Black Woman Freedom Week Seeks to Amplify Underrepresented Voices – Non Revenue Information

On February 12, the fourth annual Black Woman Freedom Week begins. The week of digital occasions hosted by the #1Billion4BlackGirls marketing campaign and the Black Woman Freedom Fund are all a part of efforts to deal with the underinvestment in Black ladies and gender-expansive youth by deliberately mobilizing a $1 billion funding in these teams by 2030.

Intentionally scheduled to coincide with each Black Historical past Month and the birthdays of Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison, the week of occasions is described by organizers as “a celebration of the goals, energy, and management of Black ladies, femmes, and gender-expansive youth.” Because the annual occasion started, it has garnered important curiosity, with celebrities, activists, and influencers collaborating within the week and amplifying the efforts across the marketing campaign.

“[This is] a possibility to find conversations about Black ladies and gender-expansive youth in broader conversations about justice, democracy, and Black liberation.”

This 12 months’s theme is “Exploring a Way forward for Justice and Democracy.” Amongst those that will probably be collaborating on this 12 months’s occasions is Donna Edwards, the primary Black girl elected to characterize Maryland within the US Congress; Jessica Norwood, a monetary innovator, artist, and entrepreneur; and Fatima Goss Graves, a cofounder of the #1Billion4BlackGirls marketing campaign and the cofounder and president of the Nationwide Girls’s Legislation Heart.

With the upcoming election cycle, organizers selected this 12 months’s theme to amplify the function that Black ladies and gender-expansive youth play in defending, upholding, and advancing democracy.

“What we needed to do right here was present a possibility to find conversations about Black ladies and gender-expansive youth in broader conversations about justice, democracy, and Black liberation,” stated Monique Couvson, creator and social justice scholar, in an interview with NPQ.

Recentering the Dialog

“Black ladies and gender-expansive youth are uniquely positioned in society to assist us add rigor to…our understanding of what’s doable in a democratic neighborhood…in a democratic future.”

Couvson obtained vital approval for her 2016 guide, Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Women in Colleges, which exposes the insurance policies and practices that push Black ladies out of the schooling system and into the school-to-prison pipeline. Because the President and CEO of Grantmakers for Women of Colour, Couvson oversees the Black Woman Freedom Fund—one of many group’s 4 signature funds. She can be one of many eight Black ladies and femme leaders who joined forces to launch the #1Billion4BlackGirls marketing campaign on September 15, 2020.

Couvson famous that all through the week, there will probably be a give attention to points impacting Black ladies and ladies immediately—like reproductive justice, affirmative motion in colleges, and civic engagement. Couvson went on to share {that a} aim of Black Woman Freedom Week is for Black ladies and gender-expansive youth to be centered in conversations about what’s impacting them by means of public coverage fairly than handled as an afterthought.

“Black ladies and gender-expansive youth are uniquely positioned in society to assist us add rigor to our justice evaluation or to assist us add rigor to our understanding of what’s doable in a democratic neighborhood…in a democratic future,” Couvson stated.

Along with Couvson and Graves, different founders of the #1BilliionforBlackGirls marketing campaign embrace LaTosha Brown, the cofounder of Black Voters Matter and Southern Black Women and Girls’s Consortium; Tarana Burke, the founding father of the #MeToo motion; Joanne Smith, the founding president and CEO of Women for Gender Fairness; Dr. Salamishah Tillet and Scheherazade Tillet, the cofounders of A Lengthy Stroll Residence; and Teresa Youthful, the current and CEO of the Ms. Basis for Girls.

“We supposed to make seen the work that goes underrecognized, undertheorized, and undervalued.”

The work of those leaders is essential. As Couvson shared, Black ladies make up 7 p.c of the US inhabitants. In 2018, they obtained solely about one-half of 1 p.c of philanthropic investments, based on the Ms. Basis for Girls. However the marketing campaign has accomplished important work to alleviate this disparity.

“Because the time that we’ve launched each the Black Woman Freedom Fund and the #1Billion4BlackGirls marketing campaign, we’ve awarded over $9.2 million to 147 organizations throughout the nation. Within the first half of 2023 alone, we awarded over $1.3 million,” Couvson stated.

Not solely does Black Woman Freedom Week give Black ladies and gender-expansive youth one thing to sit up for annually, but it surely additionally offers them with a method to proceed to hone their management expertise. Youth between the ages of 14 and 22 are immediately concerned in making closing selections on grants.

The week of occasions amplifies the brilliance and engagement of younger folks. It additionally offers a possibility for organizations to be taught extra in regards to the leaders they search to help. The work being accomplished to amplify Black ladies and gender-expansive youth takes place year-round—every week is a mobilization instrument and a possibility for engagement with the broader neighborhood round this work.

“What I believe has been probably the most great has been the truth that we supposed to make seen the work that goes underrecognized, undertheorized, and undervalued, which is the work led by and for Black ladies and gender-expansive youth,” Couvson stated. “It has all the time made this a venture that’s rooted in our pursuits in bringing in as many individuals as doable.”