Facing Race

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit this year's Facing Race conference at Cobo Hall. Facing Race is a national, yearly conference produced by the group, Colorlines, where people from all walks of life meet to talk about all things related to race, culture, and social justice. This three day conference was a culmination of beautiful ideas and even within a sea of what seemed like thousands of people, I still managed to make some great connections with quite a few likeminded people. 

Due to other obliations, I was only able to attend the conference on Friday, which also had the longest schedule of acivities. My day began at 8:30am when I was dropped off at the the front doors of Cobo Hall. After checking in, I went to Hall D, which is where breakfast was served and the first group session took place. During this plenary, we met our hosts for the weekend and got the opportuinty to witness a panel session that included racial activist and organizer Bree Newsome and cultural artist Favianna Rodiriguez. Hearing their opinions and stategies for both resisting and defying the Eurocentric systems of this society was encouraging and uplifting.

The next session I attended was the "Decoloizing Gender" breakout talk. I decided to join this conversation because, as a gender studies minor with an interest in the intersections of Black women, I felt like the information in this session would make me more informed about how the social construct of gender has affected our demographic. The session took place in a small room, which made the atmosphere very intimate. The speaker began by showing appreciation for and acknowledging the Indigenous land that the Cobo center occupies and used this introduction to segway into a short lesson about gender before colonization. He also gave examples of a few historical figures (of color) who defied social gender statuses and allowed us to have conversations with one another about how this history continues to influence us in our lives today. 

The last session I attended (which I was incredibly excited to attend) was the Afrofuturism and Black Horror presentation given by author and screenwriter, Tananarive Due, and Bree Newsome. Ms. Due commenced the talk by telling us stories of her childhood and what factors influenced her to become such an influential leader/ source of knowledge in the Black Horror and science fiction community. She passionately spoke about the lack of representaion of Black women in science fiction and gave a in-depth explanation of the genre of afrofuturism. After that, her and Ms. Newsome answered questions posed by audience members and concluded the session with a special viewing of Bree Newsome's short film, "Wake" (a Black Horror short that takes place in the 1930s south). Before I left, I was able to meet Ms. Newsome and take a photo with her, which literally made my day. 

In conclusion, I was very fortuante to have the opportunity to attend Face Race this year. I was able to meet different commuity leaders and people who are passionate about helping other people and I felt very connected to my culture as well as a multitude of others. I hope that in the future myself, as well as the rest of Black Girls Unite will have the chance to participate in more conversations that shake the proverbial tables country. Fighting the systems that dominate this society is not something that can be done alone and only through organizing, education, and by facilitating much needed conversations, we can make our voices be heard and break the glass ceiling.