SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW (SPARK) builds and strengthens the power of our communities and a Reproductive Justice movement that centers Black Women and Queer & Trans young people of color in Georgia and the South. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, we have fostered a dynamic, collaborative model of advocacy, leadership development, collective action, and discourse that creates change and impact for Black women and queer people’s struggles for reproductive justice. SPARK is a local-statewide organization, additionally through our programming, such as FYRE and SOI our work expands throughout the Southeast region. SPARK also has national partners which allows us to collaborate at a national level. Our active base consists primarily of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); Queer, trans, folx who live outside the gender binary; Black women (cis and trans); Black parents; young people that fall into the previous categories; and Black sex workers. This is reflected in those who participate in our community building and leadership development programs. Though our work is primarily in Georgia, through strategic partnerships and coalitions, we’ve been able to extend our reach throughout the South, touching individuals in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, and even as far as Texas.

SPARK was founded by two young queer women of color who wanted to make space in Reproductive Justice for younger people and queer people of color. SPARK focuses on queering Reproductive Justice and uplifting Trans and non-binary people. Our biggest strength as an organization has been our ability to bring a Racial justice and Queer Liberation framework and voice to the reproductive justice movement in Georgia and the southeast. We’ve been critical in creating queer people of color spaces and visibility within the movement as well as developing and supporting southern leadership that strengthens the RJ movement in Georgia. We believe that Queer & Trans youth of color living in the South often have a unique experience of reproductive violence that requires them to go beyond the traditional approach of reproductive issues (i.e. access to abortion and contraception) and to strive for something Transformational, that’s innovative and shifts culture and power for the long-term. We believe that Queer & Trans youth of color can and should provide leadership in identifying and confronting the gender and body oppression they are so often subjected to, and that our programs create opportunities for people and communities to recognize their individual and collective power, develop and apply a critical lens to reproductive justice efforts, and Transform a society to a culture in which our bodies, genders, and sexualities are celebrated, respected, and protected.

SPARK does much of our grassroots organizing and base-building work in communities that hold our most marginalized constituents. These communities include houseless and displaced LGBTQQ youth, people living with HIV, college students, those living under low SES conditions, uninsured, underinsured, undocumented residents, and those who are criminalized based on how they identify. SPARK absolutely identifies as a Black-led Reproductive Justice organization that fights against the oppression of Queer and Trans people of color, Black women, femmes and women of color specifically. Our staff and board members’ identities represent our constituents so we can better understand the lived experiences of our base.

SPARK’s work today is rooted in the visionary foundation laid by founders Paris Hatcher and Mia Mingus, whose commitment to centering Black women and Queer & Trans young people of color helped shape the organization’s mission and values. We honor that legacy and the continued leadership, care, and dedication of our staff, base members, volunteers, supporters, and community partners who collectively sustain, strengthen, and grow our movement for Reproductive Justice.