Women dominate talks at Brooklyn’s #MeToo Kingdom
Founder of the Me Too movement,Tarana Burke, speaks
during Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute at the BAM Howard
Gilman Opera House on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019.
Photo by Vinette K. Pryce
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Caribbean Life, Feb. 1–7, 2019 11
Distinctly female could well
describe a program presented
by Brooklyn Academy of Music
on the 90th birthday anniversary
of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. and the day dedicated for
a national holiday named for
him.
On an evenly-balanced platform,
featuring opinionated
men and women, the latter
seemed particularly expressive
about the state of the feminine
gender and the one least represented
in the boardrooms of
Fortune 500 companies and
corporate America.
BAM President, Katy Clark,
Congresswoman, Yvette
Clarke, City Council Majority
Speaker, Laurie Cumbo, Firstlady
of NYC, Chirlayne McCray,
keynote speaker Tarana Burke
and a film about a Latina
Civil Rights stalwart named
“Dolores” addressed plights of
feminists’ concerns.
Each presenting numerous
aspects of deficiency and
under-representation within
their ranks they added to a discourse
nationally demonstrated
on a holiday following the
third Women’s March protesting
the Donald Trump presidency
— which is perceived to
be anti-female.
Burke, activist and founder
of the #MeToo Movement amplified
her stance on empowering
women.
“Women get little notice,”
she said.
In order to counteract the
practice, she suggested that
women strategize. In explaining
a process she implemented,
she detailed how she planned
to build a movement.
“Things happen when they
are supposed to happen,” she
said.
She explained that her advocacy
which erupted in 2006 —
by becoming viral — did not
begin that year.
After years working under a
radar the nation took notice.
“It is not a campaign or initiative…
it is a movement that
is actively working to interrupt
sexual violence.”
During her keynote address,
she credited stalwarts whose
names may be unfamiliar and
unheralded.
Chicago-born Diane Nash
who toiled to integrate lunch
counters in Birmingham, Alabama
by leading sit-ins was
deservedly lauded.
Nash also led the Selma
Voting Rights campaigns
and joined Freedom Marches
throughout the south.
Burke also hailed Ella Baker
for her role in becoming ‘the
Mother of the Civil Rights
Movement.”
Marie Foster, another stalwart
of the Civil Rights Movement
also merited mention.
Known as “the Mother of the
Voting Rights Movement, Foster’s
name added to those Burke
praised as trailblazers.
They “envisioned the possibility
of a different world.”
McCray, the mayor’s wife,
endorsed Burke’s message.
“We all share responsibility,”
the First Lady echoed.
Reflective from attending
the Women’s march, she
expressed pride and gratitude
for the election of newly-installed,
youngest ever, Latina,
Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Ortiz. Ocasio spoke
at the rally during the third
national protest.
Perhaps the most alluring
new House member since whipping
her incumbent 10-term
rival Democratic challenger
during last year’s primary elections,
the Bronx-born native
made her very first run for
political office at age 28.
Using a fraction of the budget
doled out by her opponent, she
emerged the first in 14 years to
even challenge the seat.
Catch You On The Inside!
Inside Life
By Vinette K. Pryce
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