About Us
SisterSong is a Southern based, national membership organization; our purpose is to build an effective network of individuals and organizations to improve institutional policies and systems that impact the reproductive lives of marginalized communities.
Our History
SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective was formed in 1997 by 16 organizations of women of color from four mini-communities (Native American, African American, Latina, and Asian American) who recognized that we have the right and responsibility to represent ourselves and our communities, and the equally compelling need to advance the perspectives and needs of women of color.
SisterSong defines Reproductive Justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.
The Herstory of Reproductive Justice (RJ)
Indigenous women, women of color, and trans* people have always fought for Reproductive Justice, but the term was invented in 1994. Right before attending the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, where the entire world agreed that the individual right to plan your own family must be central to global development, a group of black women gathered in Chicago in June of 1994. They recognized that the women’s rights movement, led by and representing middle class and wealthy white women, could not defend the needs of women of color and other marginalized women and trans* people. We needed to lead our own national movement to uplift the needs of the most marginalized women, families, and communities.
These women named themselves Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice, and RJ was born. Rooted in the internationally-accepted human rights framework created by the United Nations, Reproductive Justice combines reproductive rights and social justice. The progenitors of RJ launched the movement by publishing a historic full-page statement with 800+ signatures in The Washington Post and Roll Call. Just three years later, in 1997, SisterSong was formed to create a national, multi-ethnic RJ movement.
We believe that Reproductive Justice is:
1. A human right. RJ is based on the United Nations’ internationally-accepted Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a comprehensive body of law that details the rights of individuals and the responsibilities of government to protect those rights.
2. About access, not choice. Mainstream movements have focused on keeping abortion legal as an individual choice. That is necessary, but not enough. Even when abortion is legal, many women of color cannot afford it, or cannot travel hundreds of miles to the nearest clinic. There is no choice where there is no access.
3. Not just about abortion. Abortion access is critical, and women of color and other marginalized women also often have difficulty accessing: contraception, comprehensive sex education, STI prevention and care, alternative birth options, adequate prenatal and pregnancy care, domestic violence assistance, adequate wages to support our families, safe homes, and so much more.
To achieve Reproductive Justice, we must:
Analyze power systems. Reproductive politics in the US is based on gendered, sexualized, and racialized acts of dominance that occur on a daily basis. RJ works to understand and eradicate these nuanced dynamics.
Address intersecting oppressions. Audre Lorde said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Marginalized women face multiple oppressions and we can only win freedom by addressing how they impact one another.
Center the most marginalized. Our society will not be free until the most vulnerable people are able to access the resources and full human rights to live self-determined lives without fear, discrimination, or retaliation.
Join together across issues and identities. All oppressions impact our reproductive lives; RJ is simply human rights seen through the lens of the nuanced ways oppression impacts self-determined family creation. The intersectionality of RJ is both an opportunity and a call to come together as one movement with the power to win freedom for all oppressed people.
SisterSong’s Role in the Reproductive Justice Movement
SisterSong is the largest national multi-ethnic Reproductive Justice collective. Our membership includes and represents Indigenous, African American, Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific Islander, and Latina women and LGBTQ people. Membership also includes allies who support women’s human right to lead fully self-determined lives. We are dedicated to growing and supporting the RJ movement, and to uplifting the voices and building the capacity of our movement sisters to win access to abortion and all other reproductive rights.
SisterSong is a:
Thought Leader publishing the latest in RJ analysis, uplifting little-known RJ issues, and connecting RJ with other movements
Movement Voice called on by the United Nations, White House, legislators, media, and leaders of large mainstream organizations to be the voice of RJ and women of color in the US
Ambassador bringing RJ into the mainstream, and striving to make it as well-known as civil rights or women’s rights
Trainer drawing thousands into the movement, building the skills of mid-career activists, and training people in groups focused on other issues to integrate the RJ framework into their work
Convener of the largest conferences of women of color working on RJ
Facilitator of key collaborations of RJ groups coming together to raise our collective power in areas of great movement need
Organizer mobilizing a large base of women of color and allies in rapid-response online and in-person action to quash threats to and grasp opportunities for the rights of marginalized women
Visioning New Futures for Reproductive Justice Declaration 2023
This statement is authored by the undersigned individuals and organizations, and is the collective and shared work of all, crafted in a spirit of loving abundance.
Reproductive Justice leaders met January 20-22, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia, convened by SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. This summit took place on what would have been the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion—a decision that was overturned in 2022 leading to the loss of legal abortion in half the country. The group envisioned a new future for Reproductive Justice, which follows here.
We Declare:
We choose us. We invoke the spirit of our ancestors who cleared the path for us, the comrades who fight alongside us today, and those who will fight beyond us, who will become our greatest dreams.
We reclaim the demands of Reproductive Justice that our Black foremothers named nearly 30 years ago:
The human right to own our bodies and control our future
The human right to have children
The human right to not have children, and
The human right to parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.
We are still fighting for these rights to be real in our lives; we know things are not okay. We have a lot of work to do.
We need you to join our fight so we can make this dream a reality.
How do you know if this movement is for you?
If you've ever felt shamed during conversations about sex, sexuality, or pregnancy instead of receiving the support and information you desired — this movement is for you.
If you have ever had abortions, thought about having an abortion, supported someone having an abortion, loved someone who has had abortions – this movement is for you.
If you've ever felt targeted or criminalized for your labor, including doing sex work for pay — this movement is for you.
If you’re a parent, a mama, an auntie, an abuela, a transgender dad – this movement is for you.
If you love to have sex and pleasure with consent - this movement is for you.
If you are a man, cisgender, straight, queer or transgender, who is ready to move with us and trust Black Women — this movement is for you.
If you’ve survived state, sexual, interpersonal, or other violence, and exploitation – this movement is for you.
If you are a person of faith – this movement is for you.
If you are undocumented - this movement is for you.
If you are queer, transgender, nonbinary, or gender-expansive – this movement is for you.
If you are a young person if you are an elder, or anywhere in between - this movement is for you.
If you are a healthcare provider who supports all the tenets of reproductive justice – this movement is for you.
If you are disabled or have not had your accessibility needs met in your community or in a medical space - this movement is for you.
If you know, from experience, how important it is to be able to vote, feed our families, be paid a livable wage, drink safe water, and live in safe and affordable housing – this movement is for you.
The right to have kids (or not), to survive, and thrive is universal, and one of the basic building blocks of liberation. When we fight for reproductive justice – we show up for people who are harmed the most. Reproductive justice builds economic, social, and political power for our communities, even as we struggle in systems that were never meant for us to survive. This movement saves lives.
Many fundamental rights have been snatched away from us. This isn’t new–but it is getting worse. With the rise of white nationalism, people who want more white babies born and to control and end the lives of Black and Brown ones are using every tool in their arsenal to advance their hate.
The truth is, ending white supremacy and racism is going to be hard and messy. That’s exactly why we can’t run from the fight, especially since our opposition won’t stop. They will keep trying to break up our families, lock up our loved ones, and take us out in the streets. Too many of our beloved community, including Indigenous children and transgender women and femmes have been harmed, kidnapped, or killed by patriarchal or state violence.
We are fighting for an end to anti-Blackness, misogynoir, machismo, white supremacy, patriarchy and colonialism, capitalism, xenophobia, transphobia, harmful religious fundamentalism, and all other systems of oppression that are the foundational harms of this country and much of the world.
We need to keep our communities safe against the rising tide of hate and violence. We need to join in a global uprising for global liberation.
Our Vision and What We Are Fighting For
We are dreaming ourselves into the future, fighting like revolutionaries.
Our vision is a future rooted in human dignity and worth, bodily autonomy, joy, love, and rest.
Reproductive justice is our framework, intersectionality is our lens, and liberation is the goal.
Reproductive justice leads to futures we do not yet know but dare to imagine:
Liberation is giving the land back to Indigenous people who stewarded and protected it for generations before colonization, and who live on it today.
Liberation is having what you need to keep your kids, care for your kids, and keep your family safe and together.
Liberation is being able to have healthy and supported pregnancy options, and prenatal, birth, and postpartum care. This is birth justice.
Liberation is choosing your family, and being able to care for yourself and your community.
Liberation is an end to police, prisons, family surveillance, and detention centers which are designed to harm Black and Brown bodies and break up our families.
Liberation is building communities where we all feel safe, able to experience joy, and live together with our loved ones.
Liberation is ending the war on drugs and providing physical and mental health care, help and support for everyone who needs it.
Liberation is reparations.
Liberation is abortion care for any person who needs it.
Liberation is sexual consent, pleasure, and joy.
We will not be silenced. We will take up all the space we need. We will lead with love. We will reclaim our power for ourselves, our beautiful families, our children, and the generations to come.
Ready to learn more?
Where did Reproductive Justice come from?
Who We Are: The Reproductive Justice Movement in 2023.
We are the ones we have been waiting for. We invite you to join us!
