Murmurations: Where Days Are Born

A note from adrienne maree brown: Julie Quiroz has one foot in movement systems work and the other in the birth ecosystem, supporting birth workers, all wrapped in poems about the moon and her beloved daughter.

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I was a little girl in the north
at the far edge of a zone
where summer darkness began
long after bedtime

Where children played outside
in hours of blue twilight
bare feet and Batman pajamas

I鈥檝e learned

that a moon-sized core spins
in earth鈥檚 belly
where days are born

that lightning
creates waves
of global heartbeat

that every sunset
every horizon
depends on where we stand

that every day
we tell a story
of light

Julie Quiroz grows community by nurturing culture, narrative, and story to rebirth a world of loving, joyful, regeneration. In 2020 Julie helped spark the creation of Birth Center Equity, a network of Black, Indigenous, people of color-led community birth centers. Julie has been a core team member since BCE鈥檚 birth, now serving as BCE鈥檚 director of narrative strategy. Julie collaborates with people and organizations across the birth justice ecosystem to co-create Birth Center Week, and was proud to be part of the creation and release of Midwifing Justice, an artistic video exploring the true history and future of midwifery in the United States. As a strategist who centers narrative and cultural power, Julie led New Moon Collaborations, where she continues to publish a blog every new moon. She also led New Moon Productions, where she partnered with Jason Walker to produce video stories including Lead With Us: Birth Detroit, and Colorado Birth Equity Victory. Hear Julie鈥檚 voice in What is Cultural Strategy? And How To Seed, Feed & Feel Into A Worldview of Plenty. Julie was born in Michigan (where the summer sun sets at 10 p.m.) with Ecuadorian and American roots. She鈥檚 the solo mama of a fabulous 23-year-old. Julie lives in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, where she supports local leadership in regenerating midwifery and ancestral agriculture, and dances salsa almost every night. She speaks English and Spanish.

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