The U.N. is the site of this event:
Black Women’s Blueprint cordially invites you to the 2016 Tribunal of the U.S. Black Women’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a four day event from April 28-May 1, 2016, to be held as a part of the International Decade of People of African Descent at the United Nations.
The Truth Commission reflects a continued process five years in the making, involving national grassroots activism, direct service healing practice and participatory action research by Black Women’s Blueprint and survivors across the country on sexual violence as a human rights atrocity against women and girls of African descent past and present, which has never been acknowledged or sufficiently addressed.
The Black Women’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is the first of its kind in the nation to focus on rape and sexual assault against Black women in the United States. Women and girls of African descent, many of whom were denied access and assistance from the criminal justice system, began to organize, realizing their own and collective transformation could not happen without public recognition and acknowledgment of the injustices and harms they had experienced.
Out of these early discussions—first in New York City, and later in cities across the country such as Washington D.C., New Orleans, Mississippi, and Chicago—the BWTRC was born. Our Mandates: Truth. Justice. Healing. Reconciliation.
The Black Women’s Blueprint can be accessed on two websites, one of which focusses on the basis of Black Women’s truth, usually the too-close-to-home domestic violence that is ignored, buried and/or unexpressed. On visiting this site I felt, “When encountered by those different, isn’t color the first thing rendered of no value, a lie? A rejected aspect of being human, not to be engaged or embraced?” Then I noticed several articles led to 404 pages. Okay, so this site, despite its claim, may not be official….
Impressively, the Blueprint site opens with a video asking the hard question, “What Does This Nation Owe to Black Women?” Several women answer thoughtfully.
Further down on the page, another video may be accessed: “How Does Sexual Violence Affect Homes and Communities?” Different women discuss the issues and some touch on possible solutions.
Obviously this is a discussion that must be held. I’ve reserved my free ticket. Here’s the link to get yours, and it also provides the schedule.
