Recap: Black Feminist Writers and Palestine

The Zoom event reached sign-up capacity and discussed Black women’s solidarity with Palestine.

Black Women Radicals collage by Doriana Diaz via Instagram

This past Sunday, advocacy organization Black Women Radicals hosted a Zoom event called Black Feminist Writers and Palestine. Here, the organization, which empowers Black women leaders, hosted six reporters, activists, writers, and scholars to acknowledge the war on Palestine and the history of Black people and Palestinians.

Featured panelists included Angela Davis, Clarissa Brooks, Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Breya Johnson, Briona Simone Jones, and Dr. Jaimee A. Swift. The past-capacity Zoom also touched on the caliber of Black feminists’ literary and political presence about solidarity with Palestine. These feminists, young and old, have made commitments to advocate against apartheid and for liberation.

Davis, a revolutionary activist, scholar, author, and philosopher, noted activist and writer June Jordan as a long-time trailblazer. Guy-Sheftall also said her pledge to liberate Palestine was rooted in collaboration and allyship with Black feminists, particularly writer, historian, activist, and professor Barbara Ransby. Guy-Sheftall is the founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center of Women’s Studies at Spelman College. 2011, she also participated in the Indigenous and Women of Color Feminist Delegation to Palestine.

Black Women Radicals has a blog titled Voices in Movement to understand the impact Black women and gender-expansive people have on the political climate. The blog documents interviews, conversations, activism, and issues from various voices, one being Toni Morrison on Palestine. The organization also offers a database, an education initiative, and solidarity projects.