Gender Justice

Travelers’ Insurance Diversity Program for Black History Month (February 2021)

The WNY Peace Center, in celebration of Black History month, invites you to participate in activities to support women in the intersection – Women of Color (and/or who are part of some other marginalized group), a key demographic in our efforts.

Please join us in that– check out our initiatives, event calendars, Talking Peace News; and/or become a member. Also, please spread the word!

In the spirit of fighting the evils of poverty as identified by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the WNY Peace Center also asks that you donate in-kind items any of the following:

• Art Supplies for WNY Peace Center’s youth programming (including PeaceJam for youth 11+) contact Deidra 716-332-3904 or  office@wnypeace.org.
• Every Bottom Covered Diaper Bank – Women with Children https://www.everybottomcovered.org
• Kirby’s Korner Inc. – Women whose children have different abilities https://kirbyskornerinc.org/contact-us
• Colored Girls Bike Too – Women and Health https://gobikebuffalo.org/jalonda-hill-colored-girls-bike-too/
• Mona’s House – WNY Women and Human Trafficking https://www.projectmonashouse.com/
• Black Farmers United of NYS – https://www.blackfarmersunited.org/

Reading List for the Intersection:  Black History Month / Women’s March

1. Kendall, Mikki. Hood Feminism. Viking, 2020. A potent and electrifying critique of today’s feminist movement announcing a fresh new voice in Black feminism.
2. Brooks-Bertram, Dr. Peggy. Dear Kamala. Indiana University Press/Red Lightning Books, 2021. Local author/educator’s new book of letters to Vice President Harris; 20 Buffalo women among those featured, including Betty Jean Grant, Eva Doyle, Sandra Williams Bush, Sharon Holley, Vonetta T. Rhodes, Joan Simmons, Shirley Sarmiento. Zawadi Books, 1382 Jefferson Ave, Buffalo 14208; 12-4pm Weds, Fri, Sat or call 716-903-6740.
3. Morrison, Toni.  The Source of Self-Regard. Penguin Random House, 2019. Arguably the most celebrated and revered writer of our time now gives us a new nonfiction collection—a rich gathering of her essays, speeches, and meditations on society, culture, and art, spanning four decades.
4. Grant, Betty Jean. Falling Through the Crack. XLibris Publishing Co,, 2008. WNYPC Board Member, We Are Women Warriors Leader, and Former County Legislator Betty Jean Grant’s poetry. Zawadi Books, 1382 Jefferson Ave, Buffalo 14208; 12-4pm Weds, Fri, Sat or call 716-903-6740.
5. Jones, Martha S. Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All. Basic Books, 2020. The epic history of African American women’s pursuit of political power — and how it transformed America.
6. Carruthers, Charlene A. Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements. Beacon Press, 2019. A manifesto from one of America’s most influential activists which disrupts political, economic, and social norms by reimagining the Black Radical Tradition.
7. West, Cornel. Black Prophetic Fire. Beacon Press, 2014. An unflinching look at 19^th and 20^th Century African American leaders and their visionary legacies. Including Ella Baker and Ida B. Wells.
8. Oluo, Ijeoma. So you want to talk about race. SealPress, NYC, 2019. Guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American live.
9. King, Dr. Bernice A. Hard Questions, Heart Answers. Broadway Books, Bantam Doubleday Dell, NYC, 1996. the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King, is an ordained minister, an attorney, and one of this country’s most admired speakers. As this remarkable collection of her sermons and speeches makes clear, she shares with her father a rare gift for oratory and the wisdom and compassion to inspire others.
10. Tubbs, Anna Malaika. The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation. Coming out shortly. BurningBooks.com
11. Kendi, Ibram x. Four hundred souls. One World Press, 2021. Coming out shortly.
12. Kendi, Ibram X. How Ro Be An Antiracist. One World Random House, NYC, 2019. A bracingly original approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society, and in ourselves.
13. Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. Vintage Books Random House, NYC, 1962/1992. A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two “letters,” written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as “sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle…all presented in searing, brilliant prose,” The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of our literature.