Collective Power 2025
Our Bodies Ourselves was thrilled to co-sponsor the 2025 Collective Power Conference. On April 5th and 6th, hundreds of activists from across the US gathered in Amherst, Massachusetts. This year’s conference was appropriately themed “Uniting for Reproductive Justice & Strengthening Our Movement.”
The Collective Power Conference has been an annual highlight for reproductive justice advocates, Our Bodies Ourselves included, for more than 30 years.
This year, OBOS program associate Grace Koch represented our team. We conveniently set up our table next to a feminist bookstore table, opening many conversations about the power of literature like “Our Bodies, Ourselves” in shaping feminist movements.
Many of the reproductive justice advocates in attendance already knew Our Bodies Ourselves very well. OBOS content expert and panel co-chair Marlene Fried has been a faculty director of Collective Power since the 1980s, and has inspired countless young activists in the reproductive justice movement. We are honored to have her on our team.
We heard heartwarming stories from attendees of how OBOS played a key role in sparking individual interests in reproductive health and activism. Many students reported that they get assigned “Our Bodies, Ourselves” in their history and activism courses, doula training, and medical school.
Multiple organizations and allies stopped by to reconnect. They include Advocates for Youth, Catholics for Choice, Eastern MA Abortion Fund, If/When/How, Indigenous Women Rising, Sister Song Inc., The Resilient Sisterhood project, Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Mass NOW, and Women Help Women.
Our Bodies Ourselves also reached hundreds of young new activists for the first time at this conference! Grace described the history and legacy of OBOS and explained how connecting our history to today’s moment is fundamental for shaping the future feminist movement. Attendees asked many questions, hungry to learn more about what the OBOS founders created, and how OBOS is continuing activism through information and knowledge sharing about the health and sexuality of women and gender-expansive people. Student activists who approached our table left with information about ourbodiesourselves.org and inspiration from the generations who have done this crucial work before us.
Day one of the conference was filled with the electric energy of community building. We heard from powerful speakers about global resistance and building power for reproductive justice. The afternoon was packed with educational workshops, led by students, experts, and organizations. Workshop topics included reproductive justice, abortion access, environmental justice, spirituality, healing, LGBTQIA+ advocacy, disability and ableism, and indigenous sovereignty.
The evening started with a fantastic performance by indigenous drag artists Lady Shug and Landa Lakes in their LaLa Land Back tour. The whole room was held in enraptured silence by Halie Eshe Cole, Aamahri Nicholson, and Rae Sutherland’s performance called “Belly: An American Love Story.” They beautifully told the story of Black women’s experiences with slavery, pregnancy, birth, and loss through powerful word, song, and dance acts.
The opening day ended with an emotional and inspiring resistance speak-out, where all attendees were allowed to openly share thoughts. Some people shared personal stories, others shared music and poems, and many shared reflections on the day, especially about the healing they felt from connecting with community.
Day two of the conference began with an empowering (and comical) keynote by prominent feminist activist and co-founder of reproductive justice, Loretta J. Ross. Loretta shared lessons that led her to write her new book “Calling In: How to Build Bridges and Create Change in a Culture of Callouts.” We learned about the 5 C’s ( Calling Out, Canceling, Calling In, Calling On, and Calling it Off) discussed in her book. She spoke about her journey of being fueled by anger and calling out, to realizing that calling in is a more powerful tool for turning opposition into productive conversation that fosters growth, accountability, understanding, and forgiveness. Loretta concluded by reminding us that “how we do the work is just as important as the work we do.”
Sunday’s workshops kept up the calling in energy with topics about critical connections (race, disability, and reproductive justice), intergenerational transnational feminism, queer community building, accessible activism, trans solidarity, student advocacy, and understanding our past to move into a new future. Grace Koch, OBOS program associate, left these sessions with a feeling of collective resilience and open mindedness.
The conference closed with an amazing plenary led by renowned disability rights and inclusion activist, Imani Barbarin. Imani spoke on the critical intersections between disability justice and broader reproductive justice and social justice movements.
Our Bodies Ourselves would like to extend a big thank you to Collective Power for hosting such an empowering conference that brought together so many people and ideas across many disciples and lived experiences. We are grateful to be part of this activist community and will continue to stand for reproductive justice alongside our partners.