Collective of Black Women Executive Directors and Leaders in the South Unite to Offer Support to Marginalized Communities

As you cover recent fatal police shootings, and other issues impacting marginalized communities, please consider The Black Southern Women’s Leadership Project as a potential source. The Black Southern Women’s Leadership Project is a collective of Black women executive directors and leaders in southern states and includes:

• Akilah S. Wallace of Faith in Texas;

• Nse Ufot of the New Georgia Project;

• Rev. Rhonda Thomas of Faith in Florida;

• Tameka Greer, Memphis Artists for Change in Tennessee;

• Stephanie Strong, lead organizer of Faith in Alabama and Freedom Vote 2020 campaign director; and

• Ashley Shelton, E.D., Power Coalition, Louisiana.

"Black women are taking bold strides towards changing the conditions for families that have been traumatized for generations due to the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration and mass disenfranchisement," Greer said. "We are claiming our power and seizing the opportunity to galvanize people across the South to amplify our community’s voices and to shape our own futures."

"Through this regional collective, we are working to anchor organizing expansion work in the South at the dawn of this next decade in the leadership of Black women and those directly impacted by centuries of racialized voting and incarceration systems," Wallace said.

"To be clear, we are centering Black women because our voices are often not heard but our labor is requested to fix broken organizations with less resources and support. We are also centering formerly incarcerated people because they are oftentimes systemically criminalized without the opportunities, tools or support to realize their dreams," said Rev. Thomas.

Should you want to discuss how Black women are holding space for trauma following gun violence and police violence, and organizing to win important gains for Black and Brown communities, please consider one of these leaders. You can connect with Jennifer R. Farmer at jenniferr@spotlightpr.org to get in touch with them.