Black Liberation Is Reproductive Justice – A Juneteenth Message from Our Executive Director

Juneteenth marks when all Black Americans found out that the Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved Black people to be free in 1863. It took many years for this news to travel to different parts of the country, including Texas, where over 250,000 Black people continued working enslaved on plantations throughout the state until as late as 1866.

Juneteenth is a day to honor Black people’s journey to freedom through resistance and resilience. It’s a reminder to all Americans of the many contributions that Black people have made to this country, society, and culture. 

I lead TEA Fund as the Executive Director, being the first Black queer woman in the organization's twenty-year history both as ED and during my tenure as a board member. Even in our repro movement there are still many firsts and onlys for Black womxn. As a Black woman leading an abortion fund in Texas, I know firsthand that the fight for reproductive freedom is deeply connected to the struggle for Black liberation.

I have been honored to lead by example. I put our commitment to eradicating anti-Blackness and advancing inclusion into practice by participating in the Black Caucus of the Trust Respect Access Coalition. I also lead internal efforts at TEA Fund to ensure our organization lives out the values of a pro-Black institution, with a focus on continuously improving our practices and systems to reduce anti-Blackness in the workplace. Black women make up the majority of our callers requesting funding for out-of-state abortion and other reproductive care services, which is why racial justice must remain central to everything we do.

I am committed to moving our organization in a direction that uplifts and centers racial justice and believes in the power of–and healing for–Black people and Black leadership. 

Reproductive justice is as much about raising our children without fear of being slain by a police officer as it is about accessing abortion. But here in Texas, the same systems that criminalized Black pregnancy under slavery now criminalize Black people for seeking abortion care, for being poor, or for parenting while Black.  

The evidence is loud: Black women in Texas are twice as likely to die from pregnancy related causes; the maternal mortality rate is highest in states with abortion bans and Black Texans feel it most. Black Texans are also more likely to be surveilled, criminalized, and targeted when seeking health care. This includes what we are seeing out of Georgia where the government is harming the life and legacy of Adriana Smith, a Black woman in Atlanta kept on life support against her family's wishes merely because she was pregnant while seeking medical care. This is yet another reminder that Black women's bodily autonomy is still not fully our own. 

White supremacy and reproductive coercion are two sides of the same coin, born out of the Indigenous genocide and enslavement of African people, on which this country was founded. We stand with our colleagues at The Afiya Center, SisterSong, National Birth Equity Collaborative, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Black Feminist Future, and the Movement for Black Lives in calling to #DefundThePolice.

Your support of TEA Fund means so much to me and I am so grateful for it. That is why I felt like I could write this email. We are in a time of reckoning and there is a need for healing. I hope that your commitment to expanding abortion access falls in line with our vision of full autonomy and communities free from state and racial violence. 

This Juneteenth, don’t just post a quote or wave a flag, move your money and consider supporting Black leadership building a sustainable organization by becoming a GEM —a supporter who Gives Every Month.