Undoing Systems of Oppression

Today is a very special day for NOW, and I hope you can be part of it. 

NOW’s 2021 Racial justice Summit is taking place TODAY, online between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM EST.  Our distinguished guests and panelists will examine the intersection of Gender, Health, Technology, Violence, and Race.   

Panel discussions will focus on four urgent topics:  how the current polarized political landscape impacts the fight for reproductive Justice; reform of our current criminal justice system and the campaign against police brutality; digital inequities and online oppression; and rebuilding democracy to ensure that marginalized communities are amplified and elevated. 

Here’s more information about the Racial Justice Summit, and you can register for today’s event here. 

But the Racial Justice Summit isn’t the only exciting event focusing on racial equity happening at NOW this week.  Our listening series with Black Women’s Blueprint continues, with TOMORROW’S session (February 25, 5PM to 6PM EST)on A Holistic Approach to Equitable Reproductive Healthcare: Register here.  

NOW is committed to the cause of undoing systems of oppression that for too long have gone unchallenged and continued to spread.  We need to challenge old assumptions and look at the way these systems of oppression work.   

The poet Claudia Rankine says that racism must not be seen as a Black community issue but an American problem. As she told WBUR: 

  “You had white people saying they wanted to talk about race, but they only talked  about people of color or Blackness… they didn’t understand whiteness as its own  construction, leading to the treatment of Black people or  people of color.” 

The events today and tomorrow highlight NOW’s special mission and urgent calling.  We don’t just get mad when we read the news—we get to work defining the real problems and finding—and fighting for–the practical solutions.  I hope you’ll join us online for these exciting events.