2026 arrives with tremendous possibility.

While we face critical challenges to reproductive rights, racial justice, and human dignity, we know as well as you: progress has never come easy. It’s won through the fierce determination of those who refuse to back down.

To kick off the new year, we’re looking back on some of the world-changing events that inspire us to work toward our goal of an equitable and just world free of oppression.

January 1 – 31

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

This month demands more than awareness—it requires confronting uncomfortable truths about modern slavery in the United States. While January marks the official observance established in 2010, we’re seeing disturbing trends: mass detention facilities using forced labor, lawmakers voting against anti-trafficking protections, and systemic exploitation of vulnerable communities continuing unchecked.

Fifty million people worldwide are trapped in modern slavery, with forced labor and sex trafficking generating over $150 billion annually. And 20% of those are children. In the US, private prisons and detention centers exploit legal loopholes in the 13th Amendment to perpetuate state-sanctioned forced labor.

This isn’t just about awareness—it’s about dismantling systems that enable human trafficking in all its forms. Join us in supporting organizations fighting trafficking’s root causes through:

Need help or want to report trafficking? Contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888.

Thursday, January 1

Happy New Year!

Across the globe, communities are gathering: sharing meals, joining hands, marking fresh starts. Here’s to showing up. To resting when needed and rising when called. To choosing hope not because it’s easy, but because it’s how justice has always been won.

We at FUNKY BROWN CHICK honor how different cultures welcome their new years—each tradition a testament to human resilience and connection. Whether you’re joining city celebrations, hosting chosen family, or taking a quiet day of rest and intention-setting, you’re a part of a world of communities stepping boldly into 2026.

Saturday, January 3

International Mind-Body Wellness Day

Rest isn’t just self-care—it’s resistance. As The Nap Bishop, Tricia Hersey, reminds us: in a world that demands constant productivity, choosing rest is a radical act. This connection between mind and body runs deep in reproductive justice work, where burnout often threatens our most dedicated organizers.

Today, embrace what The Nap Ministry calls “rest as resistance.” Take that nap. Set boundaries. Maybe even check out the book “Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto” by Tricia Hersey herself! Listen to your body. Because wellness isn’t a luxury—it’s essential for sustaining our movements and communities.

Tuesday, January 6

White House Insurrection

Today marks five years since violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol. That assault on democracy ended in five deaths, multiple injuries, and deep national wounds. Now in 2026, as similar authoritarian threats rise, the stakes for reproductive rights and human dignity couldn’t be higher.

Time has shown what happens when democracy erodes: first comes voter suppression, then attacks on bodily autonomy. But movements for justice have always grown stronger under pressure. Our communities know how to resist, persist, and protect each other.

At FUNKY BROWN CHICK, we’re marking this somber day by recommitting to defending democracy through voter engagement and grassroots organizing. Because reproductive freedom can’t exist without democratic freedom.

Mildred And Richard Loving Plead Guilty To Being Married

On this day in 1959, Mildred Loving (a black woman) and Richard Loving (a white man) pled guilty to violating Virginia’s anti-miscegenation laws. The couple avoided a prison sentence by agreeing to leave their Virginia town for at least 25 years, eventually settling in Washington, D.C., where interracial marriage was already legalized. Their desire to simply visit their families in their hometown set up what would eventually become Loving v. Virginia (1967), the landmark Supreme Court case which ensured the legal recognition of interracial marriages throughout the United States. Learn more about the Lovings, their court battle, and the annual celebration of the Supreme Court decision on the Loving Day website.

The Lovings’ fight for marriage equality offers crucial lessons for today’s reproductive justice movement. Our “Three Acts of Justice” report examines how the reversal of Roe v. Wade puts decisions like this one at risk of being reversed as well. Download the full report to understand key parallels between their victory and current battles for bodily autonomy.

Saturday, January 10

National Woman’s Party picketers appear in front of the White House

On this day in 1917, twelve women from the National Women’s Party took their stand at the White House gates, launching what would become years of sustained protest. But this wasn’t just about women’s suffrage—it exposed deep fractures in US democracy that persist today.

While these protesters faced imprisonment and torture for demanding white women’s right to vote, they simultaneously upheld racial hierarchies by excluding Black women from their movement. This pattern continues: modern elections show the majority of white women consistently voting against reproductive freedom and multiracial democracy, even as women of color lead today’s fights for voting rights.

The Silent Sentinels remind us: resistance takes courage, but true progress demands we confront how white supremacy shapes even our movements for justice. For deeper insight, check out Patricia Hill Collins’ “Black Feminist Thought.”

Monday, January 19

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

Formally established in 1983 after 15 years of persistent advocacy, MLK Day calls us to more than remembrance. Today, as reproductive rights, voting access, and human dignity face renewed threats, Dr. King’s strategy of nonviolent resistance and his vision of the Beloved Community light our path forward.

Dr. King’s daughter Bernice reminds us: this convergence of days demands we “reflect on our leadership and the direction we are heading as a nation.” The question isn’t whether we’ll face challenges—it’s how we’ll rise to meet them, together.

Thursday, January 22

Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

On this day in 1973, Roe v. Wade established the constitutional right to abortion. Fifty-three years later, with Roe overturned, that victory might feel distant—but our report “Three Acts of Justice” shows how setbacks have always sparked innovation. The same creativity and determination that won Roe is alive today, from medication abortion networks to groundbreaking legal strategies.

The reproductive justice movement reminds us that rights won through struggle can be defended through struggle. As attacks intensify, communities are building power and protection far beyond what Roe imagined.

Saturday, January 24

International Day of Education

Today we recognize education’s power to liberate and transform. As a firm founded by an award-winning sexual health educator, we know firsthand that knowledge is a fundamental human right—especially when it comes to our bodies and reproductive choices.

Yet in 2026, comprehensive sex education faces unprecedented attacks. Only 39 states require any sex education at all, and less than half of those states mandate that it be medically accurate. In this landscape of misinformation and fear, education becomes an act of resistance.

Want to learn about FUNKY BROWN CHICK’s commitment to medically accurate, evidence-based sex education? Visit here to learn more!

Sunday, January 25

First National Conference on the Care of Dependent Children Held

On this day in 1909, the White House hosted its first Conference on Dependent Children, launching seven decades of national dialogue on child welfare. Today, with threats to eliminate early childhood education, slash food assistance, cut public education funding, weaken environmental protections, and limit healthcare access, we’re reminded that protecting children requires more than conferences—it demands action.

From the Southwest Key’s Immigrant Youth Shelters providing crisis support, to KIND ensuring unaccompanied children have legal representation, to Catholic Charities offering refugee services, community organizations are stepping up where the government steps back. They show what’s possible when we prioritize children’s wellbeing over politics.

Monday, January 26

Birth of Angela Davis

Named after this legendary activist, our founder, Twanna Angela Hines, draws inspiration from Angela Davis’s lifelong commitment to justice. Born in Birmingham in 1944, Davis’s journey from FBI’s “most wanted” list to renowned scholar shows how resistance creates lasting change. Her activism was shaped by the 1963 murder of four girls in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and her writings on abolition offer crucial insights for today’s struggles.

After facing 18 months of incarceration and eventual acquittal in 1972, Davis turned her persecution into power. Despite being dismissed from UCLA for her political views (with support from then-Governor Reagan), she went on to teach at multiple universities and author six groundbreaking books. As founder of Critical Resistance, she continues connecting reproductive rights to broader liberation movements, reminding us that true freedom requires dismantling all systems of oppression.

Want to explore Davis’s work? Check out her latest collection of essays and interviews, Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises Vol. 1!

Sen. Stacey Campfield Proclaims that “AIDS Can’t Be Transmitted Via Heterosexual Sex”

On this day in 2012, Senator Campfield spread dangerous lies about HIV transmission, claiming it couldn’t spread through heterosexual sex. Today, we’re reminded that fighting misinformation is as crucial as fighting the disease itself.

But history shows us the path forward. The activists documented in “How to Survive a Plague” demonstrated how combining scientific literacy, community organizing, and relentless advocacy led to lifesaving treatments. Thanks to their blueprint, HIV is no longer a death sentence—some patients are even considered functionally cured.

Wednesday, January 28

Iceland Becomes First Western Nation to Legalize Abortion (1935)

When Iceland legalized therapeutic abortion in 1935 (following Mexico and Poland’s earlier steps), it sparked a global movement. Over the past 30 years, more than 60 countries and territories have liberalized their abortion laws. And only four of those countries have rolled back the legality of abortion: United States, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Poland.

Iceland’s Law No. 38 recognized what most of the world now understands: reproductive healthcare, including abortion, is a fundamental right. Nearly 90 years later, as more countries expand abortion access, the United States’ regression isn’t just out of step with global progress–it’s out of touch with its own citizens.

January’s Message

These January milestones remind us: from Wyoming’s Nellie Tayloe Ross to Angela Davis, from Roe’s warriors to today’s reproductive justice leaders, movements for liberation have always faced fierce opposition—and found innovative ways to resist.

This month shows us both the shadows and the light: the darkness of deadly misinformation contrasted with the brilliance of HIV/AIDS activists who transformed tragedy into treatment. The violence of the January 6th insurrection alongside communities organizing to protect democracy. The cruelty of anti-abortion policies versus the creativity of those ensuring access.

At FUNKY BROWN CHICK, we know a more just world is possible because we’ve seen how determined communities make the impossible inevitable. Ready to join the fight? Visit our Impact page to learn how we help you write the next chapter of justice.