Today, we’re excited to share the significant work of one of our partners. Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) works intergenerationally, through a Black feminist lens, to achieve gender and racial justice by centering the leadership and needs of Black girls and gender-expansive youth of color to reshape culture and policy through advocacy, youth-centered programming, and shifting dominant narratives. We center Black girls and gender expansive youth in our work because we believe that centering the most marginalized will benefit us all. We also do this with the understanding of just how ignored Black girls and gender expansive youth are throughout many different movements and policy/social issues.

For many young people, sex education, access to contraceptives and reproductive healthcare, and resources around surviving sexual assault and gender-based violence are not provided nor discussed. Young people face the most barriers to abortion care and services, and there is no reproductive justice movement without their voices at the forefront. Reproductive justice (RJ) is a space and movement that is Black-led, expansive, and incredible, as momentous work has been carried out throughout the years. However, we believe there is still more to be done within reproductive justice as it pertains to Black youth, their bodies, needs, and voices. As an organization whose work for the last 20 years intersects with reproductive justice work, GGE believes that now is the time to demand space and the presence of young people in RJ, which they will lead with their new Reproductive Justice memo. People are witnessing the greatest attacks on their reproductive freedoms and futures in decades. GGE is committed to continuing to build out RJ priorities that center the wants and needs of Black youth and to wage a reproductive revolution alongside them.

At this time in history, absolutely no one can afford to not take up reproductive justice. Young people have been leading the movement for Reproductive Justice for years and GGE has believed in and organized alongside them for 20 years. They are prepared and positioned to lead this work. Check out their new reproductive justice memo, and stay tuned for lots of upcoming events, including a youth-led Instagram Live conversation on the impact of overturning Roe V. Wade and where we go from here, a virtual teach-in on the herstory of Reproductive Justice on June 30th, and a full RJ training series throughout the month of August.