‘Justice for Black Women Week’ Hopes to Ignite Conversation

The Harvard Black Law Students Association hosted Justice for Black Women Week, a series of events centering around violence and inequality affecting black women and girls, in the hopes of bringing black women to the focus of nationwide conversation.

HBLSA arranged four events starting Monday and continuing throughout the week, consisting of movie screenings, lectures, and open town-hall style discussions.

“Whenever we hear about state violence against blacks or the problems that are plaguing the black community, it’s usually framed in a way that talks about black males… the reality is that black women are affected by a lot of the same traumas that affect black men,” said HBLSA’s Internal Vice President Adabelle Ekechukwu, who helped organize the week. “For example, when police brutality affects a black woman, when there aren’t enough reproductive justice initiatives to help black women. These are things that help black women that aren’t really focused on in the media.”

The first event on Monday featured a screening of the short film "#SayHerName," which documents stories of black women killed by police, and a subsequent town hall.

“Some of the things I remember being brought up were speaking about black women and black women just almost being invisible,” said Britney Foster, a Divinity School student who attended the movie screening.

On Wednesday, associate professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the Ohio State University Treva Lindsey hosted a lunch talk titled “Hear Our Screams: A Contemporary History of State and State Sanctioned Violence Against Black Women and Girls” at the Law School. The event attracted a crowd of about 40 people.

Lindsey addressed the “idea that black women shouldn’t speak back—the loud black woman, the aggressive black woman, the angry black woman, the unruly black woman is something that must be contained.”

She also showed a video of a 15-year-old being assaulted and pepper sprayed by Maryland police last September.

“It’s hard sometimes hearing what the reality of the state of black womanhood is, but at the same time it’s important to be informed about it. It’s important to be engaged with people to learn more about it,” said Danielle Moody, a student at the Law School who attended the event. “You have to not get comfortable and realize that black women are under a state of attack.”

The week will conclude with an event titled “The Black Power Mixtape, 1967-1975” at the Law School on Thursday. Organizers said more events will take place next semester.