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So You’re ‘Woke’…Now What? How to Fight for Social Justice in Your Day-to-Day Life
Heady conversations about equity, justice and radical change have moved from the margins of our society to the ‘Trending Topics’ lists on our favorite social media platforms, and millennials are engaging with these issues with a level of passion unseen since the politically charged 1960s and ’70s–but that doesn’t mean that everyone is cut out to be an organizer, nor prepared to take to the streets and protest. Luckily, there are many ways that you can apply your newly-acquired or recently upgraded understanding of the politics of identity and transform the world around you. This presentation will give attendees practical tips for being a more compassionate, engaged and active citizen with the courage to stand up for what is right and challenge inequality in their daily lives.
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Let’s Talk About Sex Positivity: What You Need to Know About Consent and Communication
The ‘me, too’ movement has brought sexual violence to the forefront of our national dialogue, empowering survivors to speak up about their experiences and transforming the ways that they are recognized and affirmed in the workplace, at school, in their communities and beyond. However, there is still a great need to engage young people about predatory and inappropriate sexual behaviors before an incident takes place. This talk is designed to help young people understand how to give, obtain and withdraw consent, communicate effectively with partners/potential partners, and make wise, informed decisions with the health, safety and comfort of themselves and their partners in mind.
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More Than Mom: Bringing Yourself Back to Life
Motherhood is a gift like no other…because few other ‘gifts’ would come with such a toll on the recipient! The expectations on us are incredibly high, but the resources and support needed to help us succeed are often quite elusive. Many women find themselves adapting to the unreasonable standards and the demanding workloads without making time to center their own needs, desires or identities in any meaningful way. This talk will help moms of all creeds, colors, social classes and backgrounds find ways to achieve a better semblance of balance and reintegrate their personal and professional interests into their new way of life.
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I’m Not Okay, And It’s Fine: Breaking Up with “Strong Black Womanhood”
Women are so often praised for what they can endure and judged by their ability to care for and support others, from the workplace to the home and beyond. Black women in particular are routinely expected to perform Herculean tasks of emotional labor and forced to contort constantly in order to navigate the racism and sexism we face in personal and professional spaces—and our mental health is often neglected in the process. The toxic caricature of the “strong Black woman” who is, as late playwright Ntozake Shange wrote, “impervious to pain,” finds others unable to recognize the anguish, anxiety and sadness behind the mask of fortitude we often wear to protect ourselves, all too aware of the lack of empathy we can expect to receive if we open up about our struggles or simply convinced we are needed by too many others to require care for ourselves. There is also a particular stigma and shame that comes from sects of the Black church that have a “pray it away” approach to mental illness that discourages many Black women from seeking therapy. In this talk, I will address the importance of all people, Black women in particular, feeling empowered to seek mental health services as needed, as well as the power of taking off one’s superwoman cape and allowing herself the space to say “I’m not okay” without feeling that she will let others down by tending to herself.
Intersectional Feminist Magic Maker.
A renowned cultural critic and writer with a focus on issues of race, gender, and sexuality, Jamilah Lemieux is a leading millennial feminist thinker, influencer, and game-changing media maverick. Her written work has been featured via a host of print and digital platforms, including Vanity Fair, the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, Essence, Refinery 29, Playboy, Self, Wired, the Guardian, Colorlines, the Washington Post and the Columbia Journalism Review. She is also a weekly contributor to Slate’s ‘Care and Feeding’ parenting column and co-host of the publication’s Mom and Dad Are Fighting podcast. An important voice in the construction of the Black feminist blogosphere of the early twenty-first century, Lemieux formerly served as the Vice President of News and Men’s Programming for iOne Digital and as the Senior Editor for EBONY magazine She penned the forward for the Verso anniversary edition of Michele Wallace’s Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman and the 2017 re-release of Ann Petry’s Miss Muriel and Other Stories.
A native of Chicago, Lemieux has provided news and cultural commentary for CNN, ABC, CBS, and MSNBC. She has been featured on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and Desus and Mero, as well as Lifetime’s critically acclaimed, Surviving R. Kelly and Surviving R. Kelly 2: The Reckoning. She is currently working on her first book, She Bad: Tales of Love, Hate and Baby Motherhood (Roc Lit 101/Penguin Random House.)
Our speakers get attention.
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Toppling the myth of the motherly aesthetic by going topless in L.A.To say I’ve never been a modest dresser may be an understatement. I’ve always been a fan of showing some skin — despite the criticisms lobbed from my parents, teachers…
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What Black Schools Mean to Black KidsBeing in the racial majority at school can make all the difference for Black children.
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Toppling the myth of the motherly aesthetic by going topless in L.A.This story is part of Parents Are Cool!, the third issue of Image, which explores the myriad ways in which L.A. parents practice the craft of care.
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We, The Super OnesBlack women are already superheroes, even if Hollywood doesn’t see it.
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The Kids are Asleep by Jamilah Lemieux featuring Alencia JohnsonA grow-ups only chat show by Jamilah Lemieux with the special guest Alencia Johnson