Thanks to the kind invitation of my friend Jesse Hagopian, educator and activist, I had a fabulous feminist Friday last week. I spent the entire day curating my photos of girls and womxn standing in their power, in movement-making, for a video that opened Breaking Barriers: Girls Empowerment Summit at Garfield High School the following morning. Confession. I got super emotional creating this and cried more than once. Especially, of course, give the current times and political climate. But it was amazing to have a reason to pull all the beautiful images of girls and womxn kicking ass from my archives which otherwise I might not have done.
The Summit, which Jesse co-organized with the support of The Bennett Foundation, was a one-day event for high-school aged and female-identified youth highlighting equity activism, relationship building, and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM). Activities included interactive workshops and panel discussions designed to help girls identify the barriers of sexism and strategies for resistance. The closing plenary was hosted by Cari Champion, and featured Patrisse Cullors, Jami DeBrango, Linda Sarsour, and Maya Wiley.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the Summit myself, but Jesse reported back that the girls in attendance loved the video and that Michael Bennett and his wife Pele, co-founders of The Bennett Foundation, were very moved. Which made my weekend. I hope you’ll take the time for a quick viewing too. It is so important to see how strong us girls and womxn really are (something the media doesn’t often allow) and how we not only uphold but also anchor our communities.