CGC Journal - August 2024
We're Building a Co-learning Community of Empathetic Societal Change Agents
AUGUST 2024 | ISSUE 13
BLACK WOMEN RISING
America’s most vulnerable and most privileged populations have a common caretaker
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Current Events - Black Women Rising
Emily’s Corner - Curiosity can lead to common ground
Talking With Kids - Stereotypes about Black boys
Barbara’s Perspective - White Allies Need a Hand Signal
African Insights - A Different Perspective on Health Care
Recommended Resources - New resources recommended every month
Special Poem - Jacket, by Gary Lark
Conversation Starter - Join us for a scheduled one-hour Zoom conversation
CGC JOURNAL IS EXCITED TO CELEBRATE OUR ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
BLACK WOMEN RISING
Today, Black women are standing tall in the spotlight of America’s adoration. Consider the historic outcome at the Olympics with Black women occupying all three spots on the awards podium for the first time in history. And Simone Biles further cemented her GOAT status with three gold and a silver medal while paying humble homage to the competitor who captured what could’ve been Simone’s fourth gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
This incredible show of Black Girl Magic happened on the heels of an historic launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign that captured the nation’s undivided attention.
Quick note about BGM from Jenee Osterheldt:
Black women are not mythical. Nor superhuman. Our magic is in our realness, our love, and the way we rally around one another.
RULE OF LAW
The Paris Olympics momentarily diverted America’s attention from the history-making launch of Kamala’s campaign, when three Black women occupied every spot on the awards medal podium for the first time in Olympic history. But as the nation refocuses attention on the presidential election campaign, American’s longtime love affair with the sacrosanct “rule of law” will be tested.
In this election, voters face a stark choice. Progressive vs conservative. Young vs old. Female vs male. Black vs White. Law enforcer vs convicted felon.
Vice President Kamala Harris is a former San Francisco District Attorney and California state Attorney General. She was elected to both offices, where she was responsible for prosecuting those who violated the law. She was also elected to the U.S. Senate, where she served as a lawmaker. Then she served as Vice President in the executive branch of government, which is responsible for faithfully executing the law.
In this election, Kamala represents the rule of law.
But despite Kamala’s extraordinary experience with the rule of law, she is also a Black/Asian woman in America. The question is still unresolved whether a majority of White American voters will elect a woman as POTUS, and Kamala brings with her an additional question: Will a majority of White voters (the largest percentage of the electorate at 74%) elect a woman of Black and Asian descent to the highest office in the world’s most powerful country?
BLACK WOMEN IN POWER
Kamala doesn’t stand alone. She is the latest in a long line of Black women rising to unprecedented heights in 21st century America, particularly in the legal profession. New York Attorney General Letitia James made history this year in a historic prosecution of the former president. Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, also made history with a historic RICO indictment of the former president. Sitting on the Supreme Court is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose appointment by President Biden was historic. And now Judge Tanya Chutkan, a Black woman, has been assigned by the Supreme Court the responsibility for a detailed delineation of the Court’s recent ruling that provided limited immunity to a former president. She must now determine which presidential acts fall under the immunity ruling and which do not in the criminal trial she oversees.
But this isn’t the first time Black women have had to stand on the front lines of society and be all things to all people, from representing the nation in global competition to representing the rule of law … and even defending democracy itself from a self-professed dictator, Black women have demonstrated in every generation how much they care about us all. Even when a majority of America responds with hostility.
AMERICA’S UNAPPRECIATED CARETAKERS
America’s most vulnerable populations, and many of its most privileged populations, have historically had a common caretaker: Black women.