This organization believes Black girls find power within their access to space and time.
Natalie Collier is the creator of The Lighthouse | Black Girls Projects, an organization where she provides an intimate space of support and safety for Black girls and women.
According to Good Morning America, The Lighthouse uses a holistic approach to the leadership development of Black girls and women, overseeing areas such as elementary educational programs, camps, and funding clinical research.
“We want to curate spaces of safety and solidarity,” Collier said. “Southern Black women in particular, I think, are trailblazers in a lot of ways, that people don’t often consider.”
Angela Grayson, the director of advocacy and organizing at The Lighthouse, said the organization does a lot of work around constructive programming. “So the things that we help women to empower themselves are the tools that we give them to affect change,” Grayson said, noting the importance of conducting research regarding issues that affect Black women.
She shared how research at The Lighthouse enabled an understanding that women need postpartum Medicaid coverage. “Women need that coverage for up to a year because women were dying in what is called the fourth trimester. We were at the Capitol reminding legislators that we are the data. Listen to us. We know what we want and need,” Grayson said.
“We do things that create a legacy for Black women to walk behind us, for Black girls to know that there are places of safety and solidarity for them that they can rest, they can be powerful, they can speak truth to power, whatever they want to do,” she added.
Cristy Craig and Raquel Thomas both participated in the college fellowship program offered by The Lighthouse. The program includes helping students find travel opportunities, paid internships, peer support, and more. Craig said it carried her mentally and financially as she transitioned into adulthood. “They will find a way through their network to align us with people who will make our visions come true,” Thomas shared.