Black Feminist Future Action Fund
Lead like a Black Feminist with Black Feminist Future Action Fund

Lead Like a Black Feminist

Black Feminist Future Action Fund

We are so grateful you have bravely decided to run for office with a Black feminist platform! 

Here at Black Feminist Future Action Fund (BFF AF), we harness the political power of Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people towards liberation through voter engagement, policy shifts, and candidate support. 

BFF AF is the political sister to Black Feminist Future (BFF), a political hub focused on the dynamic possibilities of galvanizing the social and political power of Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people toward liberation. 

“Lead Like a Black Feminist” is our method of celebrating and amplifying candidates committed to centering the visions of Black feminist voters. Here and throughout your campaign and governance, we ask for your radical honesty. Your answers to these questions, as well as your public policy positions, are key to earning this distinction. 

The “Lead Like a Black Feminist” distinction signals to our thousands of members and to Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people across the United States that, if elected, you intend to govern, make decisions, and create policy that centers the demands and visions of Black women and gender-expansive people. Candidates who earn this distinction have demonstrated (through their responses) that they will support and create equity and justice in their policymaking.

Please complete the following questionnaire to be considered for the Black Feminist Future Action Fund's “Lead Like a Black Feminist” Distinction. Your responses will be made public, supporting our member's deep engagement and education.

Take your time and be thoughtful with your responses. Once you've submitted your responses, please allow some time for review. If your responses are aligned with the principles and values of Black Feminist Future Action Fund, you will receive follow-up information. 

For any questions about the program or if you are experiencing technical issues, please email jasmen@blackfeministfuture.org 

? Take future action with a single click.
Log in or  Sign up for FastAction

Contact Information
Lead Like a Black Feminist Distinction Questionnaire

Campaign Social Media Profiles

Migration and Citizenship

The United States continues to proclaim that everyone is welcome - “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” - but we know the experiences of Black immigrants reflect a different reality. 

Black immigrants make up 5.4% of the undocumented population in the United States, but make 20.3% of immigrants facing removal/deportation on the basis of criminal conviction. Black immigrants have been denied citizenship more often than any other racial and ethnic group. 

Economically, nearly 20 percent of Black immigrants live below the federal poverty line. With Haitian women experiencing the largest economic gap, earning 18.6 percent less than White women.

Economic Justice

Heading into the 2024 election cycle, 58 percent of Black women identified the rising cost of living as the number one issue affecting the country. As of January 2024, Black women are 6.8 percent of the adult labor force and have an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent, which is substantially higher than that of white women.

With the perpetuation of pay inequity, rising costs of housing and other essentials, and general disparities in Black families' ability to access wealth: 

We know that Black women have always fought for and been innovative about caring for their communities through holistic care: Access to medical professionals, a variety of medical care, services, family planning, etc - to name a few. Our ability to take care of ourselves and our families  is a galvanizing issue for Black women and gender-expansive folks and an organizing opportunity in the upcoming election.

Black students are less likely than white students to have access to college-readiness courses like honors or advanced placement (AP) classes. And when they do have access, they are underrepresented in those classes.

 

We know Environmental Justice is intrinsically tied to Reproductive Justice. 

Black people are more likely to live in areas that are: vulnerable to extreme weather (including exposure to extreme heat and living in areas more likely to be hit by hurricanes), closer to landfills, and lacking in access to safe water. A report from the Center for American Progress found that there are fewer forests, streams, wetlands, and other natural places near where Black, Latino, and Asian American people live, and that families of color with children have less access to nature nearby than compared to the rest of the country, which has a direct impact on overall health.

Climate change and its impact have a disproportionate and direct impact on the respiratory, heart, and overall health of Black communities. Neighborhoods of color are also statistically more at risk to be food deserts with little to no access to grocery stores and/or fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. 

We believe that freedom from all forms of violence is a requirement in the fight for liberation. In the U.S., Black adult women are six times more likely to be killed than their white counterparts. Black girls aged 18-19 were four times more likely to be imprisoned than White girls. Girls and women of color are the fastest-growing populations in American prisons.

And even within systems that claim to keep communities “safe,” a 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that Black and Latina women who experienced intimate partner or sexual violence were two to three times more likely to experience abuse or a neglectful response from law enforcement when reporting the incident.

 

Black women, girls, and gender-expansive folks continue to be overrepresented in jails, prisons, and detention centers. Data shows us that over the past two decades, girls' share of the juvenile justice system from courts through incarceration saw sizable increases: arrests increased by 45 percent

Because of the integral roles that Black women, girls, and gender-expansive folks play in our communities, overcriminalization causes a lasting generational impact on Black families. 

Your commitment to Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people should not be taken lightly. This is your commitment to be held accountable to your policy decisions by the members of Black Feminist Future, and those committed to the liberation of Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people.