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 across the country and in New York who have cared for children living through addiction and who have lost their children to substance use, and have been beckoned to dedicate themselves to filling the gaps in our system that lead to these losses. 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, unpaid domestic labor. “Turning Tides” will honor these women and investigate the failures in our systems that create the demand for mothers to be providing these social services. The project seeks to create an archival record of this work and share the stories of families tormented by social and policy failures around substance use.

Turning Tides is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. 

More to come.