Our Mission
Breakthrough is a global human rights organization driving the culture change we need to build a world in which all people live with dignity, equality, and respect. We do this using a potent mix of media, arts, and tech with an intersectional feminist approach.
Current projects
Breakthrough News and Updates
A Moment to Rejoice – And a Reminder of What’s Possible
The entire team at Breakthrough is ecstatic at the news that seven-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner has finally been released from her unjust imprisonment in Russia. After nearly a year of being detained under unimaginably harsh conditions thousands of miles away from her wife, family, friends, teammates and community, Brittney is at last being reunited…
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Black Women Are Tired Of Being The Mule Of America
As Black women, we often find ourselves in situations where we are forced to hold our identities and lived experiences at the intersections of oppression and marginalization. We tend to live — depending on where we as individuals plot on the axis of privilege — from the perspective of our places of dis-privilege. Recently, I…
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Beyonce, Lizzo Set New Standard for Fixing Ableist Lyrics
“When you know what it feels like to be harmed, and you have a platform and you take responsibility and you immediately get to work on righting the wrong, you not only are doing your work, but hopefully continuing to set an example,” said Nakisha Lewis, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Breakthrough, a…
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Defend Black Women March to Honor Lives Taken by Gender-Based Violence
The self-proclaimed Black feminists in charge of assembling the second annual gathering come from various backgrounds. Trinice McNally, Creator & Creative Director of The Defend Black Women March and the I Support Black Women Campaign hails from London, England by way of Jamaica as a grandchild of the Windrush generation. Jaimee Swift, the Executive Director…
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The Woman Behind The Magic: Free Black Women’s Library Founder OlaRonke Akinmowo
In 2015, with only 100 books in tow and a brownstone stoop, Brooklyn, New York-based artist, set decorator, cultural worker and single mom OlaRonke Akinmowo launched The Free Black Women’s Library. Since then it has grown into a social art project that celebrates the brilliance, creativity, and diversity of Black women writers from all over…
Read MoreBrittney Griner’s Detention Shines Light On Pay Inequity In Professional Sports
Since February 2022, seven-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner, a current player with the Phoenix Mercury, has been detained in Russia due to the alleged presence of vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. After more than 148 days in Russian detention, Brittney’s trial finally began on July 7, 2022, and while we wait for…
Read MoreA Tale of Two Traffic Stops in the United States
Today the Organization Issued the Following Statement from President and CEO Nakisha M. Lewis: On June 27, 2022, a young Black man named Jayland Walker was murdered by police officers in Akron, OH. Walker, who was unarmed, was shot at over 90 times, with at least 60 bullets striking his body, ultimately causing him to…
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Statement on the Strikedown of Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022
Today the Organization Issued the Following Statement from President and CEO Nakisha M. Lewis: Today the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which has effectively struck down the half-century-old decision of Roe v. Wade, taking away the right of birthing people to privacy and access to an abortion. While…
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