How Megan Thee Stallion Inspired Yellowhammer Fund’s Black Joy Events for Reproductive Rights – Reckon

A sexy girl is a person with bodily autonomy, capable of defending her interests, but also those of her community. A sexy girl does not worry about how she moves and occupies space.

— Jenice Fountain

Yellowhammer Fund executive director and Megan Thee Stallion fan Jenice Fountain said the current climate for reproductive health care may be chaotic, but it won’t wear down her team.

“A hot girl is someone with bodily autonomy who is able to advocate for herself and her community. A hot girl is unapologetic in the way she moves and takes up space,” Fountain said. “She’s on the side of Black liberation happening, and not just for cis-Black women. I mean for all of us.”

A social justice movement is not sustainable without a little fun.

For the Yellowhammer Fundan Alabama-based abortion and reproductive health advocacy organization serving the Deep South, a good time looks like its four-week Black joy initiative, Hot Girl Summer. The weekly event series kicks off Saturday with a community party in the Elyton neighborhood of west Birmingham, Alabama. Registered guests can get their hair done, their nails done, and even their hair styled real Tattoos and piercings are being done while the Yellowhammer Fund is distributing feminine hygiene products, safe sex kits, diapers and other reproductive health items. Black-owned food trucks and a daycare will provide parents with space to eat and relax while listening to great music and entertainment hosted by drag performers.

The following week, the goal is to help people raise money for the organization’s $50,000 scholarship kickoff, where participants will receive between $200 and $500 for completing a short questionnaire informing the Yellowhammer Fund about how their lives have been impacted by lack of reproductive access. The final two weeks of the initiative are dedicated to fun. Guests can enter a raffle to win a free sex toy while packing condoms, pregnancy tests, and emergency contraceptives at a safer sex kit packing party at a Birmingham brewery. The initiative will culminate in a virtual intersectional sex education workshop led by Tia Freeman, founder of Black-centered sexual and reproductive health brand Slippery when wet.

The Yellowhammer Fund has been on the front lines of the pro-choice, pro-life struggle since 2017. Operating within a reproductive justice framework that extends beyond abortion access, the organization offers multiple forms of mutual aid that support all reproductive choices and ensure families have what they need to thrive. The organization’s efforts include hosting community mother’s day parties and back-to-school backpack drives, fulfilling community care requests for parents in need, and mailing safe sex supplies to residents of Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle west of Tallahassee. The team often hits the road to distribute free diapers, feminine hygiene products, and other reproductive health supplies from its Repro Raven van, named after former COO Mia Raven, who passed away from cancer in April 2023.

Insert an Instagram post here about what the post-Roe fight actually looks like

These services are needed more than ever in post-Roe v. Wade America. The U.S. Supreme Court decision Overturn Roe v. Wade In July 2022, a patchwork of “trigger” laws were rolled out that advocates say further encroach on citizens’ reproductive health decisions. A health care frenzy was sparked in February after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled embryos as childrenforcing IVF clinics to suspend services to avoid legal repercussions. Clinics resume treatment after Alabama surgery the law has been signed protect IVF patients and providers. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed health care professionals to perform abortions in emergency situations in Idaho.

Beyond its work on the ground, the Yellowhammer Fund isn’t afraid to go to court. The organization is part of a collective of reproductive rights advocates sue Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall for threatening to sue anyone who helped pregnant Alabama women cross state lines to obtain abortion care. The organization suspended its abortion-funding operations due to fears of prosecution. In May, a federal judge blocked Marshall’s attempt to fire the lawsuit, which claims the threats violate the Yellowhammer Fund’s constitutional rights, including freedom of speech.

With all this work, the organization had to do something to shift the energy so its team wouldn’t burn out. That’s one reason justice and joy must coexist—and that partnership can’t exist without community.

“Community and joy? Oh, they go hand in hand,” Fountain said. “I don’t think I would even want to try to make joy a reality if it wasn’t for community. It’s one thing to see people survive things. It’s necessary, and sometimes we like to rejoice in that. But other times, it’s like, ‘Fuck. We just want people to be able to experience this happily and not just go through another crisis.’”

When Fountain was thinking about her summer theme, she initially thought of a classic civic engagement event. But she actually wanted to use joy as a tool to address different angles of reproductive justice, particularly for a people whose bodily autonomy has been attacked over generations. Enslaved Black Women suffered sexual violence and exploitation in the form of breeding practices imposed by slave owners, and their babies were torn from their arms after birth. Racist eugenics led to the forced sterilization black and brown women during the 19th century. Today, black women are three times more likely to die Black women experience pregnancy-related problems more often than white women. Black women are also the most affected by abortion bans, with 55% of them living in states with abortion bans and higher-than-average mortality rates.

Fountain said the community party gives people the space where they don’t have to reduce their blackness while also giving them access to free reproductive resources.

“When you’re working for marginalized groups, particularly Black people, you have to do it from a cultural organizing and relationship-building perspective, and not just see people as a number or another person who supports your mission,” Fountain said. “Yes, we want you to engage in this work. Yes, we want you to engage in civic processes that could make a difference, but we also want to hear how you’re doing.”

The virtual sex education workshop is also happening in a timely manner. Alabama, along with 27 other states, have introduced bills this year to try to reduce students’ access to comprehensive sex educationThe World Health Organization says it is essential to teach accurate, age-appropriate content about sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, which includes topics such as consent, bodily autonomy and respect. for health and survivalAccording to a report from the National Black Women Reproductive Agenda, black teenage girls experience higher rates of sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and sexual violence due to a lack of comprehensive sex education.

By providing a safe and fun space for Black people to discuss and learn about their sexual wellness, it helps us maintain our power despite the laws that legislators have in place.

“In a state that is trying to actualize the principle of ‘no abstinence-only sex education in schools,’ it is simply necessary to combat it in a way that limits the sexual experiences of Black and brown people,” Fountain said.

This won’t be the last you hear about Hot Girl Summer. Once the festivities wrap up at the end of June, Fountain said the Yellowhammer Fund will be checking in with her community again next summer. The initiative is funded by a grant from Borealis Philanthropy, which funds Black-led movement organizations. Those interested in attending one of the events can visit the group’s website Instagram and website for times and locations.