Association of Black Harvard Women Elects New Officers

The Association of Black Harvard Women (ABHW) recently elected the members of its executive board for 2001-2002.

Kimberly H. Levy '03 was elected president, Jennifer K. Sunami '02 vice president, Alliah D. Agostini '04 secretary, Allana N. Jackson '03 treasurer, Kiratiana E. Freelon'02 social chair, Jillion T. Harris '04 community service chair, D.A. Miishe Addy '02 co-historian, Jennifer N. Hawkins '04 co-historian, Margaret C. Anadu '03 representative to the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and Fabiana B. Esposito '02 public relations chair.

The association, originally known as the Association of Black Radcliffe Women, was founded in 1975 to act as a social organization for black women on campus.

Today, ABHW seeks to build a sense of community on campus among black women, mainly through informal discussion groups on campus. While some discussions are relevant solely to black women, the group addresses issues affecting the campus as a whole. Recent discussion topics have varied from relations between first-years and upperclassmen at Harvard to the ways in which black women's hairstyles affect others' perceptions about them.

The newly elected board says they are hoping to create a solid alumni network for the group, and hopefully have an annual honoree from the black women's community to speak at an event during Black Women's History Month, which takes place each year in March.

The ABHW recently sponsored a photojournal celebrating black women on campus; the newly elected officers say they hope to make this publication a tradition.

The book is a collection of written work and photos of black women on campus focusing on different types of beauty. The book is comprised of photo portraits of black women and poems or stories by the women.

The executive board hopes to create a year-long relationship with a specific public service provider and is busy planning an event comparable to the Black Men's Forum annual celebration of black women.

The celebration will take place during reading period, and will feature speaker Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, a child psychologist renowned for his work in the black community. Poussaint is director of the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston and also faculty associate dean for student affairs at Harvard Medical School.