An Ode to 9 Black Women Creating History, Today.
After the dread of the past presidential administration, my renewed energy for the new year that began with Inauguration Day 2021 can be best described as #BlackHope. The coordinated shades-of-purple outfits to honor the suffragette movement, poems from skinny Black girls raised by single mothers, and the light that comes after emerging from horror, all filled me with gratitude for Black women who have been leading the way and are now being seen.
Mainstream textbooks and high school history classes may have excluded Black women from being counted as nation builders. But if you know our country’s difficult history, you must acknowledge that we continue to create and sustain our communities through structural transformations and demand no less than equality for all.
After four years of overt anti-Blackness and a mismanaged pandemic that is killing us at twice the rate of white folks, we are winning 2021. Because. Of. Black. Women.
Now more than ever, Black women’s voices, leadership, and excellence have to be centered, for our imperfect nation to achieve true racial and health equity. In honor of Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 10 and the beauty that is Women’s History Month, I want to applaud some of the countless Black pioneers who are excelling at the undoubted intersections of race and health today. Let us give out our own flowers, while we’re still here.
1.Black Lives Matter was realized by 3 Black and queer women — Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrisse Cullors. BLM has forced a racial awakening, which has finally started to connects the dots of why Black people have the worst health outcomes among all Americans. Watching our people die from COVID at almost twice the rate of white Americans, BLM has started driving much-needed funds towards those most in need. As a Black woman leading the nation’s only uniquely and unapologetically Black HIV organization, it gives me such pride to see these three sisters lead the iconic civil rights organization of our times. BLACK WOMEN BUILD MOVEMENTS.
2. Stacey Abrams turned Georgia blue, gave us two Democrat Senators and a much-needed Congressional majority, highlighted the necessary work of community organizing, and has laid the groundwork for many elections to come. It is no coincidence that Georgia, which harbors rampant voter suppression, is also a part of the 16 southern states that now have 52% of the nation’s HIV infections, all among Black people. While many have returned to life as usual, Stacey continues to fight. In retaliation to the recent Jim Crow-ish voter suppression bills passed by Georgia Republicans, Stacey has fought back with the “For the People Act”, an election-reform bill that just passed in the House.
Her long-game political playbook that won us Georgia in 2020, is already planning widespread action in the states she expects will turn blue in 2024. Black AIDS Institute’s Black Treatment Advocates Network team has just wrapped up its voter mobilization in Georgia. We’re ready to once again be a part of Stacey’s evolving vision in the South, where the greatest impact of HIV is borne by Black Americans. BLACK WOMEN ROCK THE VOTE.
In February, both Stacey Abrams and Black Lives Matter were nominated for a Pulitzer Peace Prize.
3. Vice President Kamala Harris has defied the insurmountable odds of being a bi-racial woman of color, a child of immigrants, and an outspoken political candidate. Her mantra of being the first but definitely not the last paves the way for the political ambitions of many women of color. I remember crying from hopelessness as I watched the regime of the past four years take office while being thankful that my oldest son was too young to understand the justified fear disenfranchised communities.
This inauguration, I cried tears of joy as I explained to my son the significance of Madame Vice President Kamala Devi Harris being the first Black woman to serve in the second-highest position in the country, also being sworn into office by the first Latinx Supreme Court Justice. When Vice President Harris took her oath he said, ‘she looks like my GiGi!” More tears flowed. As Black AIDS Institute continues to advocate for structural healthcare reform to end HIV in Black communities, I’m optimistic about the Vice President’s commitment to resurrecting the Affordable Care Act, which will revive basic healthcare rights that we all deserve but most Black Americans don’t receive. I’m also looking forward to her bringing color and culture back into the house that our ancestors built. BLACK WOMEN LEAD.
4. Dr. Kizzy Corbett is literally saving lives today by leading the development of Moderna’s COVID vaccine. I’m especially grateful that she has used her scientific expertise and her platform to be necessarily vocal about the reality of medical mistrust in Black communities. While all three COVID vaccines will soon be readily available to all of us, historic and current-day medical racism that Black people experience prevent us from benefiting from the same scientific advancements our white American counterparts do.
Kizzy’s professional brilliance and her community-centered voice remind me of the resilience and determination of all our Black girls who achieve academic excellence despite the weight of daily misogynoir in too many settings. As Black AIDS Institute translates lessons from the HIV movement that has left Black people behind, we are determined to use role models like Kizzy in our ongoing COVID education for Black communities. BLACK WOMEN SAVE LIVES.
5. Roz Brewer, who runs Walgreens, is currently the only Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 and leads COVID vaccine distribution for the retail giant. For hundreds of years, Black people have been systemically excluded from biomedical advances like vaccinations, medication, and medical devices that white Americans easily accessed. While a daily pill called PrEP that prevents HIV has been around since 2012, many Black people who are at the highest risk for HIV still don’t know about it or can’t easily access it.
When leaders like Roz, who have championed racial equality throughout their entire career, are in decision-making positions, lifesaving tools like the COVID vaccine have a higher chance of actually reaching Black people. Because we are dying from COVID at almost twice the rate of white Americans. As the Black AIDS Institute educates Black people about the COVID vaccine, we know that along with awareness must come access. BLACK WOMEN BUILD ENTERPRISE.
6. Tori Cooper represents the Black trans leadership that has been undermined in our nation’s whitewashed storytelling of the LGBTQ advocacy movement. In fact, Tori’s recent hire as Human Rights Commission’s Director of Community Engagement would not have been possible without HRC’s current President, Alphonzo David being hired as the first Black leader of the nation’s oldest and largest LGBTQ advocacy organization.
Tori’s leadership as a Black transgender woman signals to our nation that people of color are the backbones of the LGBTQ movement and it’s our time to be heard. And yes, trans women ARE women. With almost half of Black trans women living with HIV, the Black AIDS Institute aims to use our platforms to amplify their power and their vulnerability. BLACK WOMEN TRANSFORM MINDSETS.
7. Venita Ray is truly the best of us. Black women have led and nurtured the HIV movement without receiving much ado. Her unapologetically Black voice is essential to ending the epidemic among our people. She has transformed her own experience of living with HIV and her highly qualified legal skills into the community leadership that inspires all of us.
Venita is trailblazing concepts of rejecting white supremacy and framing HIV as the anti-Black issue that it is. Her role as the Co-Executive Director of the Positive Women’s Network, a nationwide community of women living with HIV, has highlighted how Black leadership at HIV organizations is essential to mirror the life experiences of those we’re trying to serve. BLACK WOMEN END EPIDEMICS.
A month isn’t enough to honor Black women and their exemplary nation-building. I’m grateful to these icons of freedom who are everyday women doing extraordinary things so we may all survive and thrive.
Raniyah Copeland is the President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. She has devoted her career to ending HIV in Black America by framing the epidemic as a racial justice issue, building Black leaders, and amplifying her uniquely and unapologetically Black voice. Learn more about and connect with Raniyah here.
