I Be Black Girl leader discusses the importance of birth care, building empowerment

Ashlei Spivey is one of the nominees for USA TODAY’s Women of the Year program, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

Omaha's Ashlei Spivey is a lot of things. Black. A woman. A mother. But she might tell you that the place where all of these intersect is one of the most important aspects of her identity.

Spivey sees the world through that intersectional lens and is innately in tune with the challenges that face Black women and birthing people. Spivey uses that knowledge to advocate for girls and other women like her, which led to six years ago, when Spivey put a call out on social media for other Black women and femmes to join her in creating a unique space — a space that would celebrate Black women, a space that would offer much needed connection and community.

From that social media callout came a brunch with a DJ and in the fellowship that it brought, the beginnings of I Be Black Girl were birthed. I Be Black Girl, with Spivey seated at the head of the table, focuses on economic liberation, birth justice, Black-led investments and advocacy and power building.

From Black women searching for an authentic place where they did not always have to be the first and only ones in the room, came Nebraska's first and only reproductive justice organization.

"We are moving into a space of healing justice, which I am really excited about," Spivey said.

Spivey has been honored by the Urban League of Nebraska with its Service Award, by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce as a Changemaker and by the Midlands Business Journal as part of its 40 Under 40 honor roll. Her work with I Be Black Girl has been featured in Forbes and was awarded a J.M. Kaplan Fund 2023 Innovation prize.

Today, in addition to continuing her work with I Be Black Girl, Ashlei Spivey is the Nebraska honoree for USA Today's 2024 Women of the Year project. She recently discussed her journey and work:

Q: Who paved the way for you to create I Be Black Girl?

There are a number of Black women and femmes that made I Be Black Girl possible. A few that I always uplift are my mom, Lisa Spivey who is transitioned, Brenda Council and my good friend and colleague Jay Warren Teamer. Each of them has ushered and guided I Be Black Girl directly or indirectly and I wouldn’t — we wouldn’t — be here without them.

The bones of IBBG are rooted in the work of bell hooks — her catalogue of work has influenced how we show up and operationalize our work and we appreciate her contributions as an elder and now ancestor.

Q: Who are you paving the way for through your work?

For Any Black woman, femme or girl. We deserve to live wholly and our vision is to create a society that allows for this — unapologetically.

Q: What is your proudest moment? 

Whew, there are so many! Recently a young Black girl who attended our Black Girls Lead Summit last year wrote about her experience in her college entry essay. Teenagers are a tough crowd and will keep you honest — so to see how we impacted her in the next chapter of her life was beautiful.

Q: Do you have a lowest moment, and if so, what did it teach you?

All of the "No's." We are a grant-funded organization and I am constantly working to ensure our organization can be sustainable. We know Black-led work is unfunded. Then, when you add the intersection of race and gender we get even less resources for this necessary and life or death work. However, we are still here! We have grown from just me to 13 staff and this showed me that I have to find our "yes" — find the folks who are aligned to this work.

Q: What is your definition of courage?

Being able to stand in my power and truth while recognizing the risk. Having courage always means you’re vulnerable and a lot of times doing whatever it is alone, but to stay committed to the path despite. That’s courage.

Q: Is there a guiding principle or mantra you tell yourself?

“Do you want to be well? Being well is no triflin' matter.“

This is an excerpt from the book "The Salteaters" and my good friend and colleague Dr. Monique Liston asked me this at the very beginning of developing IBBG. Our goal, my goal, is to be well. For my community to be well. And if this is the vision, then there are guideposts and guardrails that have to be in place to ensure we actualize this for our self and community. Because this type of work, justice centered work, comes at the consequence of many of our leaders.

Q: Who is the person you look up to or looked up to?

My mom. She is extraordinary and was taken too soon from this earth. She passed because of reproductive neglect within her care, and is one of the reasons IBBG exists. Her life and journey, exemplifies the experiences of Black women and femmes in this country — both good and bad. And she did it while loving me and my sister into the people we are today. That’s no easy feat.

Q; How do you overcome adversity?

My village. Having a strong group of people who lift me up, support and encourage me allows me to face adversity head on.

Q: What advice would you give your younger self?

The winning lotto numbers — just kidding. I would tell her to remove the noise, and always bet on yourself.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: I Be Black Girl leader Ashlei Spivey talks empowerment, necessity