#WhenBlackWomenlead campaign highlights the most impactful leaders of our time: Black women

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2018
Contact: Alexa Mauzy-Lewis, Camino PR
alexa@caminopr.com / 212-255-2575

In Our Own Voice celebrates Women’s History Month by lifting up the Black women who are changing history

WASHINGTON – Throughout Women’s History Month, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda is launching a social media campaign, #WhenBlackWomenLead, to highlight the leadership of Black women in all walks of life in the United States. Launching yesterday and running through March 31, the #WhenBlackWomenLead campaign will promote the individual achievements of Black women on Twitter, Facebook and lnstagram.

“Despite attempts by the Trump administration to turn the clock backward on civil and human rights, Black women are moving the country forward,” said In Our Own Voice Founder and Executive Director Marcela Howell. “We have led every social movement – from women’s suffrage to civil rights, from worker’s rights to LGBTQ liberation and reproductive rights. Today we are pushing to elect more progressive candidates in traditionally conservative states and districts.”

From Fannie Lou Hamer to Sherrilyn Ifill, from the Washing Society to Echoing Ida, #WhenBlackWomenLead will lift up stories of resistance, bravery and leadership. The campaign aims to familiarize people with past leadership of Black women as well as the integral role Black women are playing in building today’s resistance. In Our Own Voice will also share more on these leaders’ stories and biographies on its website:
http://bit.ly/Blackwomenlead

“During the 31 days in March, we will remind people about the role Black women played in laying the foundation for women’s rights and commitment to justice,” said Howell. “Too often, our work and our leadership are not acknowledged and we are reluctant to toot our own horn. No more! #WhenBlackWomenLead will ensure that what is invisible in the history books will be visible in our social media feeds.”

“To effect real change, we must tell our own stories,” said Howell. “We encourage Black women and other women of color to use the campaign to write their own narratives and share how all of us are moving the country forward, together.”

Follow our campaign on Twitter @BlackwomensRJ· on Facebook at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda· and on lnstagram
@in our own voice

Learn more at blackrj.org/whenblackwomenlead

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In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda is a national reproductive justice organization focused on lifting up the voices of Black women at the national and regional levels in our ongoing policy fight to secure reproductive justice for all women and girls. Our eight strategic partners include Black Women for Wellness, Black Women’s Health Imperative, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Sisterlove, Inc. SisterReach, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW, The Afiya Center and Women With A Vision.