized and minoritized, their families, and the larger community. While working, Deneen serves as the current Pastor of Church in the Cliff, Dallas, TX – a progressive congregation that uses a reproductive justice framework to guide its ministry and service to community.
Deneen continues her work as a health educator through consulting opportunities with Merck pharmaceuticals and her work as a Board Member of Avow. Lastly, she serves as the Health and Wholeness Minister for The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM). This work takes her abroad to East Africa. She has been able to teach Reproductive Justice in Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya in her work with women and those impacted by HIV. Deneen understands that seeds tended will grow and produce a great harvest. Deneen hopes to continue to be hands and feet in the earth and is privileged to be one of the Divines’ Gardner’s. Until she dies, she will live out the mission to create a world that she wants to live in and work hard to leave her spot better than she found it.
Tiny Pulpit Talks is a podcast series from First Unitarian Church of Dallas that takes a behind-the-scenes look at ministry from a Unitarian Universalist perspective. This is a rare opportunity to see what goes into crafting meaningful and inspirational sermons, learn how worship comes together each Sunday, and explore the many facets of spiritual leadership. Subscribe to get updates about new episodes here on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
