This month we’ve started our trauma-informed training in collaboration with the University of Houston and the Compass Initiative. We’ve selected four organizations: Her Initiative, The Mahogany Project, The Truth Project, and Positive Assistance to participate with the primary purpose of serving people living with HIV. Each organization demonstrated a willingness to integrate trauma-informed advocacy, public policy, and political education into their programs and we’re excited to be sharing the tools to accomplish this successfully!

This has been another opportunity for us to share our knowledge in public policy and advocacy and also to empower communities that center building black futures as well.

to learn more about opportunities for capacity building in the area of public policy with a focus on trauma-informed advocacy please reach out to ryan@blackfuturistsgroup.com

BFG is announcing it’s is building the future with a new client, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, because the lives of Black trans women like #ZoeSpears and #AshantiCamron deserve our attention, action, and deepened allyship. We facilitated a rapid response day of media and meetings with elected officials and local Black trans advocates following the June 14th murder of Zoe Spears to discuss the launch of the @mpjinstitute and talk about developing policies in collaboration with Black trans women that increase their safety, wellness, and access to economic opportunities. ⁣ Through our media engagement plan, we were able to amplify the voice of MPJI and Black transwomen through interviews with @WashBlade, CBS Washington (@wusa9), and @WPGC 95.5 and drive public policy discussions with Councilmember @RobertWhite_DC, Maryland Assembly Member Gabriel Acevero (@Gacevero), @SafeSpacesDC, @HIPS.DC, and Councilmembers with Prince George’s County and Fairmont Heights, Maryland.
Look out for news articles from the MPJI media day and updates from the BFG on the latest policy advancements related to building greater equity and safety for Black trans women.

The Black Futurists Group is proud to announce that its Managing Director Devin Barrington-Ward was nominated by Fulton County Commissioner Natalie Hall to the County’s Continuum of Care Board (CoC) of Directors.

His nomination was unanimously approved by the full Board of Commissioners. The Continuum of Care Board is the body responsible for planning the county’s response to homelessness and provides funding recommendations to the county. One of the first orders of business for the newly appointed board is to build out the county’s application to the federal housing and urban development department for millions of dollars in funding to support housing services for homeless youth in the county.

Devin’s appointment to the CoC Board upholds the BFG’s commitment to building black futures through ensuring fair, safe, and affordable housing options for marginalized communities.

The Black Futurists Group is proud to announce it’s newest project The Harvest Initiative

Birthed out of a partnership between the BFG, Drug Policy Alliance, and Southerners on New Ground. The Harvest Initiative seeks to organize and equip diverse stakeholders in the Black community with the tools to develop and advance policies that increase minority participation and ownership within Georgia’s soon-to-be established legal medical marijuana industry and create greater equity in drug policy.

Over the upcoming months we will be holding policy briefings, advocate trainings, and community engagement events aimed at increasing the awareness and capacity for Black and other minority communities to demand greater equity in the marijuana industry in Georgia.

6 week bans on abortions harm all women, but no one is more at risk than Black women, who already face real threats to their health and their freedom if these laws are allowed to take effect. Make no mistake banning abortions means Black women will die and be sent to jail!

That’s why Georgia State Representative David Dreyer and the Black Futurists Group organized a press conference in May 2019 to challenge more men to speak up and publicly support women, their right to choose, and their access to safe and healthy abortion services.

Later, U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Kirsten Gillibrand along with State Representatives Sandra Scott, Bee Nguyen, Dar'shun Kendrick, Senators Jen Jorden, and Nikema Williams all made it clear to the world that they are not here for the games that conservative men are trying to play with women’s bodies!

Building Black futures means building greater equity and freedom for women!

Black History is Now! Black Futures Are Now!

Last year ahead of the vote on the city budget, the Black Futurists Group joined State Representative Park Cannon, and Eric Paulk of Georgia Equality for a meeting with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to talk about the seriousness of the city’s HIV epidemic. We exchanged ideas, advocated for best practices, and shared our personal experiences with how the epidemic has shaped the lives of our families and friends in Atlanta.

The mayor listened and took action by including $100k in last year’s budget towards efforts to address HIV. A significant first for the city who has traditionally relied on the county, state, and federal governments for any HIV resources. This budget addition was done as a tangible demonstration that the city has a responsibility and role to play in the health of its residents too.

Councilman Antonio Brown, the youngest member of the council, introduced a cooperative agreement between Fulton County and the city that will support the expansion of PrEP access in Atlanta by hiring two part-time nurse practitioners that will support ongoing county efforts to link more people to PrEP and other preventive health services. Represented by LGBTQ Liaison Malik Brown and supported by LGBTQ taskforce member Emily Halden Brown, the administration demonstrated a commitment to uphold previous promises by the Mayor to do more about HIV.

This plan was unanimously approved by the council members who serve on the Human Services and Community Development Committee of Atlanta. This action supports the PrEP bill that was signed into state law in April 2019. This means more access and more choices. This means a closer step towards the end of an epidemic that disproportionately impacts Black people.

This is what can happen when we trust each other. When we work collaboratively and we bring more of ourselves to the service of others. When we trust the leadership of Black women, LGBTQ folk, young people, and the wisdom of elders. And when elected officials are comfortable in not having all of the answers and are willing to ask the people for help.

Let’s keep this same energy! This momentum is needed to address the current and future challenges for housing programs for low income people living with HIV in Atlanta. We are shaping our history and our future all at once and the people are depending on us to listen to them and work with them to build greater trust and greater equity.

On April 25th at 2:31pm the State of Georgia took the first step towards making PrEP for HIV prevention available to low income people at no-cost with the Governor‘s signature of House Bill 290 into law at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

This law mandates that Georgia establish a pilot PrEP Drug Assistance Program that will make the drug more accessible in counties hit hard by the epidemic of opioids and HIV. The Black Futurists Group is thrilled that Representative Park Cannon and BFG were able to make this happen for our community along with support from folks like Chairwoman of Health and Human Services, Representative Sharon Cooper who helped us lead her republican colleagues to the right vote on this bill.

This work would not have been possible if it were not for a partnership with the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. Thank you to the countless advocates and organizers who help us push for the passage of this bill after 3 years of debating, fighting, and negotiating. You all are the real MVPs! Thanks to your voices Georgia is a little closer to ending HIV and building a healthier future for her residents!

The pen used by the Governor to sign this bill into law back in April should always be used to promote health and never to infringe on our rights.

Signed, sealed, delivered and enshrined in law, PrEP Drug assistance is yours Georgia!