We are not alone!

Spark Reads

Following a slew of aggressive executive orders that include a global gag rule that restricts abortion funding, we’ve collected some of articles written by our partners, allies and advocates that will help put it all in perspective.

Get informed.

Stay informed.

  • Black women are leading movement through the Trump administration. Read New Voices’ La’Tasha Mayes’ response to the 44th Anniversary of Roe V Wade here.

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Heroes 4 HIV – Destigmatizing HIV In Our Communities

My name is Spark! I am 25, queer, Black and living in the South… I want to ask you this… How far would you go to keep a secret from the world; a secret that would give the world an excuse to turn its back on you?

On the other hand, how little would you be willing to consciously contribute to improve your community by improving the lives of others?

#Heroes4HIV

#Heroes4HIV

Let those questions linger as I tell you that I am HIV positive – and have been since birth. Not many people know this, except for a few family members. You really wouldn’t know they were my family if you witnessed our interactions – or the lack of them. I am afraid of openly disclosing my HIV status out of  fear that it will influence the rest of my relationships and social encounters in a similar way. I want to share my status, but then I ask myself, what about the shame, unequal treatment, and stigma I might receive? I am afraid of the death of my confidence. Should I share my status?…

I have decided to start a 30-day digital campaign for the month of November. Please help  me by sharing a status, picture, and/or video about how you think HIV stigmatization manifests itself and the effect it has, not only on people living with HIV, but also non-HIV+ individuals in our societies.

This campaign is for and about people living and thriving with HIV! It is about the resources and power we hold, that we sometimes are forced, out of fear, to suppress. It is about US! Together we will fight the battle of de-stigmatization and reclaim our voices, in order to internally and externally shift the way we all think about HIV and people living with it. It’s about US as Heroes4HIV! So, “let’s talk about it!”

Heroes4HIV denotes responsibility unto each and every one of us because we all live in a world that has HIV. Therefore, having been informed by people around us, we can choose to consciously respond to HIV in a manner that brings us together and shifts the way we think.

#WERUNTHIS Takeover Day at the GA Capitol!

Crossover-Day-2015-IGJoin SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW in partnership with SisterSong, SisterLove, and the Feminist Women’s Health Center on Crossover Day as we host #WERUNTHIS Community Takeover Day at the GA Capitol!

March 13th – Crossover Day – is the last chance a bill has to move from one legislative chamber to the other to have a chance at becoming law. Starting at 10:00AM EST we will gather in the GA Capitol South Rotunda for a full day of popular education teach-ins and grassroots lobbying to support proactive reproductive justice legislation that reflects our communities in Georgia for the 2015 Legislative Session!

For more information, please contact Taliba Obuya at taliba@sparkrj.org.


Reflections on the 8th Annual Legislate THIS!

On February 19, 2015, SPARK Reproductive Justice Now gathered for our 8th Annual Legislate THIS! – A day of action and lobbying at the Georgia Capitol. Under the theme “From the Grassroots, to the Gold Dome,” community members, organizational leaders, activists, and allies joined together to raise our collective voices in solidarity and brought our fight for reproductive justice and proactive policy that centers the needs of our communities – Black Women, Queer & Trans Youth of Color, and Young Mothers – to the Capitol. Watch as SPARK leaders and lobby participants reflect on their experiences and speak on the importance and power of this event!

Join the SPARK Organizing Intensive!

The SPARK Organizing Intensive (SOI) will be a fierce group of young folks (18-25) interested in being trained on or deepening their skills and understanding around organizing and movement building in Georgia and the South.

The SOI is geared towards supporting and empowering women of color (while centering the experiences of Black Women), young parents, and LGBTQ youth of color on issues that impact their lives and will provide an opportunity for new and experienced organizers and activists to dig deep on pressing issues that affect our communities across identities, gain concrete organizing skills, and directly organize and support community events and projects throughout 2015.

Time Commitment

The 6-week program will begin in late March 2015. SOI trainings will occur once a week on Saturdays from March 28th to May 2nd from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM and will include political education and skill development.

What’s expected of me as an SOI Participant?

SOI members are expected to:

  • Bring an open, willing spirit and positive attitude that lends to community building and friendship.
  • Be curious, stretch, and have fun!
  • Be willing to fight for the dignity and safety for all families!

You can apply online here. The deadline to apply is Friday, March 13th, 2015. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance no later than March 20, 2015. For more information, please contact Quita Tinsley at quita@sparkrj.org.

Join us in creating a Georgia that respects our bodies and our futures!

Women of color, LGBTQ, trans* and gender non-conforming people color, young parents, low-income people, people with disabilities, people living in the South and in rural communities, and those living outside of the metro Atlanta area are strongly encouraged to apply.

No phone calls, please.

Closing The Gap

On this National Youth Enrollment Day, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW remains committed to uplifting the voices and experiences of LGBTQ youth of color. During the 2014 FYRE Media Justice Camp, 10 youth of color came together from three Southern states to develop short films and blogs that touched on various issues important to them as Queer and Trans youth of color living in the South. One group chose to use their voices to address the coverage gap.

Georgia has the fifth largest population of uninsured people in this country. And according to Young Invincibles, “up to 44 percent of the approximately 481,000 Georgians who fall in the coverage gap are young adults aged 18 to 34.3 The proportion of young adults in Georgia’s coverage gap is greater than the proportion in other non-expansion states, such as Texas (38 percent), Virginia (38 percent), and Florida (36 percent).”

It is important that the voices of queer and trans youth of color are heard in this fight for healthcare access.  Please listen, share the stories of these amazing young leaders, and join us on February 19th, 2015 for our annual statewide day of action and lobby event, Legislate This! We will hear from key leaders about pertinent public policy and social justice issues, rally with other Georgians, and educate our policymakers at the Capitol about reproductive justice.

SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW Affirms the Agency of Black Lives on the 42nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW celebrates the spirit of this victory, even in the face of federal and state-based attacks to restrict women’s access to abortion care.

As an organization that works to improve access to reproductive healthcare for Black women and queer and trans youth of color, Roe has helped to affirm the bodily autonomy of women in our communities. Black women are three times more likely than white women to have an unintended pregnancy, four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes, and are more likely to raise their children in poverty. Access to abortion remains vital to the lives of Black women and families to protect our health and well-being.

“SPARK’s commitment to ensuring that Black women have access to the resources they need to lead self-determined lives extends to all forms of healthcare – including abortion,” says SPARK board member Tonya Williams. “We will continue to fight so that Black women can make liberatory decisions about our bodies, our health, and our lives.”

On this day, we reaffirm our commitment to upholding the protections assured by the Roe v. Wade decision.  We stand with those who are fighting back attempts to corrode those protections. And we celebrate the victories we have won, and those to come.

In Our Own Voices: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda Statement in Solidarity with the Family of Michael Brown

NGWRJA Logo

PRESS CONTACT
Marcela Howell
202.326.8700
mhowell@ccmc.org

This Thanksgiving, we hugged our children, grateful for their presence in the safety of our families, but pained by the necessity to once again explain the horrible tragedy that marked the death of another young Black man. It was a difficult discussion that we know was repeated among Black families across the country.

We cried for the family of Michael Brown who not only had to spend this Thanksgiving with the tragic loss of their son, but also with the travesty of a justice system that refused to grant their family justice.

As Reproductive Justice organizations, we believe that all women have the right to have children, the right to not have children and the right to nurture the children we have in safe and healthy environments. For Lesley McSpadden that meant raising her son Michael, watching him mature, marry, have his own children and grow old. In just a matter of minutes on a hot afternoon in August, Officer Darren Wilson took that right away from her.

For three long months, we joined her in praying that justice would come out of the deliberations of this grand jury, though our prayers were full of doubt that a racist justice system would be turned around overnight. But we hoped, that at a minimum, there would be a trial to account for this brutal murder and the indignity of leaving Michael’s body in the hot sun for hours.

Instead of justice, we saw a prosecuting attorney who blamed the victim for his own death, who called witnesses liars, and who casually dismissed his manipulation of the members of the grand jury. Instead of justice, we saw Officer Wilson’s coldhearted shrugs during an interview in which he declared that he would not be ‘haunted’ by the shooting of this unarmed young man.

The grand jury decision to not indict sends a message that the state sanctioned murders of young Black men will continue. And like the aftermath of the 1831 Nat Turner revolution where colonists beheaded enslaved Africans, leaving their heads on the road as warnings to other enslaved Africans who craved freedom, callously leaving Michael’s body on the ground in the hot sun was a warning to others that their lives could just as easily be sacrificed.

The laws of this country were not written to protect, respect or serve Black communities. So we call on the U.S. Department of Justice to continue its investigation into police misconduct and excessive use of force in Ferguson, Missouri. We call on President Obama to take a leadership role in denouncing the biased manipulations of the prosecuting attorney. In this tragic moment in history we seek leadership to move us forward not to hold steady the status quo.

We raise our voices and stand in solidarity with the families of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Gardner, John Crawford, Trayvon Martin, Joell Anderson, Andy Lopez, Renisha McBride, Oscar Grant, Jordan Davis, Sean Bell, Ezell Ford, Ayanna Standley Jones, Yvette Smith and the countless, countless others who have lost their lives to a lawless police system.

In Our Own Voices: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda is a national initiative formed by five Black women’s Reproductive Justice organizations: Black Women for Wellness Black Women’s Health Imperative, New Voices Pittsburgh, SisterLove, Inc. and SPARK Reproductive Justice Now, in partnership with the Communications Consortium Media Center.

We Are Here. We Are Strong. We Matter.

During the 2014 FYRE Media Justice Camp, 10 youth of color came together from three Southern states to develop short films and blogs that touched on various issues important to them as Queer and Trans youth of color living in the South. One group chose to use their stories as Black Queer youth to highlight the disproportionate amount of violence faced by Queer and Trans people of color and women of color.

From the Missouri Grand Jury’s decision to not indict Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown, to Marissa Alexander having to accept a plea deal to avoid a lengthy prison term for daring to defend herself in the face of domestic violence – our media has become inundated with countless examples of violence perpetrated against people of color, particularly Black communities.

During this time, we feel that it is important to amplify and center the voices of queer and trans youth of color in the fight against systemic oppression. Please listen, share the stories of these amazing young leaders, and join us as we continue to fight for justice in the South and a future free of violence.

Remember Trans Power. Fight for Trans Lives!

Today, Thursday, November 20th, marks the National Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) dedicated to honoring and lifting up the names of those members of the trans community whose lives have been taken due to racist, sexist, transphobic, and tramsmisognyst violence.

As a member of Strong Families, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW is lifting up trans women of color as living and powerful members of our families, communities and movements and reaffirming our commitment to fostering a Southern RJ movement grounded in the beliefs that individuals and communities should have the resources and power to make sustainable and liberatory decisions about their bodies, genders, sexualities, and lives.

SF Remember Trans Power BazantWe share this original art by Micah Bazant with you as one way to lift up the power and resiliency of trans women of color. Micah says about the piece:

“I created this piece with input from the TransJustice group at Audre Lorde Project. We wanted an image that continues to reframe TDOR as a time to honor the living as well as the dead, keeps pushing LGBTQ communities to center trans women of color, and draws attention to the criminalization of trans women of color by the police. We also wanted to celebrate love and support between trans feminine people of color of different generations and gender expressions.”

Please continue to share this image with your families, friends, and colleagues using the hashtag #fightfortranslives and let us all continue to honor the fallen and fight like hell for the living.

Yours in community struggle,

SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW

Atlanta TDOR Events

Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil “It’s Time…”
Event Link

Thursday, November 20
6:30pm – 10:00pm
Phillip Rush Center Annex Bldg.
1530 Dekalb Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), people who identify as transgender were 28% more likely to experience physical violence than those whom are not Trans identified.

Keynote Speaker: Reverend Maressa Pendermon
Unity Fellowship Church Movement (Atlanta)
Event Sponsors: Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal
Media Sponsor: Alternative Perspectives Radio Host Betty Couvertier

Trans* Day of Resilience
Event Link

Black Is Blue FilmFriday, November 21
6:00pm – 10:00pm
Phillip Rush Center Annex Bldg.
1530 Dekalb Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

It is so important that we honor our trancestors, and especially those whose lives were taken in violence. It is also ever important that we remember how resilient we are and take a moment to reflect and celebrate. Please join Lambda Legal the day after Atlanta’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, for a Trans* Day of Resilience!

  • Happy/healthy hour – (drinks and hors d’ouevres)
  • Art exhibit
  • Film screening
  • Panel Discussion
  • Performances

First ATL screening of “Black is Blue” with lead actor, Kingston Faraday there for a question/answer following the film. Check out the trailer: http://vimeo.com/105449883

SPARK Canvassing Positions Available

SPARK is a reproductive justice (RJ) organization based in Atlanta, GA advocating for policies that protect and expand access to the full range of family planning options, abortion, and sexual health education for women and youth of color in the state of Georgia. Importantly, SPARK ensures the voices of women of color, young parents, and LGBTQQ youth of color living in the south are included in the reproductive rights and justice movements.

SPARK is seeking professional and outgoing individuals to conduct door-to-door and phone canvassing in Fulton County. Canvassers will provide voter education and engage the public on their experiences with accessing health care. No prior experience is required.

Responsibilities

  • Educate and engage voters through door-to-door or phone canvassing
  • Complete daily and weekly reports on progress and meet all goals and metrics
  • Effectively use technology tools to ensure accurate and timely data entry
  • Participate and complete all required training

Qualifications

  • Must be over 18 years old
  • Must have excellent communication and people skills; must be comfortable speaking with strangers and people from different backgrounds
  • Ability to work with other staff and canvassers in a team
  • Ability to work under deadlines
  • Experience in phone or door-to-door canvassing is a plus
  • Political Campaign experience is a plus
  • Must be able and willing to walk for long distances outside in a variety of weather elements (door-to-door canvassing)
  • Licensed and insured drivers are desired; fuel reimbursement is available (door-to-door canvassing)

Hours & Hourly Rate

  • Door Canvassers work 8 hours/week (late September – early November). The position pays $10/hour.
  • Phone Canvassers work 9 hours/week (late September – early November). The position pays $9/hour.

Location
The candidate must be located in or willing to relocate to Atlanta, GA.

Application Process
Please complete the online application at https://sparkrjnow.wufoo.com/forms/canvasser-application. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Thank you for your interest. No phone calls please.

SPARK is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), sexual orientation, parental status, national origin, age, disability, family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, military service, or any other non-merit based factor.