Ambitious, Imperfect, and Bold: Inside the Womxn of Color Summit
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” — Maya Angelou
Last week, the universe and serendipity teamed up to bring me to the Womxn of Color Summit. Organized by Harpinder Mann and Irene Lo, the Womxn of Color Summit was a digital week-long summit focused on creative living, storytelling, and healing from women and nonbinary people of color. The first of its kind, the event was hosted through a combination of Zoom and Instagram Live. As with anything involving technology and emotions, it was imperfect and sometimes awkward, but it was also honest, insightful, and unapologetic — qualities that embody my own feminine experience.
The summit really shined when it came to its focus on community. Leading up to the event, you could sign up for a “soul buddy,” in which you would be paired with another attendee with whom you could check-in, share experiences and revelations, and begin forging a deeper relationship. Throughout the week there were further opportunities for connection, whether it was a group yoga class, collective meditation, poetry sharing, or a spirited Q&A at the end of a panel. Hosted primarily through Zoom, the organizers often made use of the breakout rooms feature. This allowed large groups to attend seminars and workshops, then convene in smaller groups to reflect and discuss before rejoining the larger group. It also allowed the illusion of “being in the room.” When doing soul work in groups, one of the most important aspects is energy. Even when you’re sitting in silence, you can still feel the energy of the group humming throughout the room. By constantly encouraging dialogue throughout each workshop, this energy exchange was able to be simulated and there were several beautiful moments throughout the week where it felt like we were really together.
Each day of the summit was dedicated to a different step on the journey to self-actualization; Realization, Decolonization, Reclamation, Connection, and Inspiration. What was most moving was observing how all the women in attendance were in different parts of this journey. Some were just beginning, this summit their first step in a much larger self-awakening. Others had been on this path a while, still learning and listening and growing. Much like the guests in attendance, the panel speakers also came from all walks of life. Some were experts in their field sharing the results of their many years’ research, others were enthusiastic hobbyists sharing their anecdotal experiences with their passions. I found this programming to be bold, in that it forced me to reflect on what it means to be an “expert,” a “master,” an “authority.” Who is to say that someone educated outside of an institution is not an expert in their own right? Who decided that institutions are the gatekeepers of conferring authority?
Who decided that institutions are the gatekeepers of conferring authority?
The conference was billed as being for BIWOC — Black, Indigenous, and Womxn of Color — and this is where my one critique of the conference comes in. The term “BIPOC” — and resulting iterations such as “BIWOC” and “BIMOC” — is a more inclusive replacement for the catchall “POC” that intentionally centers Black and Indigenous people, as they are some of the harshest recipients of American™ racism and yet so often decentered from the conversation. I felt that the organizers and panelists did an excellent job of honoring Indigenous people. Almost every panel started with the host acknowledging the occupied land that they were living on in an effort to recognize the forced sacrifice of Indigenous Americans. As a Black woman, I appreciated this reverence and transparency, but I did not see it fully mirrored for Black people. It was there: some workshops such as Aisha Nash’s Breaking Up with Diet Culture took the time to acknowledge the inherent racism that informs many modern-day practices, while others like Dr. Hazel Cebrun’s The African Roots of Modern Medicine focused exclusively on the contributions made to society — both willingly and unwillingly — by people of the African diaspora. These instances were beautiful, but this energy did not feel like a constant presence throughout the conference. Perhaps this is because it’s a bit more difficult to name Black sacrifice. It’s not as simple as acknowledging the land one’s sitting on but acknowledging who was forcefully brought to it, tilled it, cultivated it, served those that stole it, and were ultimately murdered on it. To be clear: this is not a game of Oppression Olympics. I am not comparing the loss of Indigenous Americans to the loss of Black people, but I am asking: how can we succinctly acknowledge the latter in a respectful way? Is “succinct” even possible? I challenge the hosts — and all of us — to explore and find out.
Overall, my favorite part of the Womxn of Color Summit was its ambition. That two women of color would endeavor to take on something so bold. That a community would get behind them and help push it to the finish line. That all the womxn in attendance would dare to take their lives into their own hands and pursue healing, when this world claims it can only function if women are broken, tired, empty, and small. This ambition was the lifeline of the conference and tangible through the screen — womxn choosing joy, womxn choosing love, womxn choosing themselves. I left at the end of the week feeling stronger, more inspired, and excited knowing that there were women out there doing the same work, looking inward, and daring to put themselves first.
Imani Vaughn-Jones
Atlanta-based actress and writer. Firm believer in active love and the Oxford comma. The world is your oyster — grab some hot sauce.