Meet Nourbese Flint, the Reproductive Justice Leader Whose New Campaign Revolves Around Hope
Working in reproductive justice takes its toll. That’s never been more apparent than over the last two years, since Roe v. Wade was overturned and millions of Americans found themselves legally unable to access abortion care. And, as many predicted, the attack on reproductive rights isn’t ending with the fall of Roe. In 2024, abortion now sits in the crosshairs of a contentious presidential election while ultra-conservative groups like Project 2025 look to restrict IVF and contraception as well.
Given… all of that, it’s become all too easy to feel fatalistic about the future of reproductive health in the US. But giving up or treating these outcomes as inevitable won’t help, which is why Nourbese Flint, the president of the intersectional, pro-abortion organization All* Above All, wants to lead with something new: hope.
“Our communities are motivated by hope,” Flint tells SheKnows. “They’re motivated by vision. They’re motivated by what we can do together.”
Last month, All* Above All launched the For All* Our Futures campaign to make contact with 300,000 voters across battleground states like North Carolina, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, with the goal of advancing abortion access while making democracy a priority.
The idea is to “take people from where they are, where abortion access is hard [and] folks are angry and fearful about where the country is going, into a space where we can think about our futures and make the folks who are our voters, our constituents, our people, our communities, the protagonist of their own stories,” Flint explains. The campaign promises to unite a multi-racial and intersectional coalition to provide people with “tools they need to drive civic engagement and get out the vote this election cycle,” a press release says, which Flint says includes education, “direct contact [with voters], and cultural engagement.”
The voters Flint hopes to invigorate are, of course, the same ones who’ve been so disillusioned by the democratic system that they’re likely to stay away from the polls altogether. “We know that margins are tight, and we know that the difference between us winning and being able to have the best conditions for us to push abortion justice is … just a sliver of a percentage point,” Flint says. “That means that the communities who are usually hardest to reach, or the ones who have been disillusioned from what has been going on, are the ones who are actually going to be those percentage points that create the best conditions.”
Of course, it’s easy to understand why so many are disillusioned with voting: it doesn’t seem to be working, especially when it comes to abortion rights. According to Pew Research Center polls, 63 percent of US adults believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. And yet, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and the legality of common reproductive options like IVF and birth control is under threat as well. It’s enough to make you wonder if it’s even worth casting a ballot.
For Flint, voting is essential — but it’s only a part of the equation. She compares it to wanting to get in shape: you start by, let’s say, buying a gym membership, but that alone isn’t going to make you fit. “You get the gym membership as an [entrypoint], but then you gotta do those reps,” Flint says. It’s the same with voting. “Voting is our entrance, it’s our fee that we’re paying to get into the work and to civically engage. But that’s not the end all be all.” Where the real work is done, she says, is in between elections, in building community, spreading awareness, and holding elected officials accountable. “It’s moving policy at the federal level, at the local level,” she says. “It is using art and it’s using narrative.”
There are so many ways to contribute. All* Above All will offer toolkits for making change during Congressional recess, with tips on “how to throw a house party and talk with folks, how to have conversations,” Flint says. Other ways to make change, she adds, include making art and murals, sitting in on city council votes and meetings, and even just having conversations about abortion with loved ones. “We are our best messengers for our family,” Flint explains. “We’ve got to be the ones, after the election, [to say], ‘We got to stay involved. This what’s happening.'”
On a personal level, there are two reasons Flint says she’s able to maintain a sense of determined hope amidst a dire news cycle. For one, she’s a mom to a toddler who’s not exactly paying close attention to all of that. It has “a way of grounding you in what’s important,” Flint says. “Knowing that the work that I do not only for my child, but for the generations of children who deserve to be able to have full freedom over their bodies is what drives me.”
It’s also about reflecting on those who came before her. “I stand on the shoulders of people who fought unapologetically for me to be able to be here,” she says. “I know that things were a lot rougher for my ancestors and for my grandmother’s grandmother, and that they survived so I could thrive. My hope, but also my responsibility, is to give the same amount of energy and hope and unabashed boldness and courageousness to the generations that come after me so they can be in a world that is bigger, better, and one that they deserve.”
The future is coming, “whether we like it or not,” Flint adds. With the way we’re currently going, that’s a scary thought when it comes to reproductive rights. The solution, though, isn’t to give up but to lean in. “We can either be a part of the crew that is shaping [the future] or the part of the crew who are filling it,” Flint explains. “This is our attempt to really engage our folks around abortion access and abortion justice. Let’s be a part of the crew that is shaping what that looks like in the ways that our communities need and deserve.”
Before you go, read about these stars who have opened up about their own abortions:
