We will not let our freedom rot in hell: The urgent fight for reproductive and economic freedom – Essence

The new theme of the Harris for President campaign is Beyoncé's hit song “Freedom.” It perfectly captures the urgency of a moment when reproductive justice, economic freedom, and the rights of LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups are at stake. With less than 90 days until Election Day, we know 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: now is the time to use our collective power for justice.

For the past two years, SisterSong, in partnership with the Global Black Economic Forum (GBEF), has led conversations about reproductive justice at the Global Black Economic Forum's public session at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, the largest gathering of Black people in the United States. ESSENCE Fest is a love letter to Black women and a place where our voices are amplified, our stories are shared, and our issues are centered – making it the best possible place for these conversations.

When Vice President Harris took the stage at the 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture and declared, “Our daughters will have fewer rights than their grandmothers” if we suspend this election, it was neither an exaggeration nor a hypothetical. After the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision 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 health care, and the impact of that cannot be overstated.

An analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families and In Our Own Voice found that 57 percent of all black women ages 15 to 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: After the Dobbs decision, “maternal mortality rates are higher in states with abortion restrictions than in states with abortion access, including 20 percent higher among non-Hispanic blacks.”

The urgency of this situation, especially for black women in the South, is heightened when limited access to health care is compounded by inequalities in economic opportunity. When laws and court rulings take away a woman's freedom to decide what to do with her body, economic freedom becomes impossible.

Far too often, we treat the economic justice and reproductive freedom movements as separate struggles, especially in the corporate and advocacy sectors. But this siloed approach weakens our collective power. We face a coordinated and strategic opposition, yet our movement is still fragmented. We must ask ourselves: If our opposition is united in its efforts to take away our freedoms, why aren't we equally united in defending them? While we have made significant progress in coordinating our movement, we are decades behind our opponents' infrastructure.

At SisterSong's national Let's Talk About Sex conference August 23-25 ​​in Washington, DC, we will celebrate 30 years since the beginning of the reproductive justice movement in a space that welcomes activists and newcomers to the movement to participate in these conversations. There is often a certain reticence within our community, particularly within the Black church, to discuss reproductive freedom due to political respectability and discomfort with discussing sexual and reproductive health. While Black churches have traditionally been considered hubs for mobilizing our communities for social justice, we need to expand our comfort zone and discuss reproductive freedom in community spaces where we historically have not.

We saw 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 about our experiences, we can help organizations understand the challenges Black women face when seeking healthcare. Beyond the data that clearly shows the inequities Black women face, qualitative evidence from our collective, lived experience is critical to driving change.

We must continue to work to end the stigma around the discussion of reproductive justice. Our reproductive and economic freedoms are under attack and on the ballot this year. We cannot 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 the ballot box. We will not let our freedom rot in hell by remaining silent.

Alphonso David is a civil rights attorney and President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum.

Monica Simpson is the CEO of SisterSong