What Happens When We Listen to Black Women?
MOMENTUM Conversation:
Our Bodies, Our Stories:
Period to Post Menopause
Our Bodies, Our Stories: Period to Post Menopause unfolded across two Momentum Summit gatherings, creating space for frank and powerful conversations about Black women’s health, wellness, advocacy, and the systems that shape their experiences across every stage of life.
THE CONVERSATION BEGINS
The conversation began on August 13 at the historic Strand Theatre with a special MOMENTUM Moment featuring Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, and Dr. Ena Marsan, associate medical director, Planned Parenthood Metropolitan New Jersey, moderated by Twanna Harris, founder of the League of Industry Moms.
Together, they opened a larger discussion about the inequities Black women encounter within the healthcare system—from reproductive and maternal health to access, information, and the ability to be heard and believed when seeking care.
But the conversation was never intended to end there.
OUR BODIES, OUR STORIES
On August 18, Momentum continued the dialogue at India Rose Collective with the full MOMENTUM Conversation: Our Bodies, Our Stories.
The evening opened with a book signing featuring Dr. Duchess Harris, Professor and Author, who shared copies of her new book, Black Feminist Politics: From the Voting Rights Act to the Kamala Harris Vice Presidency (1965–2025), with guests before joining the evening's discussion.
The conversation brought together panelists Ruth Richardson; Temi F. Bennett, president and CEO of iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility; and Dr. Duchess Harris to broaden the lens beyond healthcare alone. Together, they examined Black women’s experiences across different stages of life while considering how health intersects with advocacy, economic opportunity, public policy, and the well-being of families and communities.
Special guest Tracey Joshua of the Michigan Women’s Commission brought a real-world example of what it can look like to center women’s experiences in that work. Joshua shared how the Commission’s focus on women’s health helped give rise to Menopause Is a Movement, an initiative created after listening to women across Michigan about their experiences with menopause and the gaps they encountered in understanding and accessing care.
Through 13 sessions across the state of Michigan, women were given space to talk openly about symptoms and experiences that too often go undiscussed—from brain fog and sleep disruption to changes in sexual health and the workplace. Importantly, the sessions moved beyond listening by connecting women with physicians and specialists in areas including menopause, wellness, sexual health, and nutrition.
Her example underscored a larger theme of the evening: listening to women is only the beginning. Their experiences can—and should—inform the resources, systems, and solutions created to support them.
Across both gatherings, the conversations raised essential questions: Who has access to trusted information? Who is heard? Who receives quality care? And what must change so Black women can make informed decisions about their bodies and their futures?
HEALTH IS AN INVESTMENT
Improving outcomes requires more than better medicine. It requires education, trusted information, responsive healthcare systems, supportive public policy, and a willingness to listen to women about their own experiences.
For Momentum Summit, investing in Black women’s health is also an investment in Black economic prosperity. Health influences the ability to work, lead, care for families, build wealth, and participate fully in our communities.
A future that centers Black women starts when we stop asking them to adapt to inequitable systems and start redesigning those systems with Black women in mind.
We’re grateful to Twanna Harris and the League of Industry Moms for their support of this conversation from the August 13 MOMENTUM Moment through the August 18 gathering, and to Temi F. Bennett and iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility for helping bring the August 18 conversation to life.
Three MOMENTUM Conversation Takeaways
1: The Call for Collective Advocacy: Women should not have to continually prove that their experiences deserve attention and quality care. Building trusted circles—across generations and among healthcare providers—creates space to share knowledge, ask better questions, seek additional opinions, and advocate more confidently for the care we need.
2: Impact of Political Landscape: Health does not exist in isolation. Black women’s reproductive health and bodily autonomy are connected to broader systems that shape access, opportunity, and how women are treated. Understanding that history helps us recognize why improving health outcomes requires looking beyond the doctor’s office.
3: The Reality of Menopause: Menopause is often treated as a singular event rather than a transition that can occur over decades. Medical professionals frequently lack adequate training on the subject, leading to women being dismissed or suffering in silence.
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