Decolonizing Feminism: Transnational Solidarity for Gender and Racial Equality

On April 8, the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and the Romani Studies Program of the Central European University will organize a panel discussion entitled Decolonizing Feminism. Transnational Solidarity for Gender and Racial Equality, which will center the issue of global solidarities among women of color. Patricia Hill Collins, a celebrated social theorist and the author of “Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment” will participate in a conversation with African American, Dalit, Palestinian, and Romani feminist scholars and activists.

The panel is organized in partnership with Black Lives Matter, Boston; and the Black Student Union. We are also very grateful for the kind support of Harvard Divinity School’s Harambee Students of African Descent, the Religious Studies Department, and Professor Amy Hollywood.

The struggles of African American, Dalit, Palestinian, and Romani women have many parallels. From past sufferings to a continuum of racialized and gendered oppression, they are victims of similar systems of unjust patriarchy, dogmas, policies, laws, and actions. Yet, social movements continue to isolate their struggles versus building upon the power of global shared experiences.

This panel discussion will focus on the connection of struggles, political tactics, and paths, examining how to build momentum for a joint global solidarity movement against oppression in which women of color are at the frontier.

We aim to discuss and create solidarity among racialized women across the world by using the struggles of African American, Dalit, Palestinian, and Romani women as focal points for more general inquiry and discussion. We also seek to harness reciprocal support, learning, and cooperation from intersectional feminists across different geographies and social movements.

AGENDA

Welcome remarks | 4:00pm

Angela Kocze, Assistant Professor of Romani Studies, Central European University

Karlene Griffiths Sekou, Founder and Principal of the Dignity Project International and a Core

Leader for Black Lives Matter Boston

Panel Discussion “The Romani Women’s Movement Volume” | 4:05 pm

Chair | Margareta Matache, Director of the Roma Program, Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights

Contributor |Alexandra Oprea, Lawyer, Columbia University

Contributor | Debra Schultz, Author of “Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement”

Contributor | Carol Silverman, Professor of Anthropology and Folklore, University of Oregon

Contributor | Eniko Vincze, Professor, Babes-Bolyai University, International Relations and European Studies Department

Contributor | Viola Zentai, Co-Director, Center for Policy Studies, Central European University

Panel Discussion “Solidarity among Intersectional Feminists” | 5:15 pm

Chair | Karlene Griffiths Sekou, Founder and Principal of the Dignity Project International and a Core Leader for Black Lives Matter Boston

Contributor | Patricia Hill Collins, Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park

Contributor | Jelena Jovanovic, Policy and Research Coordinator at the European Roma Grassroots Organizations (ERGO) Network

Contributor | Suhad Khatib, San Francisco based artist, designer, filmmaker, and community organizer

Contributor | Angela Kocze, Assistant Professor of Romani Studies, Central European University

Contributor | Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Executive Director, Equality Labs

Discussant | Koa Beck, Joan Shorenstein Fellow, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and

Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Conclusions | 6:45 pm

Jacqueline Bhabha, Director of Research, Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights

For inquiries, contact Margareta Matache, instructor, Harvard FXB Center, and director of the Roma Program at Harvard. Email: mmatache@hsph.harvard.edu.

We will be live streaming the conference on the Harvard FXB Center’s Facebook page, so check in there if you cannot attend.  Please note that the event is free and open to the public, however, seating is limited.

Art by Suhad Khatib / Liberation Art, 2018