Conversation in Community with BlackFemaleProject
As soon as we learned of the regressive Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, we knew we had to act. We immediately began organizing our community for an open forum discussion.
On Tuesday, June 28, we opened the virtual room in the customary BlackFemaleProject manner: quick introductions, review of our norms, and a moment of gratitude. Founding board member, Ché Abram, then guided us in an open discussion. Women began weighing in to share their thoughts, reflections, and opinions.
About 25 women joined the conversation and spoke candidly and thoughtfully from a range of perspectives. We heard women express concerns about implications in the workplace and reflect on their experiences of gender dynamics, race dynamics, and the lack of allegiance with White women at work. Multiple women shared their own, deeply personal abortion stories, ranging from having an abortion without hesitation or regret to having an abortion and holding onto a persistent sense of guilt and shame. We also discussed: the right to women’s health services; women’s rights as human rights; DEI initiatives; voting rights; political office; activating our networks; feeling anxious, depressed, or numb; strategically donating money where women will be more severely impacted; and more.
BlackFemaleProject will continue holding space for Black women to express ourselves and reflect on our experiences in the company of others who can relate. We must understand the particulars of how systemic racism, sexism, and other strategies of oppression show up at work so that we can navigate with clarity and intention. Our collective processing continues to illuminate patterns across our workplace encounters. This big-picture thinking helps to depersonalize our experiences and remove the barriers that come along with thinking that there’s something wrong with us, rather than understanding that the system is set up to work against us. On this healing journey together, we’ll rise to higher levels of collective consciousness and wellness. We’re working toward a future where Black women will realize our wildest dreams and show up as our full selves without any negative consequence. We’re grateful to be working toward this future in conversation and in community, with you.
