Women’s History Month is quickly coming to a close, but before it does, I want to spend some time highlighting coverage from some of our partners who are celebrating the achievements of women in their communities.
In this piece that highlights the legacies of five Black women and gender-nonconforming folks by URL Media partner Scalawag, I learned about people like Mama Gloria — who ran a free “charm school” for transgender youth in Chicago — and Maggie Walker who in 1903 founded a bank run by and for Black women, something that hasn’t been done since.
“Born to enslaved parents in Richmond, Virginia, in 1864, Walker uplifted Black women through a style of banking that was deeply personal, even for its era,” the Scalawag editors write. “We’re celebrating her story today as less of a depiction of 20th-century Black capitalism, and more of a rendering of what is possible when Black women can effectively channel their own money for personal and collective economic development.”
In this collection of WURD Radio interviews, we hear from trailblazers such as the iconic performer Dionne Warwick, Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 project Nikole Hannah-Jones, executive director of the nonprofit We Can’t Breathe Emerald Snipes-Garner, and founder of The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia Vashti DuBois.
We’ve written before about the Hannah-Jones interview, which I encourage everyone to listen to, but hearing Snipes-Garner, daughter of the late Eric Garner, talk about Philadelphia’s Anti-Chokehold Act and her father’s life and death was so deeply moving.
I also want to highlight this story from URL Media partner Sahan Journal about Valerie Castile. Her son, Philando Castile, was shot and killed in 2016 by a police officer during a traffic stop in Minnesota.
Since her son’s death, Valerie has poured her energy into raising more than $200,000 to wipe out lunch debt at schools across the state.
“After Philando’s death, colleagues, students, and school parents told media outlets that Philando was a beloved member of the school community who knew all the students’ names and food allergies,” Becky Z. Dernbach writes for Sahan Journal. “He made sure kids could eat even if they could not pay for their meals.”
And this week, Valerie was at the Minnesota Capitol as Governor Tim Walz signed a bill providing a free basic breakfast and lunch to every kid in Minnesota.
“It was amazing,” Valerie told Sahan Journal. “I am over the moon.”
Over in Miami, last weekend’s Creole Food Festival featured an all women of color lineup, including Chef France Michel who was expected to cook tassot cabrit (fried goat meat), rice with sweet beans and a salad.
“Cooking is my way to connect with people,” she told The Haitian Times ahead of the event. “I’m very excited to meet other chefs, taste their food and to let them know more about Haiti.”
Other Haitian chefs expected at the event included Rose Jean, Christina Coupet and Cynthia Verna.
I want to wrap up this essay with Our Body Politic’s latest episode, which focuses on Black women creating a new media landscape.
In the episode, guest host and vice president and executive producer for ESPN Films Marsha Cooke talks with panelists Mary Annaïse Heglar, co-creator and cohost of the Hot Take podcast, and Lauren Williams, co-founder and CEO of Capital B, about how they focus on building inclusive content for Black audiences including expanding coverage to undercovered topics and communities.
I hope you take some time this weekend to learn about the women who have and continue to lead our nation and path to liberation.
