This Black History Month we celebrate the courageous, creative and visionary Black activists who make up our movement to end violence against all women and girls and the planet. Each and every day, they push boundaries, build community and create the most astounding art.
Featured are Aimee Allison, Dara Baldwin, Massaran Bibi, Essowèdéou Armande Blakime, Cecila Brenda, Ted Bunch, Christine Schuler Deschryver, Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Lucinda Evans, Irene Garoës, Colani Hlatjwako, Alice Kachere, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Josina Z. Machel, Isata Mahoi, Libakiso Matlho, aja monet, Queen Mosarwe, Dr. Denis Mukwege, Ndioro Ndiaye, Vickenzie Gifty Ofei, Agnes Pareyio, Tony Porter, Kevin Powell, Verdavainne Aboghe Rita, Aminatou Saher, Nyasha Sengayi, Maureen Samulela Tresha, Quentin Walcott, Afia Walkingtree, Mbabazi Zakhia, and Nanfuka Zulaika (List in formation).
| “Our work is to love our own and others, to make justice the law of the land, to create a country where everyone belongs, and to make this American democracy live up to its greatest potential.” – Aimee Allison, (Founder and President of She the People) Support Aimee’s path-making work» |
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| Dara Baldwin, Disability Rights Activist, Director of National Policy for the Center for Disability RightsTo support Dara’s path-making work, please visit: https://cdrnys.org/donate/ |
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| “We need to go past “I’m good” because so many of us — especially men & boys — have been taught that being a man means we have to always hold it down. How are you really?” – Ted Bunch, (Activist and Co-Founder, A Call To Men)To support Ted’s path-making work, please visit: acalltomen.org/donate |
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| “Love is the most precious and contagious thing we see in the life of every person who lives and works at City of Joy. It is that thing and secret which triggers change.” – Christine Schuler Deschryver, (Activist, Co-Founder & Director of City of Joy Leadership Center for Women Survivors of Violence in the Congo and Director of V-Day Congo)To support Christine’s path-making work, please visit: cityofjoycongo.org/donate |
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| Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Artist, Activist and Executive Director of Efforts of Grace and the Áshe Cultural Arts CenterTo support Asali’s path-making work, please visit: https://www.ashenola.org/support-ashe |
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| “Love of self must be love of our true selves, not the pretend versions we’ve had to create in order to survive, not the false person we’ve created in order to exercise dominance, not the false self imposed on us by a cruel and exacting world. No love of the true self, the free self, the nourished and rested self, the liberated and liberating self. This is the kind of love that heals the world. This is fierce love.” – Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, (Senior Minister for Public Theology and Transformation at Middle Church)To support Rev. Jacqui’s path-making work, please visit: middlechurch.org/donate |
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| “for you. freedom dreams. i believe in people and what people can do when self-determined and aware. in real life. these aren’t just words. whatever, and i do mean, WHATEVER we put our minds to we can do and be. if it can be imagined, it is possible.” – aja monet, (Poet, Organizer & V-Day Artistic Creative Director, VOICES)To support aja’s path-making work, please visit: voices.vday.org and ajamonet.com |
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| “It is not just perpetrators of violence who are responsible for crimes, it is also those who choose to look the other way.” – Dr. Dennis Mukwege, (Gynecologist, Founder of Panzi Hospital in the Congo, Co-Founder of City of Joy and Nobel Peace Prize recipient)To support Dr. Mukwege’s path-making work, please visit: panzifoundation.org/donate |
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| “I promised myself, on the day my vagina was mutilated, that I would never let another girl be mutilated – and I am winning. I know all over the world, women are making promises to their sisters and their daughters, to make their lives better. I hope we can all Rise together.” – Agnes Pareyio, (Anti-FGM Activist and V-Day Safe House for the Girls in Kenya/Founder of Tasaru Ntomonok Rescue Center)To support Agnes Pareyio’s path-making work, please visit: bit.ly/3gylge3 |
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| “Simply telling a little boy to ‘stop crying’ is the same as telling him to ‘stop feeling’. Helping him to express how he is feeling is a path to healthy manhood.” – Tony Porter, (Activist and Co-Founder, A Call To Men)To support Tony’s path-making work, please visit: acalltomen.org/donate |
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| “There are lessons everywhere, if we are willing to look, if we are willing to listen.” – Kevin Powell, (Writer and Activist)To support Kevin’s path-making work, please visit: kevinpowell.net |
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| Afia Walkingtree, Educator, Ritualist, Cultural Drummer, One Billion Rising Jamaica Coordinator and Founder of Raise Yuh Voice Jamaica
To support Afia’s path-making work, please visit: https://www.afiawalkingtree.com |
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THE ONE BILLION RISING AFRICA COORDINATORS
Across Africa in March, One Billion Rising Activists are RISING for the Bodies of All Women, Girls & the Earth amplifying the 2022 global call to action. Led by Eswatini-based Colani Hlatjwako, director of One Billion Rising Africa (OBR Africa), and a team of Africa-based coordinators representing 20 countries on the continent including: Swaziland/Eswatini, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Togo, Ghana, Uganda, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Congo, Mozambique, Gabon, Namibia, Mali, Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, and Rwanda.
OBR Africa is part of the global campaign One Billion Rising– the biggest mass action to end violence against women (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender-based violence) in human history. One Billion Rising, which originally launched on Valentine’s Day 2013, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime, equaling more than one billion women and girls based on the current global population. One Billion Rising activists have unleashed vast grassroots, anti-violence actions locally, nationally and globally. This visionary work has been survivor-led and focused, all the while revealing the power of art and activism to change culture and systems.
The One Billion Rising Africa Coordinators are:
Massaran Bibi, One Billion Rising Mali Coordinator; Essowèdéou Armande Blakime, One Billion Rising Togo Coordinator; Cecilia Brenda, One Billion Rising Kenya Coordinator; Christine Schuler Deschryver, One Billion Rising Democratic Republic of Congo Coordinator; Omodele Ibitoye Ejen, One Billion Rising Nigeria Coordinator; Lucinda Evans, One Billion Rising South Africa Coordinator; Irene Garoës, One Billion Rising Namibia Coordinator; Colani Hlatjwako, One Billion Rising Africa Regional Coordinator; Alice Kachere, One Billion Rising Malawi Coordinator; Josina Z. Machel, One Billion Rising Mozambique Coordinator; Isata Mahoi, One Billion Rising Sierra Leone Coordinator; Libakiso Matlho, One Billion Rising Lesotho Coordinator; Queen Mosarwe, One Billion Rising Botswana Coordinator; Ndioro Ndiaye, One Billion Rising Senegal Coordinator; Vickenzie Gifty Ofei, One Billion Rising Ghana Coordinator; Verdavainne Aboghe Rita, One Billion Rising Gabon Coordinator; Aminatou Saher, One Billion Rising Cameroon Coordinator; Nyasha Sengayi, One Billion Rising Zimbabwe Coordinator; Maureen Samulela Tresha, One Billion Rising Zambia Coordinator; Mbabazi Zakhia, One Billion Rising Rwanda Coordinator; Nanfuka Zulaika, One Billion Rising Uganda Coordinator
To learn more about One Billion Rising, visit onebillionrising.org.
