CALCASA Stands in Solidarity with the March for Black Women

September 27, 2017 |
Valor


I am happy to share CALCASA’s support for the March for Black Women that is set for September 30, 2017 in Washington D.C. and declare that we stand in solidarity with the Black Women’s Blueprint, Inc., a key organizer in the movement.
The March for Black Women is embracing the strength of black women “in all their diversity” and centering their voices to condemn the violence and oppression black women face including high rates of incarceration, sexual violence, murder and the disappearances of black women and girls. I respect the March and the Organizers for demanding that the violence, including sexual assault experiences, that plagues the lives of black women and girls not be normalized or denied. The march is highlighting the importance of addressing gender justice in efforts to end sexual violence and all violence against black women.
In 2016 I had the honor of attending the 2016 Tribunal of the Black Women’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Sexual Assault where I left hopeful on it’s potential to galvanize the group into action, and that day has come. This Saturday the mass mobilization will call for the following actions:

  1. Issue a Congressional resolution to apologize to all Black women for centuries of abuses, including sexual violence and reproductive violations against Black bodies, especially the brutalization of trans-identified women.
  2. Beyond the 2016 Gender Bias Policing Guidance, ensure immediate and sustainable measures by the U.S. Government to eliminate incarcerations, incidences of rape and “sexual misconduct”, police murder and violence against all Black women, and especially trans-identified women.
  3. End the threat against the human right to health-care and increase access, including all reproductive health care, bar none.
  4. Ensure economic justice for Black low-income women at the communal and federal level, many of whom are at increased risk for violence due to lack of economic power.
  5. Cease and desist all threats of deportation of immigrant women across the country, especially those whose deportation may cost them their lives or safety.

There is a layered and complex reality of violence and oppression that calls our movement to center the voices of women of color. It is critical that we center the needs of those survivors most marginalized, silenced and unseen. Strategies to prevent and end sexual violence must recognize the urgency in understanding the larger structures of systemic oppressions that shape our society, and CALCASA is adamant in identifying and working within this reality.
For more information on how to support and take part in the March for Black Women at mamablack.org