Women of Color Beyond Belief convention 2022

The third Women of Color Beyond Belief conference took place in Chicago over the weekend of Sept. 30–Oct. 2. FFRF, the biggest co-sponsor, salutes the Women of Color Beyond Belief Dream Team: Co-organizers Bria Crutchfield and Sikivu Hutchinson and emcees Tina Marshall, Charone Padgett and Mandisa Thomas.

FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor, left, and Dan Barker, right, are pictured with Mandisa Thomas. Some of the discussions at the Women of Color conference included “Reproductive Justice: How Do We Fight after the SCOTUS Decision?,” “Taking Care of our Mental Health: Solutions to Healing from Trauma,” “Death, Dying and Disbelief,” and “BIPOC Gen Z Secular Activists: The Future Speakers.” Charis Hoard, not pictured, who was FFRF’s strategic response intern for two years and has since graduated with a Master’s degree and has now taken a prestigious research job, spoke remotely at work workshops during the Women of Color Beyond Belief conference.

Belen Padilla, a pre-med student who is first in her family to go to college, was a speaker at the conference, where she recounted the challenges of graduating from an underfunded Nevada high school serving many Mexican-Americans that didn’t even offer chemistry or calculus. Last year she was one of the winners of the jointly sponsored tuition scholarship through Black Skeptics LA and FFRF’s Forward Freethought Tuition Relief Fund, endowed by FFRF member Lance Bredvold.

Speaker Karina Quintanilla made history in Palm Desert, Calif., in 2020, by becoming the first Latina and youngest woman ever elected to the city council. As part of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE), she and fellow participants lobbied state senators to pass Senate Bill 4, Health for All, bringing accessible health care to all Californians.

As a clinic escort in North Carolina, Tina Marshall tells besieged patients: “Hold your heads up. Do what you need to do for you. You’re not doing anything wrong.” Tina, who served as an emcee at the Women of Color Beyond Belief conference, is lead organizer for Black Nonbelievers of Charlotte. She’s also the founder of the Black Abortion Defense League.

Volunteers participated in the “Secure the Bag” service project, which helped feed hundreds of individuals.

Women of Color Beyond Belief convention 2022

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