Like many over the past week, I have been tuning into numerous Olympic events, and gymnastics has been one of my favorites–not only because I love watching very skilled women do some incredible feats but because 16-year-old Gabby Douglas–the second African American woman gymnast to make the U.S. Olympic team–led her squad to an Olympic […]
Author: Francesca Witcher
Francesca graduated from Miami University in 2010 with a B.A. in Journalism, Black World Studies, with a minor in Political Science. She worked as an Ambassador for the Miami University Women’s Center. While there she was a writer and editor of the semester newsletter titled The Femellectual, planned and coordinated the annual Women of Color Celebration, and organized events around issues concerning domestic violence, body image, and women of color on Miami’s campus. In addition, she served in other campus activist organizations such as the Miami University’s National Association for the Advancement of Color People (NAACP) as the Membership Chair, where she played an active role in organizing and recruiting students for membership with the chapter. Francesca organizes campuses in the Mid-Atlantic region & Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Standing With Sisters in the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
This week, more than 20,000 people from around the world, including scientists, medical doctors, sex workers, and AIDS activists, have been convening at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center for the XIX International AIDS Conference, the theme of which is “Turning the Tide Together.” The international conference hasn’t been in the U.S. for 22 years, because […]
How Students at Historically Black Colleges Drove the Mississippi “Personhood” Defeat
When I was asked to come to Mississippi about three weeks ago to organize students against Initiative 26, or the so-called “personhood” amendment, I honestly did not know if we even had a chance of winning. The amendment could have made abortion illegal and banned hormonal birth control, including the Pill. Because Mississippi, the bedrock […]