Where Are They Now?: Brooke Huguley 17F Extends Work on Reproductive Injustices Begun as a Student

When we spoke with Huguley in 2021, she had completed her Div III, a thesis and film examining global reproductive justice and embodied movement, and was considering graduate school. Now, she took some time out of her extremely full schedule to let us know how far she’s come in just five years.

How did Hampshire help prepare you for life after graduation?

Hampshire’s interdisciplinary curriculum supported me in approaching my passions through an intersectional lens, enabling them to meaningfully intersect and inform one another. While at the College, I studied embodiment, focusing specifically on strategies for Black women to cultivate empowerment in the face of reproductive violence. I spent significant time in the dance program/building experimenting with ideas and engaging in research through my body. That embodied, interdisciplinary foundation continues to shape how I approach research on related issues today.

What are you up to these days?

I’m currently earning my master’s degree at Brandeis University in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and anthropology while living in the greater Boston area. I also work full time for Collective Power for Reproductive Justice, planning our upcoming annual reproductive justice conference and helping lead on-campus programming across the Five Colleges in western Massachusetts.

How did you get from Hampshire to where you are now?

I’ve grown tremendously since 2021, investing in both my organizing work and professional development. After graduating, I worked at Hampshire for a year as the dance program coordinator and Music and Dance Building manager. I then began working with Collective Power for Reproductive Justice, for which I’ve been organizing its annual conference ever since. Through this work, I’ve strengthened my political education and led organizing efforts advancing bodily autonomy for those most impacted by reproductive injustice.

Hampshire’s interdisciplinary curriculum supported me in approaching my passions through an intersectional lens, enabling them to meaningfully intersect and inform one another.

What have you figured out, and what are you still learning?

I’ve learned that not taking life too seriously is essential, especially in this moment. My work and my passion for studying reproductive injustices are personal and rooted in my ancestors’ experiences. I try to honor them by cultivating joy in my life and in my research whenever possible. I’m still learning how to hold both — rigorous political commitment and lightness — at the same time.

What are you most proud of?

Being admitted to Brandeis University and being awarded the Sagan Grant for Graduate Research in support of my summer project. My research examines the reproductive injustices experienced by Black women and gender-expansive people in the state of Texas, with particular attention to medical racism during pregnancy, birth, and abortion care. 

I approach this work through a reproductive justice framework and am committed to cultivating liberatory, solutions-oriented approaches that move beyond documentation of harm toward transformative change.

I also copublished an academic book review with Mount Holyoke College Professor Pam Stone on the reproductive injustices Black women face, engaging with the book Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth, by Dána-Ain Davis.