A Letter from Rev. Iya Latishia James, Executive Director of SACReD
Dear SACReD Community,
For the last six months, as I stepped into serving as SACReD’s solo executive director, I have been deep in reflection about what it means to lead through a time of rising fascism. Every day, we wake up to new ways in which the institutions meant to protect, provide for, and prioritize the flourishing of our communities instead cause irreparable harm.
Whether it be through the systematic gutting of voting rights, the relentless efforts to control the bodily autonomy of all of us, or the supremacist-level uplifting of certain religious ideologies over others, the message is clear. We are being forced to operate within the imagination of a white Christian supremacist heteropatriarchy under late-stage capitalism—a system that truly only benefits a handful of people while disenfranchising the majority. Our current system, and political leadership is beholden to the greed of a powerful minority, rather than being invested in the thriving of the collective.
The last six months have taught me that for alternative systems to be successful, they must be guided by clear blueprints and liberative visions. We cannot simply function in opposition to what we no longer want and what is destroying us. When we over-fixate on the “anti,” we inevitably duplicate the very systems we despise because they are all we know.
Yes, the constant attacks on reproductive freedom, transgender and queer individuals, and Black, brown and other marginalized bodies often leave little space for dreaming. We are frequently kept on the defensive, fighting against a world we cannot survive under, rather than building the world we deserve. But in order to create true change we must commit ourselves to the 100 year vision that is built on life-giving values and principles.
This month SACReD celebrates our 4th anniversary with 501(c)3 status through our fiscal sponsor, an anniversary we share with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, via the Dobbs decision.
At SACReD, our small but mighty team chooses to orient itself around a vision of thriving, and we hold the complexity that we can mold what we’ve lost into something even better than there was before. We believe in a vision where Reproductive Justice is our lived reality.
We hold onto the hope that this world will come to fruition, whether in our lifetimes or not. But we can see it, feel it, smell it and hear it. And because we can. We are able to put our hands and our minds and our hearts and our bodies together to help co-create it. We invite you to dream this world forward with us.
Hope is a discipline, and believing another world is possible is a profound act of faith. To those who have been with us from the start, and those who recently joined us through our latest campaigns—whether you saw our ads, heard us on a podcast, or engaged with our collaborators online—please know that you are part of this journey. Each time you share the gospel of Reproductive Justice, defend a clinic, or support a neighbor, you are practicing shared leadership with me.
For your faith, your labor, and your partnership in this vision, I am deeply grateful.
As we look toward the future here are some the ways we have recommitted and reoriented in the last six months:
At the end of 2025 we completed a in-depth planning process that produced a three-year Strategic Plan. We are excited to share our three programmatic priorities and the ways we are bringing them to life.
- Develop SACReD’s Narrative Strategy: Position and own SACReD’s moral authority and counter White Christian Nationalist messaging to support both secular and faith-based reproductive justice organizing.
- This spring we completed our first Narrative Change campaign. Thousands joined SACReD call to build a world of Reproductive Justice as a matter of faith.
- Develop SACReD’s Antiracist Faith-Based Community Organizing Model: Establish an anti-racist, faith-based organizing model to build a base of faith-based leaders organizing in solidarity with Black, +Indigenous, and People of Color communities for Reproductive Justice.
- This month SACReD’s first Director of Organizing, Rev. BT Paschall, joined our staff! You will hear more from them next month.
- Majority-Power Building and Cross-Sector Coalitions: Work across organizing and movement spaces to position SACReD as a convener at the intersection of secular and faith-based Reproductive Justice organizing.
- We’re busy planning for the 2027 SACReD Gathering: Acts of Faith. We can’t wait to see you April 5-7 in Cincinnati, OH.
In Faith,
Latishia James
Executive Director, SACReD
