In celebration of women's history month...
The Magic City Advocate
Official Newsletter for the Office of Social Justice and Racial Equity
City of Birmingham, AL
|
|
ON THIS MONTH
Ida B. Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16, 1862. Ida B. Wells became an activist and suffragist who faced both sexism and racism. Her father was a political and community leader, despite the dangerous implications of being socially active as a newly freed slave. She lost her parents and infant brother during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 and was left to carry on the family legacy of courage and activism while caring for her remaining siblings. During that time she managed to secure a well-paying job as a teacher while taking classes at Fisk University in the summer. Wells turned to journalism in order to fight racial and gender injustice. After already having numerous articles published in local and national periodicals, Wells became an owner of
Memphis Free Speech and Headlight
in 1892.
Wells is widely known for her relentless work on behalf of the anti-lynching movement and is considered one of the founding members of the NAACP. Wells began investigating the practice on lynching and shared her controversial findings in the
Memphis Free Speech and Headlight
. Her editorials caused such outrage among the white community that her life became in jeopardy and she was forced to flee to Chicago. While in Chicago her focus shifted to the women's suffrage movement, continuing her devotion to justice and democracy.
In
March 1913
, Wells traveled to the first suffrage parade in Washington D.C., an event organized by the National American Woman Suffrage Association. On the day of the parade, Wells and sixty other black women arrived to march with the Illinois delegation, but were immediately advised, as women of color, to march in the back, so as to not upset the Southern delegates. Wells refused, arguing: “Either I go with you or not at all. I am not taking this stand because I personally wish for recognition. I am doing it for the future benefit of my whole race.” She initially left the scene, therefore convincing the crowd that she was complying with the request. However, she quickly returned and marched alongside her own Illinois delegation, supported by her white co-suffragists Belle Squires and Virginia Brooks. This event received massive newspaper coverage and shed light on the reality for African-American participation in politics.
Wells' largely community-based efforts, especially with the Alpha Suffrage Club, helped the women’s suffrage movement reach its success. Her work helped pass the Presidential and Municipal Bill in Illinois in June 1913, giving women over age 21 partial suffrage (the right to vote in presidential and municipal, but not state, elections). She helped register women voters and constantly encouraged women who remained doubtful of their place in the electoral process. Even after the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted in 1920, Wells traveled throughout Chicago and Illinois emboldening African-American women to vote and participate in politics.
|
|
Mayor Woodfin and the City of Birmingham are committed to keeping you informed on the latest information concerning city efforts related to COVID-19.
For English text keyword
BHMCOVID
to
888-777
to receive text message updates about important announcements and information from City of Birmingham.
For E
spañol texto
BHMCOVID19
al
888-777
para recibir actualizaciones de mensajes de texto sobre anuncios importantes e información de la ciudad de Birmingham.
Be smart, follow these CDC guidelines:
Older adults and people who have severe underlying chronic medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19. Please consult with your health care provider about additional steps you may be able to take to protect yourself.
- The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed
- Practice social distancing and avoid close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)
- Wash your hands often with soap and water or a hand sanitizer that is 60% alcohol
- Stay home if you are sick
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces
|
|
#BhamStrong, a coalition of public, private and civic organizations supporting people and small businesses in our community most affected by COVID-19.
If COVID-19 has affected your income, small business, or ability to get food, #BhamStrong is here to help. Please go to
bhamstrong.com
to find information about resources and support programs.
The Community Resource Form:
When organizations fill out this form it will populate a database; we'll have the ability to quickly flow approved database entries into a template that will live on
bhamstrong.com
and serve as a public-facing COVID-19 Community Resource Directory that includes contract information, describes the program, and is organized by primary service (Food Support, Small Business Support, Income Loss Support, Education Support, etc.)
|
|
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
By: Dejuana Thompson
Guest Voices
|
|
I’ve come to understand something about peace. It is not the absence of chaos, but rather the acknowledgment that chaos will not consume you. It is a rooted reassurance that comes from living through some things and realizing you were well-equipped to survive. It is a hard-earned conviction. Peace is constantly being challenged and yet it finds its way. This may ruffle a few feathers but I happen to think
no one knows peace like a Black woman.
Sorry, not sorry!
It’s Women’s History Month and I celebrate the beauty and diversity of womanhood. Women of all backgrounds have matriculated through impossible situations and I salute us all. Women are still fighting for equity in a patriarchal society. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Black women (and women of color) still don’t enjoy the same access to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as our white women counterparts.
Black women are still fighting for parity across the board.
A few examples to consider are below:
Let’s talk economics: In 2017, US Census data showed that women are still paid 75 - 80 cents to every dollar a white male makes. Black women are paid 67 cents to every dollar a white male makes. Of all new small businesses in the US, Black women account for over 40%. Yet it is notably harder for Black women to get seed funding or small business grants to grow their business.
Let’s talk politics: Many people believe it is time for a female president. I am for electing
righteous leadership that isn't disqualified because of gender. Numbers have shown Black
women to be the strongest voting bloc of the Democratic Party, nicknaming them the backbone of the party. However, many critics; such as the Collective PAC, have consistently called out the party for its disproportionate funding of programs to persuade moderate white women voters vs. investing more intentionally in Black communities.
Let’s talk healthcare: Black women are the highest at risk from dying from pregnancy
complications. Dr. Ana Langer, director of the Women and Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offered this alarming reason :
"Basically, black women are undervalued. They are not monitored as carefully as white women are. When they do present with symptoms, they are often dismissed.
" This means if Black women were taken at their word their lives might have been saved.
Just given these examples one wonders how Maya Angelou was able to write so prophetically, “and still I rise!.” I submit there is something so unique to the Black woman’s experience. We have a treasure in our vessels — inner peace which is ignited when activated by either pain or pursuit. I have studied generations of women who despite their circumstances, conditions or concerns -they knew peace. I have watched and been mentored by women across so many disciplines who in spite of all odds they made it and I often wonder how is this possible? I happen to believe walking in one’s purpose is the most direct path to knowing peace.
Fannie Lou Hamer famously stated, “ I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Here is a woman who at the age of six was already working in cotton fields. She and her husband worked on a plantation until she was 44 years old. Being concerned about the condition of black folks in the Mississippi Delta, she went to a meeting organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It was there she was told for the first time that Black people had the right to vote. Something about that stirred in Fannie Lou Hamer. I like to think it disturbed her peace. In two years Hamer went from being a plantation worker to co-founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, raising more money than any other member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She represented the marginalized South at the 1964 Democratic Convention becoming the first African American (first woman from Mississippi) to be seated as a delegate at a national party convention since Reconstruction.
Tell me that it doesn’t sound like she found some peace? I happen to believe that Black women have found a way to claim peace which should be patented and sold on the shelf. It has come at great sacrifice and complete commitment.
Peace is the one currency we have that most cannot claim and no one can steal. We have found a way to say it is well with our souls. This Women’s History Month may we remember the resiliency of ALL women and may we commit to fighting for the equality and equity of Black women. It is my hope you will find your own peace as you pursue purpose.
As for me, it is well with my soul.
*******
DeJuana Thompson is a partner at
Think Rubix, LLC,
and the creator of
Woke Vote
. Thompson has over 15 years’ worth of diverse experience serving as a fierce community advocate, political strategist and problem-solver. “Woke Vote” is a program specifically designed to engage, mobilize and turnout an unprecedented percentage of African American millennial and faith based voters in Alabama.
|
|
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
DEANNA "DEE" REED
|
Community Organization/Group/Affiliations:
Woke Vote
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc
Rock City Church
How do you define freedom?
I define freedom as choosing to dream, live, and grow in spite of the challenges and obstacles we all inevitably face.
You have been nominated by community members for this spotlight, how would you describe your work with the community?
My work is purpose and people driven. Following the tragic loss of my father nine years ago, I really began to approach my work in the community with end results in mind. I have a desire to work towards generational change, which my efforts to increase voter engagement in historically disengaged communities has allowed me to achieve. I’m committed to assisting individuals in activating their voting power and using it as a tool for not just their own empowerment, but to lift future generations as well. Voting is the tool that unlocks the door to things that are important to all Americans: education, healthcare, climate change and economic disparities.
I organize voter education seminars and forums. Also, training community members to mobilize the people they represent on issues important to them. restore hope into communities and people.
How would you define the social issue that you are working to address?
Dating back as far as 1860 there have been so many recorded assaults on our civil liberty to vote. During the Woke Vote Conference in 2018, one of our special guest panelists Marion Haslem, a resident of South Eastlake shared her experience in paying a poll tax to vote. This was not uncommon during the time she grew up in the South.
Today, voting challenges still exist with closures of voting polls in high-density black areas, the purging of voter lists and the false notion among some people that their vote doesn’t matter.
How can we, the greater community contribute to addressing this issue?
There are thousands of unregistered people and misinformed voters across our city and state. Many of whom we work, worship and engage on social media.
We can contribute by registering non-voters and ensuring that our family and friends understand the issues and candidates and the impact the outcome will have on the community.
What’s one thing that you would like the community to know?
I would like the community to know that there is always something that can be done to make a difference; no act is too small. You may never march or speak up in support of a specific cause but you can donate to an organization that is working to uplift something you care about. When people come together, work together and focus together, change happens. Find a group that aligns with the things you believe are morally good and find a way to get involved. The world needs your ideas.
|
|
Bobbie Knight
Miles College has promoted its interim president to the post permanently.
Knight assumed her new role immediately.
Knight was appointed as interim president of the historically black liberal arts college in August. Her appointment made her the first woman to lead the college since it began 122 years ago.
|
|
Mashonda Taylor
The Woodlawn Foundation
has named Mashonda Taylor its new executive director. Woodlawn Foundation is
an organization that serves as the lead organization of Woodlawn United, a collaboration of partners committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in the historic Woodlawn community.
|
|
Rashada LeRoy
LRY media group the Birmingham-based, African American and woman-owned firm will produce the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2021 World Games, as well as World Games Plaza. LRY media group was started in 2017 by Rashada Leroy, a former senior advertising specialist at Alabama Power.
|
|
STRONGHER CAMPAIGN
In 2019, Mayor Randall Woodfin’s administration launched the #StrongHER campaign to highlight some of the unsung “sheroes’’ living, working, volunteering or inspiring others in Birmingham. For 31 days in March, women were featured on the City of Birmingham’s social media outlets in celebration of Women’s History Month.
The message is that Birmingham is StrongHER, BoldHER, BrightHER, FierceHER, SmartHER and BraveHER because of HER. This campaign continues in 2020.
|
|
Chalkbeat:
CityLab:
Washington Post:
Reuters:
The Hill:
|
|
Mayor Randall L. Woodfin declared a state of emergency for the City of Birmingham, urging the public to avoid gatherings of 25 or more people, among other matters. Due to public health concerns many events have been postponed or cancelled due to CO-VID 19. We will update you as soon as possible on new dates for community events.
|
|
The 2020 Census is a hot topic in Alabama for many reasons. Politically, Alabama stands to lose a congressional seat. This means a loss in federal funding which will have an impact on local projects initiatives. This funding is also critical for economic development and public services.
It is important for
everyone
to be counted. Those at higher risk for not being counted include members of the LGBTQ+ community, immigrant community, youth, elderly and other marginalized communities.
|
|
SOCIAL JUSTICE & RACIAL EQUITY
2019 ANNUAL REPORT
|
|
Click image below to view PDF
|
|
Follow us on social media
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
