The new theme for the Harris for President campaign is Beyoncé’s hit song “Freedom.” It perfectly captures the urgency of a moment where reproductive justice, economic freedom, and the rights of LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups are all at stake. With less than 90 days until election day, we understand that the interconnectedness of these movements must be recognized and acted upon. In the spirit of Beyoncé’s powerful lyrics, we will not let our freedom rot in hell: the time for wielding our collective power for justice is now.
For the last two years, SisterSong, in partnership with the Global Black Economic Forum (GBEF), has led conversations about reproductive justice at the Global Black Economic Forum Public Convention at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, the largest convening of Black people in the United States. ESSENCE Fest is a love letter to Black women and a space where our voices are amplified, our stories are shared, and our issues are centered–making it the best place possible for these conversations.
When Vice President Harris joined the stage at the 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture and stated, “Our daughters will have fewer rights than their grandmothers” if we sit this election out, this was not an exaggeration or a hypothetical. After the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended reproductive freedom in the United States, millions of women, particularly in the South, were left without access to reproductive healthcare, and the impact of this cannot be overstated.
An analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families and In Our Own Voice found that 57 percent of all Black women in the United States ages 15-49 live in the 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion. This loss of freedom is a matter of life and death for Black women: in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, “maternal death rates are higher in abortion-restriction states compared to abortion-access states, including 20 percent higher among non-Hispanic Black people.”
The urgency of this moment, especially for Black women in the South, is compounded when restricted access to healthcare is exacerbated by inequities in economic opportunity. When laws and court rulings remove a woman’s freedom to make decisions about her body, economic freedom becomes impossible.
Far too often, we treat the movements for economic justice and reproductive freedom as separate struggles, especially in corporate and advocacy sectors. However, this siloed approach weakens our collective power. We are actively facing an opposition that is coordinated and strategic, yet our movement is still fragmented. We must pose the question: if our opposition is united in their efforts to take away our freedoms, why are we not equally united in defending them? While we have made significant progress in coordinating our movement, we are decades behind the infrastructure of our opponents.
At SisterSong’s National Let’s Talk About Sex Conference in Washington, DC, from August 23-25, we will celebrate 30 years since the start of the reproductive justice movement in a space that welcomes activists and newcomers to the movement to engage in these conversations. Oftentimes in our community, particularly within the Black Church, there has been an apprehension toward discussing reproductive freedom because of respectability politics and an uncomfortability around discussing sexual and reproductive health. While Black churches have a tradition of being hubs for mobilizing our communities for social justice, we must evolve our comfort and discuss reproductive freedom in community spaces where we historically have not.
We’ve seen the impact when Serena Williams shared her experience of nearly losing her life after giving birth due to medical negligence and racial bias. By continuing to share stories of our experiences, we can help organizations understand the challenges Black women experience when seeking healthcare. Beyond the data that clearly shows the disparities Black women face, qualitative evidence from our collective, lived experience is vital for driving change.
We must continue to do the work to end the stigma around discussing reproductive justice. Our reproductive and economic freedoms are under attack and on the ballot this year. We can’t wait for others to mobilize our movement—we must act now to fight for our freedoms at the ballot box and be prepared to do the work outside of the ballot box. We won’t let our freedom rot in hell by remaining silent.
Alphonso David is a civil rights attorney and the President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum
Monica Simpson is the Executive Director of SisterSong