Rhiannon Orube Cordova

“There will be pain for us all, but it will not be all pain, nor will this pain be the last.” Dracula, Bram Stoker

My name is Rhiannon, I am currently studying Sociology and working to become an attorney. I am the middle child in a family of 7 children, (we were collected over a series of years) My Mother is from the Mid-South and my Dad is from California. My parents met and started their family by adopting my older sisters, then had myself and baby sister. I was born at Children Hospital of Orange County and lived in Orange County till I was seven. I was raised with my three sisters in San Clemente a sleepy little beach town near Camp Pendleton Marine base. My Dad was a Battalion Chief for Orange County Fire Authority and my Mom a homemaker. When I was 4 my parents divorced and at 7 my mom moved my sisters and I to Albia Iowa where her parents live, and she attended high school. My older sister did not like the culture change of moving to the Mid-South and after a year moved back to Orange County to live with my Dad. After living in Iowa for two and a half years my Mom and baby sister moved back to California. This time to the mountains of Northern California rather than jet set OC. After my parents divorced, I was raised predominantly by my Mom in conservative rural areas which she believed where more appropriate and healthier for raising children then cities. As I have gotten older and started building my own family, I have developed a deep distrust for the W.A.S.P communities I grew up in.
 
I spiritually identify as Celtic Witch meaning I practices only traditional Celtic Magic and refuse to acknowledge anything that is culturally appropriative as Magic. Being a Celtic Witch means that Matriarchy is sacred to me.   I often turn to my beliefs for a sense of comfort and direction when dealing with my chronic illnesses. I have Endometriosis which is a reproductive health disorder with no known cure that causes excess tissue to grow outside of the uterus casing scaring, organ damage, anemia and other health complications. Endometriosis also leaves me prone sever flare ups of chronic pain, migraines, fainting and other unpleasantness. Having dealt with this disorder since I was 12, I often look to nature for help in balancing my pain management often this results in blending medical herbs into teas.
 
 My goal in life is to better my community by empowering marginalized people with ethical, comprehensive, and accessible legal aide. I also want plant a tree with each of my clients when their case is won or completed to show the world how true community building and justice takes root. Through these actions I hope to help build a healthier city and more empowered and successful community for those who often feel excluded and unwanted.
Family is very important to me as someone who comes from a non-traditional family with most of my siblings coming from adoptions and marriages. I describe my family as being built through love and law. Currently I live in a mini commune with my husband, my husband’s older sister, and our best friends 2 best friends who are partners, 3 cats and a chinchilla. My husband and I started building our family 5 years ago when we first moved to Sacramento. A year later out of the need to have a safe space for our loved ones who were in dangerous living environments, we went from my husband and I in a 750 sq ft 1-bedroom apartment to four of us in the same space. Eventually we moved from our tiny south Sacramento apartment into our duplex in Oak park where we have been living and growing for the last three years.