Photographing Representation: Surge Reproductive Justice Hosts Third Annual Black Santa Celebration

Black joy and holiday spirit billowed through the Original Selfie Museum when Surge Reproductive Justice, a Black feminist reproductive justice organization, hosted its third annual Black Santa celebration earlier this month. Surge transformed the museum into a joyful community space centered on connection, representation, and festive activities intertwined with the organization’s dedication to systemic change.

Havika Fleming-Jones, an organizer at Surge, explained the philosophy behind hosting the annual Black Santa celebration. 

“We really value curating joy spaces. That is really one of our missions and one of our values is joy,” she said, emphasizing the importance of creating free and accessible environments for the Black community to decompress. “To counteract those systems, we create these spaces, these joy spaces for families to have fun... to be stress free.”

Connecting A Holiday Celebration to Systemic Change

While the event is tailored to the holiday season, its roots are deeply connected to Surge’s policy and advocacy work. The event began as a product of Surge’s Black Perinatal Health Campaign, which focuses on creating solutions to the Black maternal health crisis.

Jackie Vaughn, the Executive Director of Surge, explained the link between the Black Santa celebration and the organization’s mission. 

“A big part of our work at Surge is really using the principles of Black feminism. And when we think about Black feminism, we think about representation and how it is that we see ourselves in the work, in the world,” she said.

This year, the event expanded to represent the full scope of the organization’s efforts, including work with doulas, and focusing on how queer and trans people of color interact with the healthcare system. 

Organizer at Surge Mariah Ashley-Emerson explained the importance of making the organization’s values accessible to underrepresented groups.  

“We’re really big on the movement being fun and enjoyable. We go through a lot as Black folks, as queer folks, as trans folks,” she said. “And every time that we’re doing this work, it’s important to center our own pleasure, our own joy as motivation to get through this movement.”

Centering The Community’s Vision 

This year’s Black Santa celebration was designed to be an interactive experience. Families enjoyed free food from Al’s Gourmet Sausages, hot cocoa, DJ LiLi, a Black book giveaway, and Santa photos.

Additionally, Surge created “activation stations,” which engaged community members in policy visioning with powerful prompts and questions. Senait Brown, Surge’s policy director, explained the intent. 

“The activation stations are for us to envision in this little bit of time that we’re spending together…what health and wellness means to us so that we can have a collective platform to move forward with in the next coming years,” she said. 

For the organizers and attendees, the Black Santa celebration served as a powerful reminder of community strength and resilience. Vaughn reflected on the day with pride. 

“For me, this just gives me so much hope, and it gives me a constant reminder that when we come together, we can create our own spaces of joy,” she said. “No matter what’s happening in the world…we’ve been resilient for 500 plus years.”

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