Afrekete Convos with Black Feminist Future
Images of Paris Hatcher (left), founder of Black Feminist Future and Crystal Des Ogugua, Manager of Programs and Innovation at Black Feminist Future. Photos courtesy of Paris Hatcher and Crystal Des Ogugua.
On Thursday, June 4th at 5 PM EST on Instagram Live, Black Women Radicals will be having our Afrekete Convos with Paris Hatcher and Crystal Des Ogugua of Black Feminist Future. Black Feminist Future “is an initiative informed by the legacy of Black feminist organizing, grounded in the current pulse of movements and located at the emergent need to amplify the power of black feminist leaders, organizations, and movements for the 21st century.”
We will be discussing with Hatcher and Des Ogugua the importance of centering Black women and non-binary and gender non-conforming people in conversations and critiques on anti-Black state violence; their “In Defense of Black Life: Community Altar Toolkit”; and why it is critical to interrogate Black Feminisms now more than ever. You can follow Black Feminist Future on Instagram at @blackfeministfuture.
Please read more about the work of Hatcher and Des Ogugua below:
Crystal Des Ogugua is the Manager of Programs and Innovation at Black Feminist Future based in Atlanta, GA. She is an educator, lover of Black Women's history, collector of old Black trinkets and things, and finds joy in curating and facilitating intergenerational spaces of learning that nurture our Black Feminist pasts and futures!
Paris Hatcher is a Black, queer visionary feminist who has has been organizing individuals and organizations toward liberation at the local, national, and international level for twenty years. As Principal at Rhombus Consulting Group, Paris works to advance intersectional strategy toward queer liberation and racial, gender, and reproductive justice. She provides technical assistance, group facilitation, and designs innovative cultural and policy campaigns that center the power and expertise of Black women. Inspired by the legacy of Maroon communities throughout history, she is deeply committed to the practical and political self determination of communities not in theory but in deep rigorous practice. Paris founded Black Feminist Future as a movement incubator to support the leadership of Black feminist leaders, organizations and movements.
Leveraging her love of the outdoors and extensive travel expertise, she co-founded Black Freedom Outfitters, a company that curates outdoor journeys that ground people in their bodies, the land and Black historical geographies. Paris co-founded and was the Executive Director of SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW, a leading reproductive health, queer and trans*justice organization in the Southeast where she was born and has built her life. Her expertise and commitment to southern leadership is undeniable. She served as board member of Southerners on New Ground for five years and she was a founding board member of the Groundswell Fund the largest reproductive justice foundation in the United States. She went on to manage network strategies at Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation. Paris earned a Bachelor of Arts in women’s studies from East Carolina University and Masters of Arts in Africana Women’s Studies at Clark Atlanta University with a research focus on Caribbean women’s activism and social movements. She is partnered to M Adams and lives in Atlanta.