Future Black Female

Future Black Female is a feminist movement that mobilizes Black female youth to rise up and pursue better outcomes in academic, social, political, civic, and feminist arenas. Our pilot project launched in April 2019 was a global essay contest: The Future is Black Female. Contestants spoke about their lived experiences as females in their cultures and locations. Through their essays we were able to determine our next move as a growing organization. There are universal truths that writers identified and that we know as socially conscious individuals. That is, Black female youth across the globe struggle against poverty, educational barriers, economic barriers, and health and wellbeing challenges. Without the necessary comprehension of the systems that drive the trends in female empowerment, Black female youth are left behind where their counterparts are more resourced and better supported. A big part of this is a lack of voice. They are the most silenced demographic in the world because of their race, their gender, the socioeconomic and geographical location, and their age. What is our proposed solution to the problem? We aim to work against this silencing of Black female youth and cultivate a strong unified feminist movement that transcends borders and geographical locations. In the next generation, we want Black females to be loud and proud (angry or not) as they change their outcomes and drive the development of their communities. Through this network a message resounds for members to rise up! We do this by providing short and relevant life skills boot camps. The boot camps begin with a two-week intensive digital camp and then two-weeks community-based boot camp. In these camps, they gain advanced digital literacy skills; skills in communication and language; critical thinking and ethnographic research; knowledge-sharing and translation; skills in self-advocacy and grassroots mobilization. Our programs change the system because they focus on social value partnerships and collaborations in local communities. A significant component of our program focuses on helping Black female youth gain the necessary skills to collaborate with corporate and for-profit companies in their communities for increased social value. We help them identify and target corporate responsibility opportunities, pitch their ideas to potential partners, and maintain these relationships for their benefit and the benefit of their communities in a meaningful way. Who experiences changes in their lives as a result of what you do? Our beneficiaries are individuals that identify as Black female youth; from diverse backgrounds; aged 16-22.