Meet Zahada Gillette-Pierce, The Pan-African Organizer Fighting for African Liberation and Reproductive Justice
Photo by BLU Monkey
When many of us think about Black women and their reproductive health, we are not only reminded of the horror stories we hear about the delivery room, but the origins of the gynecological practice as well. Not only are Black women more likely to die in childbirth at a rate that is three to four times as high as white women, but they are also more likely to die from causes that other groups of women usually manage to avoid while in labor. Some of the leading causes of death for Black women in childbirth are cardiovascular conditions, in addition to cardiomyopathy, pre-eclampsia, and eclampsia. This is due to racism being a key cause of birth parent mortality.
And, while there is little to no data on Black trans men and other Black gender expansive people who give birth, it is understood that those groups might also have similar experiences. This can be attributed to queerphobia, and also the lack of training that professionals should receive in order to support those individuals.
Furthermore, the entire practice of gynecology itself rests on the foundation of very sinister origins; the father of modern gynecology, J. Marion Sims, regularly experimented on enslaved Black women in order to conduct “research.” Three enslaved African women, known as Anarcha, Betsey and Lucy, are often referred to as “the true mothers of gynecology” because they were the victims of Sims’ cruel and extremely painful experiments.
With that being said, when it comes to reproductive health, the odds have been against Black women for centuries. It is no wonder the system has failed them so harshly.
However, many who know a brighter future is possible are looking to change that, in hopes of creating better care for Black women and Black childbearing individuals who are in these spaces. One particular individual, Zahada Gillette-Pierce, is working hard to achieve a better environment and society as a whole, one where people can be safe.
Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Gillette-Pierce is a community organizer and reproductive justice advocate who has made it her mission to fight on behalf of those with marginalized identities. She feels as though her purpose is tied to her work fully and therefore, she often finds her work centered around groups such as Black trans women, Black trans men, Black individuals of gender-expansive identities, and Black cisgender women such as herself.
One way that Gillette-Pierce has chosen to further her campaign for reproductive justice is through the use of pan-Africanism, an ideology and movement that holds the goal of uniting and liberating all members of the African diaspora from white supremacy.
“This has been my life path. It was written for me to do this. It’s not one thing that I decided or one instance that changed me, or changed my course of action. [It was] research, divine happenings, and coming into contact with the right people at the right time,” Gillette-Pierce says.
Inspired by Black revolutionary leaders such as Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Arikana Chihombori-Quao, and Kémi Séba, Zahada Gillette-Pierce founded One Diaspora Coalition in 2020. The organization was born out of experiences that she had while working in the Peace Corps. While working with the Peace Corps in both Ethiopia and Togo, she had some issues that left her disappointed. As a Black woman, she found some of the ways in which the organization operated to be very problematic.
“Peace Corps has this idea of, like, how Peace Corps volunteers look, and they portray Peace Corps volunteers as white, cis, straight males,” she says.
Gillette-Pierce wanted the other volunteers to finally get some spotlight after being deprived; she wanted to do something different, as she was tired of centering the Peace Corps in her work. Another major problem that she later encountered was their failure to compensate her with the proper amount of money that she was due when she decided to part ways with the organization.
Although they were supposed to give her around $9,000 to move back to the U.S. and continue on with her life, she was only given a mere $2,000. Upon airing out her grievances, Gillette-Pierce discovered that she wasn’t alone, and that many other Black volunteers had been running into similar difficulties.
Starting One Diaspora Coalition was her chance to finally meet the goals and open the doors that the Peace Corps had failed to open. She wanted to create an environment where everyone had the mindset of working towards African liberation through education, community, and action. When she pictures African liberation in her mind, she sees a world where the marginalized among the margins can truly be free.
“This is pride month. And on the continent most Africans are unable to celebrate pride because of these draconian laws, penal codes that come from colonization. Even though there’s a very strong oral history and even some written texts that talk about queer identities that existed pre-colonialsm,” she says.
To her, African liberation looks like people being willing to give up all things that still remain from colonialism, including queerphobia, transphobia, homophobia, and things of that nature. On the One Diaspora Coalition’s official website, they make it very clear what their aims and objectives are when it comes to African liberation as a whole. On their page titled, “Who We Are,” they have included the following as their mission statement:
“Our mission is to empower, unite and liberate African peoples worldwide through education, community building, and the return to indigenous methods of healing, development, and governance.”
On the topic of decolonization, she feels that the first step to decolonizing one’s mind can look differently for everyone depending on the circumstances. Some people may have to overcome the fear of what they don’t know, since they know nothing other than a colonized way of living. For others who might have mastered the world of anti-African capitalism, it’s being able to give up the power they have in order to achieve liberation for themselves and others around them.
At the moment, Zahada is working on seeing to it that One Diaspora Coalition has a larger role in the struggle for reproductive justice. While many pan-Africanists might not specifically or mainly center their work around the issue of reproductive justice, Gillette-Pierce understands the concept itself as having a pan-African model and framework.
“They see issues of birthing people as like, ‘Oh, that should be over there on the side, like that has nothing to do with pan-Africanism or liberation.’ But if you think about the reproductive justice framework, that framework is a pan-African framework. Like that is literally one of the most pan-African things that is on this planet,” she states.
Not only does Zahada see this movement as a global one that affects millions of people, but also a personal one that is very much connected to her own life and family. Growing up, she was told the story of her great-great grandmother, Lucy. She gave birth to her great-grandmother and then went into the sugarcane fields of Louisiana, where she terminally hermorraged and met an untimely death due to being overworked.
“I’ve talked about her more than I’ve ever talked about her in my life. I bring her into rooms with me, I speak about her in trainings and in policy hearings,” Gillette-Pierce says. “That is the same ancestor who has been coming to me in my dreams.”
Though she knew that she wanted to be a doctor and follow this path long before learning about her great-great grandmother Lucy’s story, it motivated her even more to carry out the work that she is currently doing. Because she talks to her all the time, as well as other ancestors, Zahada knows in her heart that it is her purpose to venerate and honor her ancestors and those who came before her by fighting the good fight.
“Now that I’m realizing this, I talk to her and I talk to my ancestors all the time and I say, ‘My sole purpose on this earth is to avenge you.’ If I’m not doing that, then I’ve done nothing that I’m supposed to do. That is my sole purpose on this earth, and once I have done that, I can leave.”
Though her mission to help create a better society where Africans are liberated and reproductive justice is the standard is far from being over, it would be absolutely untrue to say that she hasn’t accomplished a great deal. When reflecting on her past successes, she is not only proud of forming the One Diaspora Coalition and her work within it, but she is also proud of getting into school after manifesting it for about seven years. In the coming fall, Zahada Gillette-Pierce will be attending graduate school at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, where she will be working towards a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) degree.
Although she had some doubts at first about applying to grad school, she eventually realized that she was more than qualified to be an applicant and that she had a lot to bring to the table. Once she understood her power and self-worth, she knew that they would be foolish to not accept her as a student.
As for her future plans, one of her biggest goals is to have One Diaspora Coalition build a community center in her hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Though the center would be for the entire community, it would mainly target queer Black, Indigenous, and Latinx individuals. Because the plan already has a generous amount of support from the community, she has very high hopes for what this could become. In an area like Baton Rouge, where resources can often be scarce, she is hoping that organization can help change the narrative by creating a holistic environment for queer people of color. Not only will it be a space where people can receive the aid and services that they need, but it will also be a space where everyone is respected, appreciated, and can be themselves. ◆