Giving Voice

This past weekend thousands of women attended the 2018 Summit of the United States of Women in Los Angeles, California. This summit occurs every two years to coincide with midterm elections in order to keep people civically engaged. I attended their event here in Chicago in 2016. (We can read more about USOW here https://www.theunitedstateofwomen.org. ) While there were many amazing organizations in the exhibitor forum such as Chicago Black Women in Tech (CBWiT), TransLatina Coalition, or AAPI Women Lead, many highly influential and remarkable women, like the co-founders of Black Lives Matter Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors, the original founder of the Me Too Movement Tarana Burke, Minnesota City Councilwoman Andrea Jenkins (first openly black, transgender public elected official), and many more gave inspirational calls to action. But the main highlight of the summit was an interview of Our Forever First Lady, Michelle Obama, by actress Tracee Ellis Ross. A lot of the conversation centered around what Womanist Words is all about...giving voice and how we can teach our mini-Queens, our Queens-in-Training that skill, that purpose, that calling. Enjoy!