Remembering 1619 and Restoring Justice: I am the Reality of my Ancestors’ Dreams for the Future

July 6, 2019July 6, 2019

My Name is Pronounced ‘Revolution’

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June 29, 2019June 29, 2019

Leopard Print

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June 22, 2019June 24, 2019

I am Sick and Tired

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June 15, 2019June 23, 2019

Beauty is A State of Mind

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June 8, 2019June 7, 2019

Perpetual Home | A Pro-Choice Poem

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June 1, 2019June 8, 2019

Uterus Support: A Letter to Some of My Dudes

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May 29, 2019June 23, 2019

My Raw Thoughts On Depression

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May 25, 2019May 26, 2019

You are Never Too Little to Make a Difference

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About

Black Feminist Collective is an intergenerational online collective of womanists who advocate for the liberation of all Black folks. Before you submit an article, poem or interview, make sure your submission pertains to issues that affect Black folks from all walks of life. Submissions are always open and no experience in writing is required.

I’m Stephanie, a student activist, organizer and writer who advocates for womanism, diversity in S.T.E.A.M., the abolition of youth prisons and gun violence prevention. In 2017, I decided to create and edit Black Feminist Collective after writing an article spotlighting Black girls, women and nonbinary people challenging the status quo.

In 2017, I became involved with Girls Who Code, an organization whose mission is to close the gender gap in technology and to change the image of what a programmer looks like and does. Within two months of involvement, I was selected to travel to Atlanta, Georgia for their coding immersion program at General Electric, which not only changed my life, but also helped me give back to my community by launching Girls Who Code RVA. I eventually became a Girls Who Code Alumni Ambassador and earned an award from the National Center for Women & Information Technology, “in recognition of excellent aptitude and interest in computing, solid leadership ability, good academic history and future plans in the field of computer science.” After taking a course at VCU Arts Sculpture, I became involved with Art 180, an organization composed of artists, writers, musicians, poets, dancers creating change through art. Art 180 has allowed me to express myself and convey my message of racial justice through sculpture, improv, poetry, paintings, creative writing and self portraits.

After seeing Black folks experience police brutality on the news in 2016, I became involved with Richmond Youth Peace Project (RYPP), where I have helped other young folks apply non-violent conflict resolution to reduce gun violence. At RYPP, I was given the platform to write spoken-word poetry in response to police brutality and white feminism. Being involved with RYPP gave me the opportunity to speak at the March For Our Lives in Richmond, Virginia, which caught the attention of the ACLU of Virginia. After contributing a few articles to their website, I was invited to 2018’s ACLU National Membership Conference, where I met and eventually interviewed organizer, writer, artist and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors.

My advocacy for gun violence prevention led to my advocacy for the abolition of youth prisons. After seeing one of my spoken-word performances, I was invited by the Afrikana Independent Film Festival to meet Angela Davis at a screening of Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Angela Davis’s story inspired me to be the youngest person to contribute to Black Youth Project and the youngest speaker at the Virginia Prison Reform Rally. The first march I ever helped organize was with RISE For Youth, a nonpartisan campaign that supports community alternatives to youth prisons. Through my work with RISE, I have worked with projects like Performing Statistics to create a community that fully invests in youth instead of youth incarceration.

You can keep up with me by following me on Instagram and Twitter.

Schools Need to Guide Black Girls, Not Criminalize Us; Havana Chapman Edwards is the student Activist We Need Right Now - The Melanin Diary

The Melanin Diary

Movie Review: The Hate U Give - Richmond Peace Education Center

Erika Doss, 20th Century Fox

It is our responsibility as Virginians to direct attention to and put anti-black racism through police violence to an end. - ACLU of Virginia

Nour Goulmamine

I spent my 16th birthday at the ACLU National Membership Conference. It didn't disappoint. - ACLU of Virginia

Phuong Tran/ACLU of Virginia

Black students deserve more inclusion in the conversation on gun violence that disproportionately affects them. - ACLU of Virginia

Mark Strandquist/Performing Statistics

Read + Review — The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - Richmond Youth Peace Project, HCPL TeenScene, YA x YA

Illustration by Debra Cartwright

Does My Life Matter - Richmond Youth Peace Project

Richmond Peace Education Center

News

STEMinism: Exploring the Gender Gap in STEM fields

Caroline Krall & Annie Bennett/ Severn Fellows Project

A new report shows how racism and bias deny black girls their childhoods - Vox

Youtube/Georgtown Law Channel

"Many of the women and girls who spoke to researchers also described having to deal with people’s expectations that they were angry or aggressive. Starting in childhood, black girls are seen as “sassy,” or accused of having attitude problems, perceptions often rooted in stereotypes of the “angry black woman.” "@GtownLawPovCntr When three teachers accused me of threatening a white girl (whom I didn't get along with). I was 9. When a robotics team accused me of being "ungracious" and "acting out" when they refused to teach me how to code. I was 14." "
- P.R. Lockhart, Vox

Amplifying: Stephanie Younger - Amplifying Our Voices

Mark Strandquist/Performing Statistics

"An essential part in creating a better understanding of diversity is providing a space for people of color to tell their personal stories. In these features, AOV has extended its platform beyond our writers and reached out to 4 phenomenal people of color making a difference in their communities."
- Maya Dummett, Amplfying Our Voices

#BlackGirlMagic Column - Sesi Magazine

Sesi Magazine

"Like most of us, 16-year-old Stephanie Younger didn't see herself in the mainstream media. A self procalimed student activist and Womanist, she decied to step up to the plate and change things, starting with her blog Black Feminist Collective."
- Stacey Coles, Sesi Magazine

How The U.S Prison System Oppresses Marginalized Groups - Was It Something I Said? Podcast Interview

Was it Something I Said?

Kids Demand Action - Style Weekly

Scott Elmquist, Style Weekly

"Younger isn't discouraged by the partisan stalemate. She doesn't seem discouraged by much of anything. She's been called divisive and confrontational for insisting that the conversation include race, and she identifies as a womanist because she says feminism excludes her and other girls and women of color."
- Laura Ingles, Style Weekly

Black Girls and the Shootings That Don’t Make Major Mainstream News - Sesi Magazine

Joseph Blanton/Richmond Peace Education Center

"You can find inspiration from other Black girls in the movement. A few of our faves: Stephanie is a student activist from Richmond, Virginia, who uses her blog and her connects with the Richmond Peace Education Center and the ACLU of Virginia to advocate for diversity in S.T.E.A.M., for the abolition of youth imprisonment, for the use of nonviolence as conflict resolution, and against gun violence.In a post on her blog Black Feminist Collective, Stephanie wrote, “The mainstream media’s abundant support for the students in Parkland and the minimal support for Black youth, who are affected by [gun violence] the most, is evident. This movement against gun violence has been deemed a ‘new wave of student activism’ when Black students have been rallying against gun violence for generations.”
- Andréa Butler, Sesi Magazine

Activism at 16: Stephanie Younger shows the Way - RVA Magazine

Mark Strandquist/Performing Statistics

"Most 16-year-olds aren’t writing articles for the ACLU of Virginia, planning to help lead a parade centered around juvenile justice, or interviewing Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors. 16-year-old Stephanie Younger is: and this is only the beginning."
- Brianna Scott, RVA Magazine

The Power in the Simplest of Actions - RVA Magazine

Valley Haggard

"At the beginning and end we heard speeches (one by my friend Stephanie), songs, raps, poetry, and freestyle dances, all of which went to support a bigger cause."
- Henry Haggard, RVA Magazine

Women and Politics - WRIR 97.3 FM Richmond Independent Radio Interview

Women and Politics

Youth Gather to Discuss Gun Violence - Richmond Peace Education Center

Joseph Blanton/Richmond Peace Education Center

"Participants offered several unique insights on how gun violence impacts people from different places and backgrounds, and also the need to think about gun violence as an issue of racial equity as well. Stephanie Younger shared her reflections on the impact of gun violence as it pertains to race, “As a member of the Richmond Peace Education Center, I think it’s important to regard how black communities are disproportionately affected by gun violence, and how important it is to uplift their voices. We have a racist history of gun violence, and it’s our responsibility as Virginian’s to put this to an end.”
- Joseph Blanton, Richmond Peace Education Center

Community forum on gun safety and violence set for May 5 - Richmond Free Press

"Panelists for Saturday’s event include Richmond School Board member Felicia Cosby, 6th District; the Rev. Marcus Martin of Newbridge Baptist Church; Stephanie Younger, a youth activist with the Richmond Peace Education Center; Richmond Deputy Police Chief Eric English; and City Council President Chris A. Hilbert, 3rd District."
- Richmond Free Press

Students organize "Town Hall for our Lives" - NBC12

NBC12

"I thought it would be a movement for keeping our schools safe, but it's not just that. It's helping our black communities and those disproportionately affected by gun violence," explained Stephanie Younger, a 15-year-old who works with the Richmond Peace Education Center. "It continues to happen to marginalized groups, and I want to uplift the voices of the black community who has been fighting for gun reform for generations."
- Jasmine Turner, NBC12

Richmond students, community rally in the thousands for gun control - WTVR CBS 6 News, ABC 8 News, NBC12 News, Richmond Free Press, Church Hill People's News

Church Hill People's News

"Speakers also emphasized the greater impact gun violence has on the African-American community, tying it to historical acts of violence against minorities. “How many more black families will be devastated by gun violence – threatened or killed by the people whose job it is to serve and protect?” Stephanie Younger, an activist with the Richmond Youth Peace Project, asked the crowd. “How many more times do my parents have to give me that talk explaining to me that I’m 10 times more likely to become a victim of gun violence because I am black?”
- Irena Schunn and George Copeland Jr., Capital News Service