Dear John,

 

It's Black History Month, and we're celebrating the best way we know how: supporting our partners’ on-the-ground efforts to bring reproductive justice to communities across the country.

 

NIRH is proud to work with advocates across the country who work tirelessly to build communities grounded in reproductive justice values. Reproductive justice, as defined by SisterSong, is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. It is a framework that encapsulates the realities beyond abortion rights and access, calling us to recognize the relationships the impact immigration policy, state violence, voting rights, and environmental justice – among many other issue areas – have on bodily autonomy, families, and communities. I have tremendous gratitude for the Black organizers, activists, mothers, doulas, midwives, and community members who have led the way for reproductive justice and continue to do this incredible work.

 

Please take a moment to get to know these organizations and the critical work they’re doing:

 

• The Black Doula Project, Washington D.C.: a fund that subsidizes doula costs for Black families in the Baltimore and D.C. area. The Black Doula Project was founded by two Black women doulas with the objective of improving maternal health education by and for pregnant Black people.

 

• The Black Women's Blueprint, New York: a reproductive justice organization with a mission to provide services and spaces for healing, reconciliation, and human connection with the natural world. Working with land, they bring people together to design and practice strategies for healing, health, and reparative economics.

 

• The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, Wisconsin: an organization that seeks to radically transform Black Women’s health by creating a world where Black women and girls live long, happy, and thriving lives, defined by healthy minds, bodies, and spirits.

 

• Our Justice, Minnesota: a Black-led reproductive justice organization that works to provide people with the resources they need now, while also advocating for policy change that would make these resources more available and remove many challenges to reproductive justice altogether.

 

• YWCA Kalamazoo, Michigan: a Black-led reproductive justice organization with a mission to eliminate racism, empower women, stand up for social justice, help families, and strengthen communities. The longest-serving YWCA association in Michigan, YWCA Kalamazoo provides individuals and families with victim-focused counseling and advocacy services as well as shelter for survivors of violence, transitional housing, and legal services.

 

• Desert Star Institute for Family Planning, Arizona: a Black woman-founded and Black woman-led organization with a mission to create equitable access to reproductive health care for womb-bearing people while centering Black and Indigenous people of color.

 

At NIRH, we are dedicated to advancing policies and forming partnerships to address the full spectrum of reproductive health needs for communities of color. Reproductive health care cannot be centered only around privileged lives and experiences – the lived experiences and needs of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, people with disabilities, and other marginalized communities are central to reproductive freedom.

 

It’s not enough to have reproductive rights. We need reproductive justice.

 

In solidarity,

 

 

 

National Institute for Reproductive Health
14 Wall St
Suite 3B
New York, NY 10005
United States

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Purpose. Power. Progress.

14 Wall Street Suite 3B New York, NY 10005

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