I'll be reporting live from REC Hall's Black History Month event on womanism and intersectional feminism. The event is titled Fem(me) Talk and is hosted in part with CUSA. Join me live at 7 P.M. from Carleton University!
The event is set to start shortly. About 30 students are in attendance thus far sitting around and waiting for the discussion to start.
Students in attendance are currently engaging in discussion about self-love.
CUSA Womyn's Centre co-ordinator Deborah Owusu-Akyeeah is moderating the discussion this evening.
Owusu-Akyeeah said this event aims to redefine womanism and discuss something more than feminism. She also referred to the event as a celebration of black "herstory."
The event begins by acknowledging the unceded Algonquin territory it is set on.
"[Unceded Algonquin territory] is really interesting to think about because is essentially one of the basic breaches of consent. We should think about the ways our consent is breached and how its breached everyday." Owusu-Akyeeah said.
Owusu-Akyeeah said Femme talks are here for students to talk about feminist issues. Acknowledges Alice Walker and her coining of the term "womanism."
"I decided to do this talk as a silent protest," she said. "Working in close proximity to white feminists is really interesting because they don't understand race aggression." She added the term womanism is meant to be reserved for struggles women of colour go through.
Moderators of event say they want this event to be a comfortable space for open discussion regarding race and gender issues. Encourage discussion regardless of knowledge about topics.
"What exactly is womanism?" Deborah asks to begin the discussion.
"A black feminist or a feminist of colour," is also a definition of womanist she added.
"Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender," Deborah said, reciting a poem about womanism.
"Womanism means combating both systematic anti-blackness and systematic misogyny," Deborah said. "What often goes missing in black feminist theory is the fact that not all black women are American," she added. "As they're creating this theory that we are grateful for, none of them talk about our position as first-generation people."
The event breaks for 15 minutes. Discussions involving the audience will follow when the session reconvenes.
The discussion is now focusing on individuals and why they think their womanism is beautiful.
As the discussion dwindles down, the moderators prepare to give some closing remarks
The event is officially adjourned. Students are now talking amongst themselves about womanism and what it means to be empowered.
Thank you for following with us! Black History Month events will continually be held during the month of February, with different events focused on womanism, queerness, and racial issues.
