Guest Post: Feminist Camp Day 2 by Miracle Davis

Feminist Camp Day 2:

                It is currently 1:12 Am and the fat lady has sung so that means that the party is over! The topic for today was Power & Impact. This powerful day began with us talking with Courtney Harvey at Women Moving Millions. Even though we were there to listen to Courtney, my take away message came from talking with Chantal Bonitto (pictured above) who is the Director of Community Engagement at Women Moving Millions. 

From a personal one on one conversation I better understood the idea of not letting people place you place yourself, meaning from my own personal experience when people around me say that I can’t do certain things because of where I from (Newport News, VA), or what I am (African American) I can’t allow that to bother me and make me stagnant, I have to prove that I can do whatever it is that I choose and go wherever I please. 

The party bus picked up Symone New (not pictured) who is a part of the Doula Project. The whole concept of a Doula was/still is new to me. A Doula is a woman who is trained to assist another woman during childbirth and who may provide support to the family after the baby is born. It was interesting to note that there are 3 types of doula: birth, antepartum, and postpartum which have different but equal responsibly for the woman in which they assist. 

After Dropping Symone off we swung by 222 Broadway and had a very impactful discussion with the women of the Women and Justice Project, While here, I heard the most painful yet beautiful testimonies from 3 amazing women who were shackled while pregnant, and faced problems with parenting while incinerated yet they’ve since been released and have excelled tremulously; from these women, I learned that you can’t pass judgment on a person without understanding their full story.

Our next stop was the Bar Association. The American Bar Association, founded in 1878, is one of the world’s largest voluntary professional organizations. During our meeting with Marie- Claude Jean-Baptiste and Susan Kath I was made aware that I was completely oblivious to the things happening all over the world. 

Lastly, we volunteered at the Sanctuary for Families Zero Tolerance Benefit Gala which is a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding victims of domestic violence and their children. Here is where I met one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, Grandmaster Flash! 

Feminist Camp just gets better and better with each passing day!