Panel Description: For generations, Black women’s bodies have been sites of experimentation, control, neglect, and systemic violence within the American healthcare system. From forced reproduction during slavery to present-day maternal health disparities, Black women continue to navigate a healthcare system shaped by racism, bias, and unequal treatment. Inspired by the work of Deirdre Cooper Owens and her groundbreaking book Medical Bondage, this panel will explore the historical and ongoing impact of medical racism on Black women’s reproductive health and bodily autonomy.

Bringing together a mother, physician, therapist, and community voices, this conversation will examine maternal health disparities, medical mistrust, reproductive trauma, informed consent, advocacy, abortion and the continued fight for dignity and equitable healthcare for Black women.

Grounded in the framework of reproductive justice, this discussion will connect historical harm to present-day realities while exploring how to shift the narrative beyond survival to center joy, liberation, wellness, and healing for Black women. The panel will uplift community accountability, transformative care, and collective pathways toward justice, restoration, and equitable healthcare.

Moderators: Lori Rodriguez, Education and Advocacy Coordinator, Sister Song

Panelists:

• • Danielle Toyou, Community Mother/ Advocate
  • Jessica Knott, LMFT
  • Joy Bradley, Alabama Women’s Health Center

In alignment with this year’s conference theme: Harm to Healing: Dismantling Barriers to Reproductive Health for Black Women and Girls, this workshop will challenge the Eurocentric beauty standards and harmful social norms that Black women and girls have been subjected to from generation to generation. This workshop will cover: What is Beauty Justice, the way it’s been marketed to us, how it has influenced our beauty rituals, and how we love and express our beauty unapologetically. We will take inspiration from bell hooks’ legendary book “All About Love,” with a panel discussion.

• Moderators: Arnedra Jordan and Dr. Wendy Greene
• Panelist: TBA

Panel Description: This session will begin with the showing of Housing Opportunities Mean Everything: Domestic Violence, Housing, and the Cost of Inaction, a documentary. After the documentary showing, we will have a panel discussion and end with an audience discussion. The documentary shares the stories of survivors who became homeless after leaving their homes in search of safety for themselves and their families, and a true look at what that decision, and those to follow, were like. Participants will learn about what it really takes for survivors of domestic violence to leave an unsafe situation, the systemic challenges they face in pursuing safety, and the programs that make a life-changing difference. This documentary and community discussion addresses not only the deep connection between the state’s homelessness crisis and domestic violence, but also what is needed to support and address this unique intersection.

This workshop will connect personal stories to systems: housing policy, survivor safety, economic violence, and institutional failure.

Moderators: Candace Reece

Panelists: TBA

Panel Description: This session provides a practical, empowering overview of maternal health, focusing on what women need to know across the prenatal, postpartum, and long-term health journey.

Participants will learn about the most common and preventable risks impacting maternal health, including hormonal changes, chronic conditions, mental health, stress, sleep, and postpartum recovery. The session will highlight key warning signs women should never ignore, along with daily habits and preventive strategies that improve outcomes for both mother and child.

In addition, the session will briefly examine how disparities in access to care, bias, and social factors can impact maternal outcomes, equipping attendees with a broader understanding of how to advocate for themselves and support healthier communities.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA

Panel Description: This track highlights the health realities of Black men as a critical part of reproductive justice and community wellbeing. It explores the impact of systemic inequities, cultural expectations, and barriers to care on Black men’s physical, sexual, reproductive, and mental health.

Participants will engage in dialogue on stigma, prevention, healing, and access to care, while examining how supporting Black men’s wellness strengthens families, relationships, and communities. This is a space to name harm, normalize care, and advance collective healing.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA

Panel Description: To help Black girls understand their reproductive health, rights and the systemic barriers that impact access while building confidence to advocate for themselves.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA

Panel Description: The reproductive justice movement was created by Black women who understood that true reproductive freedom extends beyond the right to abortion. Reproductive justice encompasses the right to have children, the right not to have children, and the right to raise children in safe, healthy, and sustainable communities.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Black women have faced increasing barriers to reproductive healthcare, including abortion access, maternal healthcare, contraception, fertility services, and comprehensive reproductive health education. These barriers exist within a broader landscape of racial health disparities, economic inequality, criminalization, and policy decisions that disproportionately impact Black communities.

This panel will explore the current state of Black women’s reproductive health and examine how federal, state, and local policies are shaping access to care. Panelists will discuss the intersection of abortion rights, maternal mortality, healthcare access, reproductive decision-making, and the political forces influencing reproductive freedom in America.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: Dr. DeShawn Taylor, MD

1. Beyond the Vote: Civic Engagement as Collective Resistance and Restoration
2. Our Bodies, Our Ballots: Civic Participation as a Tool for Reproductive Justice
3. Civic Participation as Resistance: Reclaiming Our Power Through Our Vote

This session centers on the electoral process as a critical site of resistance and transformation in the fight for reproductive justice for Black women and girls. In alignment with the conference theme, Harm to Healing, we recognize that the same systems responsible for historic and ongoing reproductive harm are reinforced through policy decisions shaped by who votes, who organizes, and who holds power.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA

Historically and across cultures, people at risk of unwanted pregnancy have used a range of methods to bring on a late period without confirming pregnancy. These methods have been described using a range of terms, including menstrual regulation, menstrual extraction, and more recently in the United States, “period pills.” Menstrual regulation aligns with reproductive justice principles by enabling individuals to make decisions early in a potential pregnancy, on their own terms, and with the level of information they choose. This panel will highlight global practices with menstrual regulation, featuring examples from Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Panelists will also discuss successes in integrating menstrual regulation with pills into formal healthcare systems in.

Moderator: TBA
Panelist: TBA

Panel Description: To unpack cultural stigma, generational silence and emotional barriers around reproductive health and create space for healing and open dialogue.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA

Panel Description: There are over 7,000 active and idle oil wells across LA, and the Inglewood Oil Field in South LA is the largest urban oil field in the nation. These wells are mostly located in Black and Brown communities, and operations at these sites release toxic chemicals that cause negative health impacts, including reproductive harm. This session will offer health education and information about the history of oil drilling in LA, as well as create space for collective healing through storytelling and community visioning.

Moderators: Stephany

Panelists: Bhavana, Lisa, Deja McCullum

Panel Description: This panel centers Black queer lived experiences as essential to understanding what reproductive freedom looks like, calling us toward a more holistic, inclusive, and transformative approach to advocacy. Historically, Black queer women and gender-expansive people have been at the forefront of advocating for bodily autonomy, access to healthcare, and the right to choose. As we reflect on the harm inflicted on our most vulnerable communities, panelists will discuss what it means to heal. The conversation will also uplift Black queer joy as a radical act of healing, resistance, and community care, honoring the ways joy, pleasure, creativity, and connection sustain our communities in the face of systemic harm. By centering joy alongside justice, this panel affirms the power of collective care and visibility as essential parts of reproductive freedom.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: Luckie Alexander, Mallery Johnson

Panel Description: Exploring how chronic stress impacts hormonal balance, reproductive health, and womb-related conditions, while highlighting pathways to prevention and healing.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA

Panel Description: To unpack cultural stigma, generational silence and emotional barriers around reproductive health and create space for healing and open dialogue.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA

Panel Description: The health of Black men is deeply connected to the well-being of Black families and communities. This session moves from awareness to action, bringing together medical professionals and health experts to discuss prevention, early intervention, and long-term wellness.

Participants will learn about the health conditions that disproportionately impact Black men—including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, prostate health, mental health, and sexual health—and explore screenings, lifestyle strategies, and resources that support healthier outcomes. Grounded in reproductive justice, this conversation highlights how investing in Black men’s health strengthens families, communities, and future generations.

Moderators: TBA

Panelists: TBA