What is #1Billion4BlackGirls?
In its second year, the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign continues to work to mobilize robust investment in Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth’s leadership, genius, wellness, power, and capacity to thrive.
Investing in Black girls, femmes, and gender-expansive youth is essential to our collective liberation.
Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth have been on the frontlines of movements that demand social justice. They have done so despite having to navigate intersecting systems of oppression, under-investment, and an erasure of their experiences and contributions.
In September 2020, a collective of outstanding Black women leaders came together to call for a $1 billion investment in Black girls over the next decade. The #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign thus emerged from a belief that investing abundantly in Black girls, and centering their leadership and wisdom, is necessary for our collective liberation. They recognize that there is no social justice movement that does not uniquely impact Black girls, and where Black girls are not already exhibiting leadership. Put simply, every issue is a Black girl issue.
These are the co-founders of the #1Billion4BlackGirls Campaign, they are Black femme activists, artists, educators, organizers and philanthropists:
- LaTosha Brown, Co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund & the Southern Black Girls & Women’s Consortium (home of the Black Girls Dream fund)
- Tarana Burke, Executive Director, ‘me too.’ Movement
- Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO, National Women’s Law Center
- Dr. Monique Couvson (formally Dr. Monique W. Morris), President and CEO, Grantmakers for Girls of Color (home of the Black Girl Freedom Fund)
- Dr. Salamishah Tillet, Co-Founder, A Long Walk Home
- Scheherazade Tillet, Co-Founder, A Long Walk Home
- Joanne Smith, Founding President and CEO, Girls for Gender Equity (GGE)
- Teresa C. Younger, President and CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women
Abundant support is necessary for our collective freedom
The phenomenal co-founders of the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign recognize that Black girls’ wisdom and leadership are essential to the liberation of all people. They asked the question, “What would our communities look like in ten years if we made an intentional and abundant investment in Black girls’ femmes, and gender-expansive youth?”
The collective answer was an agreement that now is the time to robustly invest in our Black girls. This campaign invites us to join together to invest $1 billion in the brain trust, innovation, health, safety, education, artistic visions, research, and joy of Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive and their families by 2030. We are committed and are firm in our belief that together, this is possible.
Through events like Black Girl Freedom Week, surveys, and participatory grantmaking opportunities, Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth inform the priorities of the fund, and also make decisions about how funds will be directed.
The #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign continues to grow not just by calling attention to the significant barriers and challenges that Black girls face, and the dismal amount of resources funneled towards them, but more importantly by showcasing their leadership, creative genius, joy, play, and power.
An intentional launch date: September 15, 2020
The launch date of the #1Billion4BlackGirls Campaign, September 15, was an intentional choice. On that day, 57 years earlier, four Black girls — Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley — were murdered by a Ku Klux Klan member who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Their tragic deaths further galvanized the Civil Rights Movement, ultimately leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And like Sarah Collins, the fifth little girl who survived, millions of other Black girls are simply forgotten. We launched the campaign on this day to uplift and honor their names, to combat the erasure of Black girls in our larger quest for justice, and to make a firm commitment towards a world that protects, nurtures, and celebrates all Black girls, femmes, and gender-expansive youth.
The Black Girl Freedom Fund (BGFF) is an initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC), and leads and hosts the organization of Black Girl Freedom Week. To learn more click here.
Black Girl Freedom Week
Hosted by the #1Billion4BlackGirl campaign and Black Girl Freedom Fund, Black Girl Freedom Week (BGFW) is an annual week-long celebration of Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth, and what is possible when we invest abundantly in their dreams, their power, and their leadership, and work together to co-create a future where they are safe, free, and thriving. We chose this week during Black History Month in honor of Toni Morrison’s and Audre Lorde’s birthdays.
If you are inspired by what you see and learn during BGFW, we invite you to donate or make a pledge to support the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign.
Follow us on our social media channels to stay up to date and interact with the #1Billion4BlackGirls community:
- Facebook: Black Girl Freedom Fund
- Instagram: @blackgirlfreedomfund
- Twitter: @BlkGrlFreedom
- LinkedIn: Black Girl Freedom Fund
Email us with any questions or concerns at bgff@g4gc.org.
Thank you for joining this powerful movement, and inviting others to participate in this amazing week and campaign!
Support and Sign-up
#1Billion4BlackGirls is a 10-year philanthropic initiative designed to invest in the brain trust, innovation, health, safety, education, artistic visions, research, and joy of Black girls and their families. The Black Girl Freedom Fund (BGFF) is an initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC), and leads and hosts the organization of Black Girl Freedom Week.
