Racial Justice March to Center Black Women and Girls

By Miriam Zoila Pu00e9rez Sep 28, 2017

On Saturday (September 30), the March for Racial Justice (M4RJ) will wind its way through Washington, D.C. Per the event website, the march was planned by Black and Indigenous leaders "to create a just and equitable future for communities of color and others harmed by White supremacy, so that we may all thrive together." Organizers picked the date because it is the anniversary of the massacre of 100+ Black sharecroppers in Elaine, Arkansas, in 1919.

The March for Black Women (M4BW) will literally and figuratively center the action, as groups representing Black women and girls lead a march within the march. As M4RJ writes in an endorsement of M4BW:

The March for Racial Justice strives to advance the demolition of systemic inequality and its causes in America. This includes ensuring that women of color—especially Black women—are centered in our efforts. We have seen the contributions, stories and experiences of Black transgender and cisgender women minimized or altogether erased from the history of fighting against racialized violence and for racial justice throughout history in all respects. This erasure is unacceptable and we must be intentional about transforming this narrative to shine light on our full humanity and value the intersections in which we live.

Per the M4BW website, organizers aim to "denounce the propagation of state-violence and the widespread incarceration of Black women and girls, rape and all sexualized violence, the murders and brutalization of transwomen and the disappearances of our girls from our streets, our schools and our homes."

“We are marching to say that Black women’s lives matter, that Black mamas matter, and to call for an end to systems and policies that deny our dignity, from bans on abortion coverage to mass incarceration," Monica Simpson, co-chair of the M4BW and executive director of SisterSong, told Colorlines.

The dual marches will take participants through the National Mall, past the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court. Details on the routes are available at MamaBlack.org. There are more than a dozen sister marches and town halls planned nationwide for those who can’t make it to Washington D.C.