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Passion in 1st Meeting of Black Women Organized for Political Action in Napa

Published

7 years ago

November 13, 2017

From left to right: K Patrice Williams, President; Latressa Wilson Alford, Vice President; Danette Mitchell, Secretary; Peggy Cohen Thompson, Political Educator Director, the Honorable Dezie Woods-Jones, State Board President; and Cassandra Joebert, Regional BWOPA Director. Not pictured Shontell Beasley, Treasurer.

By Danette Mitchell

A week ago, more than 50 women of color from diverse backgrounds, varying ages, marital status, including same-sex relationships, community, and political involvement — all gathered from Solano and Napa counties with exuberant anticipation, passion and pride to celebrate the inaugural meeting of Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) Solano/Napa County chapter — joining seven other nonpartisan BWOPAs in Northern California.

K. Patrice Williams, a 2017 honoree of Congressman John Garamendi’s Women of the Year award and the newly-elected chapter president, said the event felt historical. It was “inspiring and moving to see women of color coming together to meet for one united purpose and committed to having a greater voice in both Solano and Napa counties and seeing the support of men.” Williams said one of the “brothers” indicated that he is a longtime supporter of BWOPA. A husband attended to support his wife.

Williams said that many African Americans are frustrated with low voter turnout and the low to none minority elected representation in many of the cities in Solano County. Some of the goals of the chapter are to increase voter registration and issue engagement in the African-American community and increase the number of black women appointed to boards, commissions, and political offices through education, endorsements, and campaign support.

Committees were formed to begin the work, including one made up of young people to expose them to the political process. Officers were sworn in by Hon. Dezie Woods-Jones, State Board president and one of the founders of BWOPA in 1968. In Jones’ welcome address, she said everything we do is political and that others are making decisions and creating public policy on black women’s behalf.

African Americans and especially black women must be engaged in the process, and sit at decision-making tables to speak for themselves and continue work that remains.
Jones mentioned education, health care, criminal justice and economic security. She pointed out that black women outvoted all other race and gender subgroups yet are the least represented.

She concluded her remarks by saying that African-American women must be unapologetically black and come to political tables with power, strength, purpose, vision, research, and knowledge. They must also educate other black women who have a willingness to make a difference and to make things happen in the local community.

The mission of BWOPA is to activate, motivate, promote, support and educate African-American women about the political process, encourage involvement and to affirm a commitment to, and solving of, those problems affecting the black community in Solano and Napa counties and challenges that are unique to black women.

In 2011, writer, political science professor, and former MSNBC talk show host Melissa Harris-Perry published a book, “Sister Citizen,” using the subtitle “For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Politics When Being Strong Isn’t Enough.” She adapted her subtitle from Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem, “For Colored Girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.” According to Perry, Shange’s work is a representation of the experience of the crooked room.

Perry said black women have attempted to stand upright in a room made crooked by the stereotypes about African-American women as a group, warped images of their humanity, and derogatory assumptions about their character and identity. Black women have always had to attempt to preserve their authentic selves and to secure recognition as citizens. When confronting both race and gender, African-American women must strategize an upright position.

Some black women managed to tilt and bend themselves to fit the distortion, said Perry, that further exacerbated the distortions, resulting in self-inflicted wounds and justification. However, throughout black women’s political history, African-American women found a way to discern the distortion and shift the angle of the crooked room amid unspoken experiences of hurt, rejection, and their search for identity.

In an interview with Jones, after the BWOPA event, she said the political process is, therefore, not foreign to black women. African-American women have always been barred from achieving full equality as citizens. Yet many of the issues experienced impacts other communities and when black women are free, everyone else is free.

BWOPA does not exclude anyone, Jones said. She is excited about the new BWOPA chapter, and the appointment of talented and creative women to the board who have a passion for serving others and effecting change. Jones invites others to join in their endeavor to impact the Solano and Napa counties by attending the next meeting scheduled for Nov. 11.

Danette Mitchell is a social issues advocate, writer and a Vacaville resident. Email: damitchell@earthlink.net.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 20 – 26, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 20 – 26, 2024

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

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PRESS ROOM: Clyburn, Pressley, Scanlon, Colleagues Urge Biden to Use Clemency Power to Address Mass Incarceration Before Leaving Office

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Mass incarceration remains a persistent, systemic injustice that erodes the soul of America. Our nation has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with nearly two million people locked in jails and prisons throughout the country.

Published

3 days ago

November 21, 2024

Oakland Post

Read the letter here.

Watch the press conference here.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) led 60 of their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging him to use his executive clemency power in the final months of his presidency to reunite families, address longstanding injustices in our legal system, and set our nation on the path toward ending mass incarceration.

The lawmakers hosted a press conference earlier today to discuss the letter. A full video of their press conference is available here and photos are available here.

“Now is the time to use your clemency authority to rectify unjust and unnecessary criminal laws passed by Congress and draconian sentences given by judges,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “The grant of pardons and commutations and the restoration of rights will undoubtedly send a powerful message across the country in support of fundamental fairness and furthering meaningful criminal justice reform.”

Mass incarceration remains a persistent, systemic injustice that erodes the soul of America. Our nation has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with nearly two million people locked in jails and prisons throughout the country. The extreme use of incarceration has resulted in one in two adults having had an incarcerated family member. People of color are disproportionately put behind bars, along with individuals from low-income communities, LGBTQIA+ folks, and those with disabilities. The bloated prison system reflects and emboldens biases that undermine the ideals of our nation and diminish trust in the rule of law. Mass incarceration attacks the most vulnerable Americans, thereby destabilizing families and inflicting intergenerational trauma.

In their letter to President Biden, the lawmakers praised the President’s efforts to create a fair and just criminal legal system by pardoning people convicted of simple marijuana possession and LGBTQ+ former servicemembers and urged the President to use his clemency powers to help broad classes of people and cases, including the elderly and chronically ill, those on death row, people with unjustified sentencing disparities, and women who were punished for defending themselves against their abusers. The lawmakers also outlined the fiscal toll of the growing mass incarceration crisis.

“You have the support of millions of people across the country who have felt the harms of mass incarceration: young children longing to hug their grandparents, people who have taken responsibility for their mistakes, and those who simply were never given a fair chance,” the lawmakers wrote. “These are the people seeking help that only you can provide through the use of your presidential clemency power.”

Joining Representatives Clyburn, Pressley, and Scanlon in sending the letter are Representatives Joyce Beatty, Sanford Bishop, Shontel Brown, Cori Bush, André Carson, Troy Carter, Yvette Clarke, Jasmine Crockett, Valerie Foushee, Al Green, Jahana Hayes, Steven Horsford, Jonathan Jackson, Pramila Jayapal, Henry Johnson, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Robin Kelly, Summer Lee, Jennifer McClellan, Gregory Meeks, Delia Ramirez, Jan Schakowsky, Robert Scott, Terri Sewell, Marilyn Strickland, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

The lawmakers’ letter is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union; Center for Popular Democracy; Last Prisoner Project; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Death Penalty Action; The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls; The Faith Leaders of Color Coalition; Second Chance Justice of MCAN; JustLeadershipUSA; FAMM; The Episcopal Church; The Bambi Fund; Free Billie Allen Campaign; People’s Coalition for Safety and Freedom; Prophetic Resistance Boston; and Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

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Tennessee State University Set to Debut the First Division I Hockey Team at An HBCU

THE AFRO — “I am incredibly excited to embark on building this program, supported by God, my family, TSU students, alumni, and all those eagerly awaiting this moment,” said Duanté Abercrombie, the head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers ice hockey team, in a press release courtesy of TSU Athletics. “I firmly believe that one day, TSU will be recognized not only as a powerhouse on the ice but also as a program whose student-athletes leave a profound legacy on the world, enriched by the lessons learned at TSU.”

Published

3 days ago

November 21, 2024

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By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

Tennessee State University (TSU) continues to break ground on a historic journey to become the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to field a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I ice hockey team. Alongside some assistance from the National Hockey League (NHL), the NHL Players’ Association and the Nashville Predators, the TSU Tigers have already named their official head coach, unveiled their jersey and received their first official commitment from a student-athlete.

TSU held an official press conference to announce the plan in June 2023. Their first official season as a sanctioned Division I program is planned to commence in 2025-26. On April 18, TSU named Duanté Abercrombie as the head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers ice hockey team.

“I am incredibly excited to embark on building this program, supported by God, my family, TSU students, alumni, and all those eagerly awaiting this moment,” said Abercrombie in a press release courtesy of TSU Athletics. “I firmly believe that one day, TSU will be recognized not only as a powerhouse on the ice but also as a program whose student-athletes leave a profound legacy on the world, enriched by the lessons learned at TSU.”

Abercrombie was raised in Washington, D.C., and was mentored by hockey legend Neal Henderson, the first Black man to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Abercrombie attended Gonzaga College High School and graduated from Hampton University, where he was a track and field athlete prior to retiring due to an injury. After college, Abercrombie briefly played professional hockey in both the New Zealand Ice Hockey League as well as the Federal Hockey League.

After his career as a professional hockey player, Abercrombie moved onto coaching, including stints with his alma mater Gonzaga and Georgetown Preparatory School. In 2022-23, Abercrombie was a member of the coaching staff for NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

“We are no longer doing club play in 2024-25. We are going right into D1 play for 2025-26,” Nick Guerriero told the AFRO. Guerriero is the assistant athletic director of communications and creative content at Tennessee State.

On Jan. 19, TSU got their first official commitment from an ice hockey recruit, Xavier Abel. Abel played at Drury University and scored 12 goals in 34 games, including three game-winning goals. Abel was recruited by Guerriero.

In July, the Tigers got their second commitment from forward Trey Fechko. In October, Trey’s brother Marcus Fechko also committed to Tennessee State. Since, the Tigers have also signed forward Greye Rampton, goaltender Johnny Hicks, Grady Hoffman and four-star forward Bowden Singleton. Singleton flipped his commitment from North Dakota to Tennessee State. Guerriero said that TSU has a “few” other recruits that they are waiting to announce during their November signing period.

“I think it’s important to invest in these unorthodox sports for Black athletes because it allows Black children to have more opportunities to play sports in general,” said Zion Williams, a 2024 Gettysburg College graduate and former collegiate athlete. “The more opportunities that children have, the better. They won’t feel like they are boxed into one thing or sport.”