\u201cBlack women\u2019s lives are at risk every day. From teenage girls being thrown by police officers in schools to our trans sisters being killed in the streets\u2014it is time our existence is truly respected. Real respect comes in the form of respecting our bodies; ending rape, deportation, and incarceration; ensuring everyone has health care; and prioritizing economic justice for low-income black women.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n So why choose to address this March?\u00a0 I am not writing about it so I can summarize what you know about African American history or tell you what others are arguing regarding racial inequalities.\u00a0 I am telling you that this march is securing and protecting the lives of future black women in San Diego and at large.<\/p>\n First, let me ask you a question.\u00a0 Think of the first black figure who comes to mind.\u00a0 Was it a man or a woman?\u00a0 Bernice Barnette, a scholar, took a survey asking leaders and activists who they considered the most important figures during the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1968.\u00a0 She found that of the 81 black leaders people named, 72.8% were men, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. considered as the most important.[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Do not get me wrong, Dr. King is a noteworthy figure who absolutely deserves the recognition he receives, but he did not do it all alone.\u00a0 While ministers like Dr. King took on the roles of the physical face and voice of many movements, the \u201cinvisible heroes\u201d were black women.\u00a0 They often took on roles in education as schoolteachers, college professors, and students.\u00a0 They were also prominently involved in leading clubs, associations, and organizations. Their engagement with the movement kept black masses informed, the black community involved, and momentum in the progress of equal rights.<\/p>\n The Civil Rights movement was a major time of black activism pushing towards equality.\u00a0 Black women were heavily important figures whom received nowhere near the recognition they deserved.\u00a0 Women like Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, Daisy Bates, Harriet Tubman, and Ida B. Wells are just a few public advocators who were essential to organizing events as well as crucial to training the up and coming generation of activists.\u00a0 Septima Clark, Bernice Robinson, Dorothy Cotton, were just a few Black women educators that worked with the adult crowd by teaching illiterate black adults how to read and write.\u00a0 As Barnette mentioned, that without educators like them acting as behind-the-scenes leaders, moments like the 1965 Voting Rights Act would have been a meaningless step towards the aim for equal rights if the majority of the potential voting applicants would not have passed the literacy test in order to actually qualify for the right to vote.[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Black women in the past have done their part for the black community by fighting for the African American life and culture as a whole.\u00a0 Today they continue to push towards equality, and beyond this, call for the gender specific rights of black women.<\/p>\n The courage from women who have taken on activist roles in vulnerable times, during the Civil Rights Movement especially, has inspired women, like Kelsey Daniels and Nyshia Green-Washington, two of the many co-organizers of the March for Black Women in San Diego to start movements of their own.\u00a0 In the journal article, \u201cRevolutionary Black Women’s Activism: Experience and Transformation,\u201d some interviewed women activists strongly believe that, \u201cracial movements at the time served as the initial awakening of their political socialization.\u201d\u00a0 A major part of a march like this one in San Diego evolves partially from the inspiration of previous activists, which then perpetuates feelings of accomplishment.\u00a0 Neville and Hamer describe in their journal that experiences in the realm of activism, \u201cinstilled in the women a sense of efficacy that they could make a difference.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 The notion that women activists inspire others, which is propagated through efficacy is an important concept that demonstrates how the past has planted seeds of inspiration for today, which in turn plants seeds of inspiration for future generations to come.\u00a0 Ka\u2019jah Peterson, a woman at the march said, \u201cOnce you realize how easy it is to be a part of these things. When you see it on the news it\u2019s kind of scary but when you\u2019re actually here you realize that everyone just wants the same thing. Everyone just want more people to be aware.\u201d[5]<\/a>\u00a0 Her statement shows that inspiration comes from taking on the role.<\/p>\n The March for Black Women is part of a larger aspect, being that we are in a new era.\u00a0 It is an era where since the African American ethnicity and culture is more widely accepted, black women feminists today are able to cultivate the seeds that were not yet able to fully mature. \u00a0For African American life, history, and culture, this march signifies a statement telling America that black women have not submitted to gender-based racial inequalities.\u00a0 This march was the initial push to solving this problem that black women in any era has always been aware of and fighting.\u00a0 Sheila Robinson, an older resident who pushed her grandson through the march, addressed that there are not many places in San Diego for black women to come together and support one another.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 The positive outcome of the march created opportunities for the community to address overdue injustices so that they can create a life of equal opportunity and security.\u00a0 This year Daniels, a co-organizer, announced in response to the impressive involvement, that they are going to create interactive workshops for women to learn to advocate for themselves in the work force, and organize solution-driven open forums where women can talk about health-care issues.[7]<\/a>\u00a0 Their strategy is all about creating opportunity to keep the people to feeling actively heard and involved, because that is the source of strength where any kind of change comes from.<\/p>\n Even in a fight for their own gender specific rights, these black women activists are still supporting every kind of person in the community.\u00a0 As Ka\u2019jah Peterson put it, \u201cI think the march is representing how we should have respect for everybody and support what they do. It might not be Black Power or women\u2019s justice, but justice for everybody.\u201d5<\/a>\u00a0 That to me just shows the true strength of black women.<\/p>\n A photo of the 2019 March for Black Women in San Diego by Crystal Page.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bibliography<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Barnett, Bernice McNair. “Invisible Southern Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: The Triple Constraints of Gender, Race, and Class.”\u00a0Gender and Society<\/em>\u00a07, no. 2 (1993): 162-82. http:\/\/0-www.jstor.org.sally.sandiego.edu\/stable\/189576.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mento, Tarryn. “A Weekend Summit, March To Honor Black Women In San Diego.” KPBS Public Media. March 8, 2019. Accessed May 05, 2019. https:\/\/www.kpbs.org\/news\/2019\/mar\/08\/weekend-summit-march-unite-black-women-san-diego\/.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Neville, Helen A., and Jennifer F. Hamer. “Revolutionary Black Women’s Activism: Experience and Transformation.”\u00a0The Black Scholar<\/em>\u00a036, no. 1 (2006): 2-11. http:\/\/0-www.jstor.org.sally.sandiego.edu\/stable\/41069186.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Page, Crystal.\u00a0 \u201cA Weekend Summit, March To Honor Black Women In San Diego.\u201d 2019. Photograph. Southeastern, San Diego, https:\/\/www.kpbs.org\/news\/2019\/mar\/08\/weekend-summit-march-unite-black-women-san-diego\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peterson, Karla. “Why the March for Black Women San Diego Is Hitting the Streets.”\u00a0The San Diego Union-Tribune<\/em>, March 8, 2019. https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/news\/columnists\/karla-peterson\/sd-me-karla-march-for-black-women-san-diego-20190308-story.html.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Solis, Gustavo. “March for Black Women San Diego Grows from Event to Movement.”\u00a0The San Diego Union-Tribune<\/em>, March 29, 2019. https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/communities\/south-county\/sd-me-black-women-march-201903011-story.html.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Writer01. “March For Black Women Draws Diverse Crowd.”\u00a0The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint<\/em>. Accessed April 8, 2019. https:\/\/sdvoice.info\/march-for-black-women-draws-diverse-crowd\/.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Writer01. “March For Black Women Draws Diverse Crowd.”\u00a0The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint<\/em>. Accessed April 8, 2019. https:\/\/sdvoice.info\/march-for-black-women-draws-diverse-crowd\/.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Barnett, Bernice McNair. “Invisible Southern Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: The Triple Constraints of Gender, Race, and Class.”\u00a0Gender and Society<\/em>\u00a07, no. 2 (1993): 162-82. http:\/\/0-www.jstor.org.sally.sandiego.edu\/stable\/189576.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Barnett, Bernice McNair. “Invisible Southern Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: The Triple Constraints of Gender, Race, and Class.”\u00a0Gender and Society<\/em>\u00a07, no. 2 (1993): 162-82. http:\/\/0-www.jstor.org.sally.sandiego.edu\/stable\/189576.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Neville, Helen A., and Jennifer F. Hamer. “Revolutionary Black Women’s Activism: Experience and Transformation.”\u00a0The Black Scholar<\/em>\u00a036, no. 1 (2006): 2-11. http:\/\/0-www.jstor.org.sally.sandiego.edu\/stable\/41069186.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Writer01. “March For Black Women Draws Diverse Crowd.”\u00a0The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint<\/em>. Accessed April 8, 2019. https:\/\/sdvoice.info\/march-for-black-women-draws-diverse-crowd\/.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Solis, Gustavo. “March for Black Women San Diego Grows from Event to Movement.”\u00a0The San Diego Union-Tribune<\/em>, March 29, 2019. https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/communities\/south-county\/sd-me-black-women-march-201903011-story.html.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Mento, Tarryn. “A Weekend Summit, March To Honor Black Women In San Diego.” KPBS Public Media. March 8, 2019. Accessed May 05, 2019. https:\/\/www.kpbs.org\/news\/2019\/mar\/08\/weekend-summit-march-unite-black-women-san-diego\/.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Page, Crystal.\u00a0 \u201cA Weekend Summit, March To Honor Black Women In San Diego.\u201d 2019. Photograph. Southeastern, San Diego, https:\/\/www.kpbs.org\/news\/2019\/mar\/08\/weekend-summit-march-unite-black-women-san-diego\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Camille Yim Hist 128 A New Era On March 10, 2019, the March for Black Women event took place in Eastern San Diego from Logan Avenue to Kennedy Park.\u00a0 The first march of this kind occurred last year Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2019\/05\/29026496_10102474955621091_8173039365165940736_o_t800-300x161.jpg\")
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