The Center for Brooklyn History (CBH), a historic sector of the Brooklyn Public Library, is partnering with a women-led collective to facilitate conversations on intersections of gender equality and racial justice in a two-part program in honor of Women’s History Month.
CBH will have two virtual discussions co-presented by Ms Foundation for Women, a Brooklyn based collective that works to advance equality and justice for all. Topics will explain the fight for gender equity in the past, present and future.
The first session on Wednesday, March 8 will focus on the ‘yesterday’, providing historical context on the women’s fight for professional, academic and personal freedoms. The second session on March 19 looks at modern day struggles and how the paths that could transform the future.
Conversations will look into both the advances made and the unique struggle women of color have faced, according to a BPL spokesperson.
“The last 50 years have seen transformational change in what being a woman in America means, with vast advances around gender freedom in work, education, family, sexuality, sports, and more,” the spokesperson said. “Yet from the start the fight was only partially representative, the achievements only partly complete. Those at the table excluded the full range of women’s voices and concerns, especially those of women of color.”
Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom, author, professor and sociologist, will moderate the panel of three female leaders – Barbara Brandon-Croft, Patricia J. Williams, and Sara K. Gould.
Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom as the moderator.
Gould is a former president and CEO of Ms. Foundation for Women led the group in developing and supporting national initiatives that highlighted the voice of low-income females and people of color. She currently serves as an interim executive director of the National Immigration Law Center and NILC’s Immigrant Justice Fund.
Brandon- Croft, a Brooklyn born cartoonist, paved her way in the industry after debuting her comic strip in the Detroit Free Press in 1989. She became the first black woman cartoonist to be published in a major national syndication. Her work gives social commentary on black womanhood.
Williams, is a legal scholar with years of work teaching American law and literature and leading conversation on critical race theory. Her works dive into socio-legal theories in race and gender. The award winning author and professor is currently working on a narrative driven documentary series on the deaths of unarmed citizens starting with Trayvon Martin.
“The Center for Brooklyn History at Brooklyn Public Library welcomes the public to participate in a two-part series marking Women’s History Month, titled Women + Justice. Presented with our long-term partners, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the conversation will center on the continuing battle for gender equity and racial justice in work, education, family, sexuality, sports, and more,” said Marcia Ely, director of programs for CBH. “The program is part of the Library’s mission to provide free access to information from all points of view to those who seek it.”
To register for the online event or find more information visit the BPL website.
Update (March 8, 11:25 a.m.): This story has been updated to add comment from the Center for Brooklyn History.
