Promoting the complete health and well-being of Black women and girls in the Greater Pittsburgh region by amplifying their voices and developing them into leaders; all while successfully introducing the region to the then-unfamiliar concept of reproductive justice are just a few of the accomplishments New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice celebrated at its Living Our Legacy! 10th Anniversary Celebration Dec. 4 at the Andy Warhol Museum.
“It feels amazing to take something from nothing and create a movement in two states that’s significant, especially for work that is centralized on the experiences of Black women and girls,” said New Voices Pittsburgh Founder and Executive Director La’Tasha Mayes of her organization reaching this milestone. “To have the work be affirmed by the community where it started, it feels amazing. It only confirms that we will only become a better organization and that our movement for reproductive justice will continue to grow.”
Approximately 200 individuals packed the museum to celebrate the work New Voices has done and will continue to do in the future. The evening included live entertainment, a special 10th anniversary video presentation, drag queens impersonating female celebrities as well as several presentations of honors.
“It is not simply a celebration of New Voices Pittsburgh’s years of existence, but also of our devotion to a movement and to the people that we’ve built relationships with along the way,” Bekezela Mguni, New Voices co-founder, said of the celebration. “It means that we have created with our hands, hearts and vision something new in the world that will be remembered forever which has and will change the course of herstory for women of color.”
The term reproductive justice, which was coined in 1994 by women of color, is defined by many as a link of reproductive rights and social justice. The movement promotes the physical, mental, spiritual, political, economic and social well being of girls and women of color.
Mayes along with New Voices co-founders Mguni, Lois “Toni” McClendon and Maria Nicole Smith first introduced the region to this concept in March 2004 and have used it as their “framework to engage Black women and girls in local, national and global movement building for human rights and gender justice.” Mayes said at first everyone thought the organization was crazy for starting it here in Pittsburgh, but her thoughts were, “This is the very place where these types of discussions, culture change and activism is needed.” And the organization’s success proves her to be sane.
Through its dedicated efforts, New Voices Pittsburgh has impacted the lives of Black locally, statewide as well as nationally. Mayes said her organization is helping to give Black women and girls a voice at the “decision-making table” which is critical because there are so few Black women’s voices there.
According to Mayes, a few of the organization’s successful endeavors over the years include creating a sustainable organization that can survive for a long period of time and that will force change in the region; advocating for certain benefits to be included in the national Affordable Care Act; partnering with a statewide collaboration to expand Medicaid; and working locally to enroll Black women and people from the Black LGBTQ community in health insurance exchanges as well as getting them out to vote.
“For us to have been one platform for that to happen and where there’s an actual impact on the policies that govern our lives, it’s significant,” she said.
New Voices hosts programming that includes its Women of Color HERStory Month which is a month-long celebration of women of color and the history they’ve made over time; its Kinks, Locks & Twists: Environmental and Reproductive Justice Conference; the Integrated Voter Engagement Program which reached 30,000 Black women on issues important to them; and it’s SistahSpeak! Youth Project, which Mayes said will be re-launched in January. The project will work with Black girls ages 10-19, and train them to become community organizers, teach them about sexual and reproductive health, and connect them with an array of Black female mentors from the community.
“SYP is going to focus on building young Black women to take my place, so that’s not the work of just one person or one organization. The point is to build something, pass it on and move to the next opportunity of justice.”
Mayes acknowledges the importance of building future leaders as well as recognizing those who came before and the work that they have done. During its celebration, New Voices Pittsburgh presented its Living Legacy Award to Alma Speed Fox, a local pioneer with a legacy of fighting for civil rights and women’s rights. Mayes said presenting Fox with the award was fitting because she inspired the founding of New Voices.
Some have described Mayes as this generation’s Fox. “I can only hope to have any fraction of the impact Alma Speed Fox has had. I live my legacy through her legacy. She ignited the flame that is the reproductive justice movement in Pittsburgh,” Mayes said.
Fox, who joked that she and Mayes must have known each other in another world and worked together on something, said she was proud to accept the award and proud of the work the organization has done. “Ten years is a short time to accomplish the things that New Voices Pittsburgh has done,” said Fox. “It’s one thing to have right rights and it’s one thing to know those rights and how to assert them. New Voices makes sure that people can do that and feel safe doing so.”
As for the next ten year’s, Mayes said the organization will focus on achieving the complete health and well-being of Black women and girls in this region; continuing their efforts of leadership development and increasing the voting power of Black women and girls; and it’s Black Women’s Health Agenda and Black Girl’s Health Agenda which will examine the solutions necessary to improve the Black female’s quality of life, how to make it a regional priority and how to direct the resources needed.
“We embrace the difficult challenges. We can solve every issue around race and gender justice. We can do it, this is the generation that is called to do for the long term,” said Mayes. “So that I don’t have to stand with a young woman like myself in 60 years, talking about the same issues.”
