Decades of work by Black women led us to this moment.
For hundreds of years Black women have held this country down while lifting us all up.
Black women have inspired us and repeatedly challenged the status quo. Black women have built culture, cultivated hope, and held the vision of what we could be.
Black women have stayed committed to the unsexy but necessary work of organizing, teaching, and training. Black women remain in the fight after other folks have left. We understand that real change takes time, takes coalition building –it is Black women who have taught us that we do nothing without making space for race, class, gender, and disability.
Black women have taught us that we do nothing alone, that we can and must build systems of care and reciprocity. Black women show us that we can always access joy even while fighting the systems designed to break us. That we are not just fighting to survive but we are fighting to get free.
On Sunday July 21st, hours after President Biden announced he won’t seek re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris more than 40,000 Black women mobilized and joined an organizing call. The call was hosted by Win with Black Women, a group formed in 2020 that has met most Sunday nights during the last four years.
Win with Black Women didn’t have to get ready, they STAYED ready.
Every affinity group space that met this last week acknowledged they would not be gathering together if not for the example of Win with Black Women.
Today, I think about how these decades of work, and in particular the last ten years have landed us in this moment. How in 2013, three Black organizers, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—created #BlackLivesMatter, a political-movement-building project in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman. I think of all the Black people and children who have lost their lives to state violence and anti-Blackness before that and since. I think about how ten years ago white people would be visibly upset and even leave a room when I talked about “white supremacy” because what they heard was “white supremacist.”
And now, over the last week, I’ve watched hundreds of thousands of white folks join affinity spaces owning their racialized identity with the desire to work in support of Black women. I’ve also witnessed the solidarity and support extended by the Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian communities, who have rallied in support of Vice President Harris.
It took us decades to get here.
As this election progresses, we can not lose sight of how we got here. We must acknowledge, center, celebrate and protect Black women.
This is the work—staying ready, mobilizing our communities, and showing up repeatedly and consistently. When other folks follow our lead, we win.
We get free together!
PS: I’m facilitating a session in September for managers and leaders to navigate the evolving currents of DEI and racial equity work in organizations. Learn more about it here.