#OurBodiesAreBorders
Leader
Shemariah Arki
Location
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland , OH 44106
The Women of Color series is an initiative in the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women for all members of the CWRU community (student, staff, and faculty), regardless of gender, who are interested in advocating for intersectional feminism and equity for all women. Now in its third year, the series is dedicated to inclusion and advocacy for marginalized women who identify as women of color based on their race and/or ethnicity. The focus is on identifying way to learn and grow in our perspectives to ensure we are supporting a more inclusive gender equity movement. Within the series, an intergenerational mentoring circle engages those who identify as women of color. The circle helps them build a support network, navigate barriers to access, and build allies in their journey towards equity.
Within the series, an intergenerational mentoring circle exclusively engages those who identify as women of color. The circle helps members build a support network, navigate barriers to access, and build allies in their journey towards gender equity. In the sessions, individuals who identify as women of color discuss communication and the importance of camaraderie within an intersectional movement. Participants discuss how they can move from conversation to dialogue as well as ways to move from talk to action to equity. In addition, participants showcase stories of intersectional feminists and their self-care rituals. Topics such as mindfulness and meditation for women of color play an intricate role in helping participants establish our voices and appreciate our beauty, our voices, and our intelligence.
As an outcome, participants of the series worked together to establish the Family Equity Committee. This committee brings staff and faculty members who are committed to increasing access to alternative family building for employees who utilize CWRU health care plans. Through comparative research of similar AAU universities across the country, the committee has developed a series of recommendations for administration focused in three primary areas: assisted reproductive technology, adoption, and foster care support.
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Ellipsis Institute for WOC Annual Conference
Tuesday, March 26 - Mankiller: A Documentary and Discussion with Filmmaker Valerie Red-Horse Mohl
Tinkham Veale University
4 - 8:30pm
Wednesday, March 27 - Ellipsis Institute Symposium and Luncheon
Tinkham Veale University
8:30 - 4:30pm
By establishing intersectionality as a core feminist practice, the Ellipsis Institute for Women of Color in the Academy intentionally creates space for women of color students, staff and faculty as we build relationship across lines of difference in a unified pursuit of advocacy efforts for all women, in all roles. In plenaries and break out sessions, participants receive tools and resources to successfully produce advocacy actions on campus. The intention of Ellipsis Institute for Women of Color in the Academy is to provide connections and relationships that build a support network, navigate barriers to access and build allies in your journey towards gender equity.
This year's theme is Women of Color on the Line: Our Bodies Are Borders.
The border-induced trauma presented by today’s sociopolitical context disproportionately impacts communities of color from Cleveland to Palestine and everywhere in between through policies and practices most often known to us as gentrification, segregation, militarization, racist policing, refugee repression, and other forms of covert and overt violence.
Ironically, these “borders” are being used by those who possess the ability to systematically pillage and exploit indigenous and neo-indigenous communities with an overarching goal of supporting and fortifying the culture of whiteness.
And we already know the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.
In the academy, we are charged with DEI initiatives that encourage us to center the most marginalized in our praxis: educating students for a diverse world. By positioning the classroom as the place of radical transformation for women of color, our physical bodies serve as the primary medium to effectively enact our pedagogy. Thus, our performance of self emerges as an integral element in our collective liberation. Please join us as we actively use our bodies to transgress borders as tools for liberation.