Black women march to uplift, empower
Serita Campbell brought her daughters to the Black Women’s Empowerment March on a beautiful fall morning Saturday so they could absorb positive energy and help build community awareness of pressing issues black women face.
Issues such as racial injustice. Evictions. Sex trafficking. Clashes with police.
“It’s about unity,” Campbell said. “It’s black beauty.”
The energy was positive; women greeted each other with warm embraces as they gathered at Victory over Violence Park, 2615 N. King Drive. The group numbered over 100 by the time participants began marching up King Drive to a community church.
For her part, Campbell highlighted concerns about sex trafficking. “It’s going on virally on the internet. Kids are vanishing at 13,” she said. “I think if people knew about it, they would maybe pay attention more to what’s going on in their young girls’ lives.”
Dressed in black, the women passed around hand-lettered signs with slogans such as “What’s your black girl superpower?” before the march began.
After several speeches aimed at building awareness, they walked together in the street to Crossing Jordan church, 606 W. Concordia Ave., led by organizers from the group Uplifting Black Liberation and Community, or UBLAC.
“We need to start uplifting our black women,” said UBLAC spokeswoman Lisa Jones.
Jones said she started getting involved after the fatal shooting of Jay Anderson in Madison Park by a Wauwatosa police officer on June 23, 2016.
“Black women are dealing with the high rate of poverty, human trafficking in the city,” Jones said. “Eviction rates for women with children are high. The hypersegregation in the city goes back historically. The rate of homelessness for women and children is high.”
While Jones said the empowerment of women spans all races, black women face both sexism and racism.
“If you uplift the black women, we are the backbone of the family. We’re the nurturers, the caregivers. We work hard, often two or three jobs,” Jones said. “This is about black love and unity, and a sisterhood to uplift the community . ... This is just the beginning.”
Elizabeth CampbellBrown pointed out one intrinsic strength of women:
“We are the givers of life.”