“Black Women in the Prism . . . Unleashing the Power, Fury in the Light”

About

“Black Women in the Prism . . . Unleashing the Power, Fury in the Light”

A Series of LIVE Radio Forums provided by TruthWorks Network

Our Broadcast Partner – The Black Women’s Blueprint

Amplifying the voices of Black women in politics and the Black political agenda. Examining economic equality is the unfinished business of the civil rights struggle; raising the issues of racialized and sexualized criminal justice violence that affect our Sisters. Working to end the invisibility and devaluation of Black women and girls in public spheres, in our homes and in our community. Evaluating our relationships and transforming the way we love each other.

Series BROADCAST SCHEDULE

November 5, 2012 Voter Suppression and Black Women as Voters

November13, 2012 Tamura A. Lomax, Editor, THE FEMINIST WIRE

TBA OUR MOTHERS, OURSELVES with Dr. Christine Thorpe

December 20, 2012 A Black Women’s Political Agenda

Black Women in the Prism Agenda

Black Women Challenges in Public Policy
Understanding Feminism in the Black Community
Family Familial Relationships
Relationship to Community Development and Advocacy
Reproductive Rights and Demands
Black Women’s Political Power
Career and Work Issues
Black Women and Activism
Black Women and Mass Incarceration
Black Women and the Prison Industrial Complex
Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Assault
Reinventing What We Call Respect for Black women
Black Women and Sexual Identity
The Black Lesbian Community
Black Women’s Health and Well-Being

November 5, 2012 8 pm ET

Voter Suppression and Black Women as Voters

This episode of “Black Women in the Prism . . . “ is hosted by Janeen Mantin and Shaunee Morgan of Black Women’s Blueprint

This program will discuss voter suppression and Black female voters through a historical and current lens. Join us while we explore voter suppression as Black female voters who have historically been removed from the voting booth.

The presidential debates are alive and well and with only several days to go, the political fate of the United States for the next four years will soon be decided, but by who? According to the American Civil Liberties Union, voting rights are under attack lessening the access of African-Americans, the elderly, students and people with disabilities. This country has passed voter suppression laws nationwide through state legislatures under the guise of preventing voter fraud and safeguarding election integrity. These voter suppression laws take many forms and are strategies for a political party to reduce voters that are unlikely to vote for their presidential candidate all at the cost of removing the constitutional and human rights for citizens to vote.

What does voter suppression mean for targeted communities who are losing their rights to choose a president that best reflects their political and personal lives? What does voter suppression mean for Black women who in this country were excluded from the women’s suffrage movement because of their race and the civil rights movement because of their gender who still had trouble in many southern states to vote until the 1960s, yet continued to fight for their civil and human rights to simply vote for a candidate that best reflected their needs? What does voter suppression mean for Black women who have been incarcerated and in 2009 represent 32.6 percent of the incarcerated female population that increased 850 percent in the past 30 years (Women’s Prison Association)? How does the insidious and strategic removal of their right to vote, reflect their right to choose a better social and political world?

In 2008, Black women were often told to choose between their gender and their race yet they have historically not been allowed to vote because of their gender and race. Black women’s multi-dynamic lives are often removed from the voting experience and we must remind ourselves that in this current political state between Romney and Obama, Black women as a group are not sure on whom to vote for especially around the issues of gay and abortion rights. Therefore, we must consider that as Black women we were never supposed to vote and that the right to vote was won through extreme struggle and exploitation. Whomever we may vote for this upcoming election, we must uphold the rights of all of us despite our political differences because our human rights declare that all of us should choose a presidential candidate that fits our needs and desires and that no political parties have the right to exploit any of us.

ABOUT OUR HOSTS

Shaunee Morgan is a current legal writer whose career combines political activism and transnational feminism. Shaunee spent two years as a community organizer in Eastern North Carolina working to expand public financing programs, improve civic engagement, and combat unfair and racially-motivated photo ID laws and redistricting plans. Most recently, Shaunee worked as a community development volunteer with women in rural Northern Ecuador who used small loans to start a restaurant. Shaunee received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and her Masters degree in Social Work/Social Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Janeen Mantin is a founding board member and tthe current cultural competency and education coordinator at Black Women’s Blueprint, INC

OUR MOTHERS, OURSELVES TBA

Hosted by Janice Graham, host, OUR COMMON GROUND, in a discussion with Dr. Christine W. Thorpe.

Dr. Thorpe is the Chairperson, Human Services Department New York City College of Technology, CUNYBrooklyn, N.Y.

She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Syracuse University and a doctorate in health education and master’s in international educational development from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also an assistant professor, teaching undergraduate courses as child welfare, women’s health issues, HIV/AIDS counseling, community health, and child and adolescent health.

November 13, 2012

Tamura A. Lomax, Editor, THE FEMINIST WIRE

The Feminist Wire is to provide socio-political and cultural critique of anti-feminist, anti-racist and anti-imperialist politics pervasive in all forms and spaces of private and public lives of individuals globally. Of particular critical interest to us are social and political phenomena that block, negate, or limit the satisfaction of goods or ends that humans, especially the most vulnerable, minimally require for living free of structural violence. The Feminist Wire seeks to valorize and sustain pro-feminist representations and create alternative frameworks to build a just and equitable society.

DECEMBER 20, 2012 10 pm ET

A Black Women’s Political Agenda

Hosted by Black Women’s Blueprint

Join us with Black Women’s Blueprint as our special guest host of this urgent dialogue on TruthWorks Network on October 30th and December 20th, 10 pm where the discussion voter suppression and Black women as voters.

About Black Women’s Blueprint

Black Women’s Blueprint, Inc. is a civil and human rights organization of women and men. Our purpose is to take action to secure social, political and economic equality in American society now. We work to develop a culture where women of African descent are fully empowered and where gender, race and other disparities are erased. We engage in progressive research, historical documentation, support movement building and organize on social justice issues steeped in the struggles of Black women within their communities and within dominant culture.

An organization committed to amplifying the voices of women of African descent in all their diversity, Black Women’s Blueprint provides the personal and political spaces as well as the resources needed for women to engage in intersectional advocacy at the grassroots and societal level.

The program will be a TruthWorks LIVE and Call-In Broadcast.