Ain’t I an Organizer? How Women of Color are Central to the Future of Feminist Activism
Session Type(s): Panel
Starts: Saturday, Jul. 19 1:30 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Saturday, Jul. 19 2:45 PM (Eastern)
Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw over 15 years ago, the term “intersectionality” has become a mainstay in discussions of successful feminist activism. Yet many publications, campaigns, and organizations still struggle to incorporate a feminist lens in their work, let alone center women of color in their gender analysis and activism. What does a truly cohesive, progressive, and anti-racist movement for gender equality look like in 2014? How can we create a broad-based progressive movement that centers the experiences of women of color and galvanizes the base successfully? Panelists will explore the concept of an intersectional approach to gender and identity by relaying stories and data from their own political organizing work in a range of fields including education, media, health, and wellness.
Moderator
Samhita Mukhopadhyay
Samhita Mukhopadhyay is the Senior Editorial Director of Culture and Identities at Mic. She is the former Executive Editor of award-winning blog Feministing.com and the author of Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Guardian, NY Magazine, Medium, Talking Points Memo and Jezebel. She is also veteran digital strategist and has led the strategy for many social justice campaigns. She is deeply passionate about feminism, entrepreneurship, technology, existential dating dilemmas and racial justice.
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Panelists
Lori Adelman
Lori Adelman is the Director of Global Communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and xecutive Director at Feministing.com. A writer and advocate focusing on race, gender, and sexual and reproductive rights, Lori has previously worked at the United Nations Foundation, the International Women’s Health Coalition, and Human Rights Watch. In 2014, she was named to The Root 100 list of the nation’s most influential African Americans, and to the Forbes Magazine list of the “30 Under 30” successful people in media. Follow her on Twitter: @Ladelman.
Ileana Jimenez
For seventeen years, Ileana Jiménez has been a leader in social justice education. In an effort to inspire teachers to bring women’s, queer, and ethnic studies to schools, she launched her blog, Feminist Teacher, in 2009. She is the founder of the #HSfeminism hashtag. Ileana travels nationally and globally launching a movement to bring feminist, anti-racist, and queer issues to schools. In 2010, she was named one of the 30 Women Making History by the Women’s Media Center and one of the 40 Feminists Under 40 by the Feminist Press. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Distinguished Fulbright Award. In 2012, she appeared on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show. She has written for Feministing, Gender Across Borders, the Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine, On the Issues, and the Women’s Media Center. She received her B.A. in English Literature at Smith College, and an M.A. in English Literature at Middlebury.
Salamishah Tillet
Salamishah Tillet is feminist activist, scholar, and writer. She is the co-founder of A Long Walk Home, a Chicago-based national organization that uses art to empower young people to end violence against girls and women. She blogs for The Nation, has appeared on Al-Jazeera America, BBC, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, has written for The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, and The Root. She is an associate professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, author of “Sites of Slavery: Citizenship and Racial Democracy in the Post-Civil Rights Imagination” (Duke University Press, 2012) and “Gloria Steinem: The Kindle Singles Interview” (Amazon, 2013), and is currently working on a book on Nina Simone.
Jamia Wilson
Jamia Wilson is a feminist media activist and storyteller. Wilson is the executive director of Women, Action & the Media, and a staff writer at Rookie Magazine. Her words and works have been featured in and on ABC, Alternet, CBS News, Forbes.com, Fox.com, GOOD Magazine, New York Magazine, GRIT TV, In These Times, Ms. Magazine, The Today Show, The Washington Post, Huff Po Live, The New York Times and more. Jamia serves on the Omega Institute, Groundswell Fund, and Feminist.com Boards of Directors.