Our hearts are so full!
PWN’s second annual Celebrate and Honor Black Women in the HIV Movement (CHBW) Day was a resounding success with 100 attendees on Zoom and nearly 1,000 post engagements on Facebook Live.
With broad support from the HIV community, including the twenty nine organizations who committed to uplifting Black women, we honored twenty Black HIV Movement Mothers and hosted a powerful Black Joy and Resilience Townhall, featuring seventeen brilliant Black women dropping pearls of wisdom, Black love, and inspiration.
During the panel featuring three Movement Mothers, Dazon Dixon Diallo, founder and President of Sisterlove, Inc., spoke of her drive to create spaces where Black women’s voices were centered and respected as a catalyst for change, “I knew our stories drive our solutions and we needed to make sure that whatever happened around AIDS (at the time) and Black women, it needed to happen by and for us.”
Missed the Black Joy and Resilience Townhall 2022? Catch the recording here:
In the Black Resilience panel, artist and activist Toni-Michelle Williams, co-founder and Executive Director of Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, Inc. (SNAPCO) , gave this mic-dropping statement, “Abolition is about the powerful and beautiful things we build. In the context of celebrating and honoring Black women it’s about how we’ve built our communities, our families, and the way we built our hearts and minds.”
During the Black Joy panel, activist, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and PWN board member, Marnina “the Queen” Miller powerfully defined Black joy, “Black joy means that I don’t have to be resilient—that I can throw away that ‘strong Black woman’ trope and I can just exist as myself.”
We are grateful to every one of our fierce, phenomenal speakers: Martha Cameron, Venita Ray, LaTrischa Miles, Octavia Lewis, Tana Pradia, Crystal Townsend, Dee Dee Chamblee, Waheedah Shabazz-El, Dazon Dixon Diallo, Sallie Thomas, Marsha Jones, Helen Zimba, Toni Michelle Williams, Ieshia Scott, Bre Rivera, Masonia Traylor, and Marnina Miller and to the incomparable DJ Adair @itsadair_ for filling the space we created together with a profound spirit of celebration and appreciation.
Check out more of the quotes and moments we captured on Twitter:
Black Joy & Resilience – Curated tweets by uspwnWe also thank the 29 organizations that joined us in committing to elevate and honor Black women in their work. (See below for a full list.*) It’s not too late to sign on! We celebrate and honor Black women 365 days a year.
We invite you to mark March 12th, 2023 on your calendar as Celebrate and Honor Black Women in the HIV Movement Day, and share with us your unique ways of celebrating the day. Most importantly, we invite you to continue lifting up Black women in your movements in meaningful and tangible ways every day.
*Participating Organizations:A Family Affair Living Our My Best Life
AIDS United
Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans AAMA
Black Ladies In Public Health
Black Power, Liberation, & Healing Now, Inc.
Black Women’s Health Imperative
Boulder County AIDS Project (BCAP)
Colorado Individuals and Organizations Responding to HIV AIDS
Harm Reduction Action Center
HIV Medicine Association
Hondureños contra el SIDA
Hope In The End
Houston In Action
International Community of Women Living with HIV
Lady BurgAndy Inc
Legacy Community Health
Let’s Kick ASS Palm Springs (AIDS Survivor Syndrome)
National Working Positive Coalition
One Colorado
POZ Impact
Prism Health North Texas
Ribbon Consulting
Sero Project
Southern Black Policy & Advocacy Network
TEACH
The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation
The Well Project
Valley AIDS Council
Vivent Health