Renee Bracey Sherman, 2021 Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day Keynote Speaker

The UnRestrict Minnesota coalition is proud to introduce renowned reproductive justice activist Renee Bracey Sherman as the keynote speaker for our 2021 Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day.

An award-winning author with deep Midwestern roots, Renee is a fierce advocate for racial justice in healthcare. Her work employs creative and innovative strategies to center the voices of people of color in the abortion conversation, earning her the moniker “The Beyoncé of Abortion Storytelling.”

As the founder and executive director of abortion storytelling group We Testify, Renee is dedicated to expanding our understanding of the reproductive justice movement by representing Black and Brown folks who have had an abortion.

“Our abortions,” writes Renee, “while not obtained without obstacles, dramatically changed the courses of our lives for the better.” Her commitment to representation in the reproductive justice movement has inspired hundreds of abortion storytellers, including elected officials, to share their experiences.

At its core, her work centers on the necessity of destigmatizing abortion, increasing access to reproductive health resources for future generations, and dismantling white supremacy. As she articulated in a recent essay reflecting on the connections between the anti-abortion extremist movement and the white supremacists who rioted at the nation’s capitol on January 6, 2021:

“To ensure a future where everyone has the rights, respect and abilities to decide if, when and how to grow their own families, we have to recognize the ways in which ending white supremacy is a central issue to reproductive freedom. There is no way we can have true bodily autonomy and reproductive justice without ending white supremacy.”

Renee Bracey Sherman is also a member of the Echoing Ida collective, a community of Black women and nonbinary writers whose mission is to disrupt oppressive narratives and build social change, and whose work was recently collected in a new anthology published by The Feminist Press.

Register here for the Zoom link to hear Renee’s keynote speech on Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day on Friday, March 12th, 2021 and join UnRestrict Minnesota’s multi-racial, cross-sector coalition to lobby our lawmakers to protect every Minnesotan’s right to make healthy decisions about if and when to become a parent.

Note: Read the text of Renee’s remarks at Lobby Day here.