Women Celebrate Their Historic Impact on Black Agenda
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By Hazel Trice Edney
WASHINGTON (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Nearly every major civil rights organization in the nation is headed by a man.
Yet, a luncheon in commemoration of Women’s History Month and the 184th anniversary of the founding of the Black Press drew nearly 200 people to a luncheon at the National Press Club March 16 to hear a panel of leading women discuss their work for the progress of African-Americans.
“Remember those who have come before us and allow that to motivate us to do even more and to build on what they did,” Dr. E. Faye Williams, chair of the National Congress of Black Women, implored the audience. “Our dear sister Dr. Dorothy Height said, ‘We Black women don’t always do what we want to do, but we do what we have to do.’ At the top of that agenda is service to our community and service to our people,” she said to applause.
Joblessness, civil rights, better self-care, voices from the youth, the 2012 election and maternal death rates were among the topics included in the presentations that focused on issues dealt with weekly in the Black Press.
The event, themed “Breaking Barriers to Empower”, was organized by Trice Edney Communications and News Wire, and financially sponsored by Wells Fargo and Sam’s Club. The atmosphere, charged with passion, resulted in a string of ideas from the panelists who listed what their organizations are doing to close a variety of disparities in the African-American community.
“Obama wants to lead the world in educational attainment. You can’t do it without HBCUs,” said Dr. Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for Women. “If you didn’t have us you’d have to invent us.”
An economist, Malveaux worked the numbers, pointing to the fact that “In 30 years we have not increased our ability to deliver educational services” and that, educationally, countries like Ireland, South Korea and Spain are doing better than the U. S. “We must do better about investment in education,” she said.
The fiery Malveaux also expressed the need to press past the unemployment crisis in which she said the 15.3 percent unemployment rate for African-Americans is really more than 30 percent when counting those who have been unemployed so long that they are no longer counted by government systems.
“We have to have a grassroots movement around employment,” said Malveaux. She also pointed to the need for youth voices to be heard on crucial issues. “We don’t hear them, they don’t feel honored they don’t feel lifted up. They have something to say.”
In the audience were two tables of middle and high school students from D.C.’s Maya Angelou Public Charter schools. The students remained engaged and applauded often during the presentations as some speakers directly encouraged them.
African-Americans aren’t the only Blacks being hits with racial disparities. Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said many of the issues being suffered by African-Americans are being suffered by Blacks around the world. She reminded the audience that 2011 has been proclaimed as the “International Year of People of African Decent” by the United Nations.
“We have the same struggles economically, the same struggles with stereotyping and criminalization and so many other economic battles. It’s so important to recognize that we’re all linked and we must be very aware of that,” Arnwine said.
Exacerbating the unemployment rate among Blacks, she said, is the misuse of barriers to block people from employment such as using their bad credit histories against them and misusing arrest records and criminal histories. She said the Lawyers’ Committee has been focused on those barriers and is even prepared to litigate where necessary to end the employment discrimination.
Five women were invited as panelists because of their leadership of organizations that deal heavily with Black issues.
Rita Henley Jensen, founder and editor-in-chief of Women’s eNews, has become a leading advocate for Black women and maternal health. On the day of the luncheon, her news service released the first of a series of stories on mysteriously disparate pregnancy-related deaths of Black women.
“African-American women die in the United States two to four times more often than Whites during labor and delivery,” she told the audience. In New York, where her news service is based, Jensen said Black women die eight times more often than White women.
Jensen said she has yet to find a medical expert who knows the specific reason for the disparate deaths.
“I was told by a very prominent organization based here in Washington and I was told we just don’t know and it turns out that nobody knows at this current time In New York City,” Jensen said. Women’s eNews will continue to deal with the issue through the series that is sponsored by the Kellogg Foundation and also being run on the Trice Edney News Wire. “We’re pushing the envelope,” she said.
The health of Black women was a recurring theme during the panel discussion as Williams said African-Americans – continually struggling amidst an oppressive society - must learn how to rest.
“We need to get Michelle to teach us how to take vacations,” she said, drawing chuckles from the audience as she referred to vacations taken by First Lady Michelle Obama. She said the National Congress of Black Women continues to lead in maintaining the image of Black women – the legacy of its last chairwoman, Dr. C. Delores Tucker.
She also said youth development is a priority for the Congress. She specifically mentioned the organization’s College for Kids, which shows 9-12 year-olds college campuses and the Young Ambassadors program which teaches human relations skills to teens 13 and older.
“It Allows us to be in touch with young people all across the country to help them learn to be ambassadors, learn to be diplomatic, learn to solve their problems and their conflicts in ways that are progressive and ways that are good for all of them.”
Among all of the women, the 2012 election was a priority. Each head non-partisan groups; therefore do not endorse candidates but are strong advocates for voter education.
Melanie Campbell, president/CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, specializes in voter education and get-out-to-vote efforts, including Black Youth Vote, a staple NCBCP program, and a new effort, Women’s Power Summits, being held around the country.
“At the end of the day, we’re just working. Our folks need us to keep working, agitating,” she said. “We’re standing on each other’s shoulders.”
She reminded the audience that although organizations are obligated to train up the youth, everyone of all ages have a part to play.
“Your organizers are not tomorrow. Your organizers are right here today,” Campbell said. “We need young people to hit the streets now. We have to hit the streets now. It’s about organizing, working and living with purpose.”