Depaul USA’s Post

During National Women's History Month, we honor Marian Wright Edelman, a civil rights activist and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). As the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi bar, Edelman blazed trails and championed justice, uplifting countless lives. Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she coordinated the Poor People’s Campaign in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination and founded CDF which she led from 1973-2018. Among other accomplishments, CDF's advocacy led to the 1990 Act for Better Child Care, a milestone recognizing children's needs. Under her leadership, CDF also published the original milestone report on the cradle-to-prison pipeline. With millions in poverty, the need for Edelman's work continues, amplifying voices for Head Start, healthcare, justice reform, and homeless children. She is one of many women who have laid the groundwork for our work in raising awareness about the impact of adverse childhood experiences and systemic injustices on individuals' lives. We honor the legacy of those who came before us by continuing to push for positive change and amplifying the voices of those impacted by childhood trauma and the criminal justice system. Through fostering personal growth and advocating for systemic change, we strive to ensure all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. #NationalWomensHistoryMonth #MarianWrightEdelman #ChildrensAdvocate #PublicHealth #ACEsaware #publichealthmatters #community #research #prevention #education #healthequity #awareness #incarceration #criminaljusticereform #criminaljustice #justice #secondchances #humanrights #SocialJustice #Equity #ProgressiveLeadership #Advocacy #Change

So comprehensive, jarring, and insightful. But very appreciative of your story.

Last week, I joined PRB, Young Invincibles, and a panel of expert women to talk about the recent report, “Losing More Ground” which highlights the status of young women in the U.S. Across a number of indicators discussed in this report — incarceration, health, education— Black women and Women of Color continue to fare worse than white women. Of particular concern, the report finds Black women are facing significant increases in rates of suicide and continue to be overrepresented among incarceration rates. As I state here in this clip, "These data points really underscore the necessity of what Black feminist scholars have called for: the need for an intersectional lens in our analyses and in our policy solutions… our policy solutions should put the people who are most vulnerable at the forefront." PRB Justice + Joy National Collaborative Watch the full webinar here: https://lnkd.in/eBQzVve4

Stephen Lawrence's story will not be forgotten. Though his death is heartwrenching, he has made history. Following Lawrence's death, the Macpherson Report exposed the Metropolitan Police's 'institutional racism' and recommended 70 changes across areas such as criminal justice, education, and employment. Although we have come a long way as a society, clear problems remain. For instance, in healthcare, education, and criminal justice, particularly stop and search powers, these racial disparities are still prevalent: • From a recent report, black women were found to be three and a half times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth in comparison to white women. • Another report researching the experiences of young black people concluded that 70% felt compelled to change their hair to be 'more professional' at work or school, and 95% of young black people had heard or witnessed racist language at school. • In 2022, there were 27.2 stop and searches for every 1000 black people, in comparison to 5.6 for every 1000 white people. These statistics involve real people with real stories, and highlight the ongoing need for progress. There is still so much that can and needs to be done to create fundamental change. Let's honour his legacy by being part of the people who participate in this. #stephenlawrence #justiceforstephenlawrence #institutionalracism #racialjustice #tbh365 The Black Curriculum Black Women in Leadership Network (BWIL) 10,000 Black Interns The Black Excellence Network Black Thrive Black Equity Organisation Black Minds Matter UK Race Equality Matters * * * * * * SOURCES: HEALTHCARE. MBBRACE-UK, 'Saving Lives, Improving Mothers' Care: Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquires into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity, 2018-20' (November 2022), p. 13. Professor Knight, 'Women and Equalities Committee - Oral Evidence: Black Maternal Health, HC 1232', House of Commons, (March 2022), Q10. Professor Knight, 'Health and Social Care Committee - Oral Evidence: Safety of Maternity Services In England, HC 677', House of Commons, (December 2020), Q133. EDUCATION. YMCA, 'Young and Black, The Young Black Experience of Institutional Racism in the UK', (October 2020), pp. 7-16. Nerys Roberts, Robert Long, and Anastasia Lewis, 'Racial Discrimination in schools', House of Commons Library, (March 2023), pp, 1-11. CRIME. Jodie Hargreaves, 'National Statistics - Police powers and procedures: Stop and search and arrests, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2022', Home Office, (October 2022).

Check out these valuable insights into the joys and challenges of navigating the roles of motherhood, career, and faith.

Join me on Thursday, July 25th at 7:00 PM CT for "I Am Not Your Super Woman: Holding Space for Black Women in Therapy." 🔑 Key Learning Objectives: - Understanding Intersectionality: Explore the impacts of race, gender, and cultural expectations on Black women's mental health. - Challenging the Superwoman Schema: Learn about the pressures contributing to the "Superwoman" narrative and its effects. - Culturally Competent Practices: Discover strategies for creating a supportive therapeutic environment. - Empowering Black Women in Therapy: Gain insights into validating experiences and fostering resilience. 🌟 Why Attend? Earn valuable CEU credits. Enhance your cultural competency. Participate in interactive discussions and practical exercises. Implement new strategies in your practice immediately. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills. Register now to secure your spot and take the next step in your professional development journey. 👉 Register Here: https://loom.ly/WW4Cbqk #CEU #Therapy #BlackWomenInTherapy #CulturalCompetency #ProfessionalDevelopment #MentalHealth #SocialWork #KivaHarper

The four values we wouldn't be here without: Instrumental in reminding us where we come from and guiding us to where we're heading, our core values continue to help us pave the way in making our vision a reality. 1. Racial Justice — Concentrating our efforts to empower Black, Latino, and Indigenous voices in the pursuit of racial equality and in closing the racial wealth gap. 2. Lived Experience — Ensuring that all decision-making bodies represent diverse perspectives, especially from representatives of different races, ethnicities, and genders. 3. Collective Action — Envisioning a comprehensive ecosystem where we provide cross-sectional support among the non-profit, business, and government sectors, allowing us to offer transparent, transformative support. 4. Audacious & Inventive Work — Always focusing on long-term, systemic change by adopting innovative approaches to ensure that the vision lives on. #EquitableEconomy #RacialJustice

I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges and barriers faced by Disabled BIPOC families within organizational and institutional networks. It’s clear that there is a pressing need for governmental and healthcare advisory/workgroups to reevaluate their approaches. Based on our experience at Community Bridges, I strongly believe these groups need to consider the following: ✅ Diverse Representation: It’s vital to have representatives from diverse backgrounds, including Disabled BIPOC individuals, in decision-making roles. Their perspectives are invaluable in creating policies and programs that are truly inclusive. ✅ Acknowledging and Compensating Lived Experience: The expertise that comes from lived experience is often overlooked. Recognizing and compensating this expertise is not only fair but enriches the quality of discussions and outcomes. ✅ Pre-Meeting Orientation on Materials and Concepts: Providing an orientation to meeting materials and concepts before the meetings is crucial. Ideally, this should be done by another advisory/workgroup member who is a professional in the relevant field. This preparation ensures that all members, especially those who might find the material challenging or unfamiliar, are ready to constructively engage in meetings. Furthermore, this interaction offers professionals an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding and empathy towards the necessity of making materials more comprehensible and accessible. It’s about empowering every member to contribute meaningfully. ✅ Accessibility of Meeting Formats: Ensuring that meetings and workgroup sessions are accessible is crucial. This includes providing accommodations like sign language interpreters, accessible documents, and virtual participation options. ✅ Flexible Scheduling: Many individuals face scheduling conflicts due to work, caregiving, or other responsibilities. Offering meetings at various times or recording sessions for later viewing can increase participation. ✅ Transparent Communication: Clear, non jargon/acronym filled, ongoing communication about the goals, processes, and outcomes of these groups is key to building trust and ensuring meaningful participation. At Community Bridges, our mission is not only to bridge gaps in understanding and resources but also to be a catalyst for systemic change. The insights we’ve gained from our work with Disabled BIPOC families and advocates is a testament to the strength and resilience of these communities. It’s crucial that governmental and healthcare advisory/workgroups not only recognize these strengths but actively integrate them into their structures and processes. Our commitment at Community Bridges is unwavering. We will continue to advocate for these changes and support our communities in every way we can. Together, we can build a more inclusive, equitable, and responsive system that truly serves everyone. #InclusiveLeadership #DEIB #DisabilityAdvocacy #CulturalCompetency #EquityInAction #InclusiveCommunities

This is what Dr. Rosie Lewis: Ending VAWG Practitioner & Co-Director of Project Resist has to say about #InLoveandAnger the report of the #TinasHaven pilot project for #birthmothers severed from their children by addiction published later this week 💖🌸🧚♀️ “Tina’s Haven is so much more than an emancipatory model of praxis, it signifies and symbolises a visionary radical feminist approach to addressing the systemic injustice that women in addiction, and in recovery from addiction, experience when they are severed from their children. I have witnessed first-hand in my own life and in the continued struggle to end violence against women and girls that severing women from their children (physically, emotionally, spiritually) is an extreme form of psychological torture. The impact of this abuse on the birthmother, her children, family, and community remains a silent cultural taboo that few want to consider (often out of fear and powerlessness), let alone resist. Tina’s Haven brings women together to be held and to hold power collectively, in solidarity and movement, so that they may holistically recover at their own elected pace from the trauma to which they have been subject. The project’s respectful adoption of Patricia Hill Collins’ Black feminist framework speaks to the ethos of Tina’s Haven; this is a project that centres the needs, rights, and care of women through a feminist, rights based, anti-oppressive lens – and as a result the framework is inherently intersectional and collectivist in its approach. Both Radical and Black feminism speak to material ways of holistically addressing structural oppression and critical to Tina’s Haven’s formation and success is the project’s brave hybridisation of modalities that include feminist consciousness raising, arts/nature based somatic and narrative based practice to synthesise women’s recovery in an integrated way. The women of Tina’s Haven have narratives and stories to tell us about the inter-personal, and structural abuse and discrimination they have experienced and, more importantly, survived. Tina’s Haven reminds us that we have a personal, moral, social, and political duty to listen and in Audre Lorde’s words: “to transform silence into language and action.”

The power of sowing seeds should never be underestimated. I'm looking forward Curt Bender to where this series takes you and the impact you will have! Cheering you on! #buildingnetworks #professionaldevelopment #allyship