On March 29, 2011, Texas-based LifeAlways started to erect billboards in twenty-nine locations in African American communities on Chicago’s south and west sides. These billboard state “Every 21 minutes, our next potential leader is aborted.” Adding insult to injury, the billboards feature a picture of President Barack Obama. Similar billboards targeting Black women have gone up in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and St. Louis—almost always in predominantly African American communities.

Listen in to this “Speak Out” responding to the billboard installations, cosponsored by Affinity Community Services and organized by Black Women for Reproductive Justice and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Advisory Council on Women.

Recorded Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at Jackson Park.