Jazmine is a big fine woman and a fellow at Rural Support Partners in Asheville, North Carolina. She came of age in a largely black working class community in Mississippi's state capital. She entered the University of Mississippi as a STEM major at 17. Though she successfully completed her degree in Biochemistry, she also majored in African American Studies because she felt that her talents were better suited for advocating with and for marginalized populations. This passion led her to pursue a Master of Arts degree in sociology. During that time, Jazmine interned for SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, where she worked on projects related to not only reproductive health, but also issues that impacted communities of color. She has also conducted research on workplace culture, media studies, and social movement organizations. She continues to work with the Trust Black Women campaign, which is a partnership of women who work that black women have the human right to make their own decisions about their reproductive lives. She is the originator of Gorilla Pimp feminism.
Though choice is a significant part of gaining gender equality, I remain struck by how our First Lady, a black woman with black daughters, has yet to talk about reproductive health as broader than “choice.”
Pink ribbons do not help bring awareness to the socioeconomic inequities connected to breast cancer; they commodify the disease and make it “sexy” under the guise of raising awareness.
