AN INTERACTIVE JOURNAL ON CHRISTIAN SOCIAL JUSTICE
The month of March is Women’s History Month – a moment in our calendar to celebrate the contributions of women both in the past and the present (though we should be doing this year round). Often in these types of celebrations, women of privilege are uplifted, or romanticized while women of color and trans women are forgotten or intentionally ignored. In response, here are just 5 different ways to celebrate women – all women.
1. Educate Yourselves
Education, though not the only way to be an ally to women, is a must. Read about the contributions of all women – Black women, Latina women, trans women (trans women are women), Asian women, Native women, alongside white women. Often educational settings and books center the voices of white women; however, books like Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women by Brittney C. Cooper, White Tears/Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad, and BAD INDIANS: A TRIBAL MEMOIR by Deborah Miranda are resources and stories that expand the voices of women.
2. Lift up the women in your own lives.
Women’s History Month is not just for “famous” women. The women in our own lives deserve to be lifted up and empowered. How can you empower the women in your life?
3. Believe Women.
To the men identifying people out there, BELIEVE WOMEN when they need help, when they share a story of abuse, and when they have something to say. Women, especially women of color, are often ignored and dismissed when they voice their needs for mental or physical heath, when they’ve been violated, and when they are denied the autonomy of their own bodies. Believing women starts with deconstructing why we do not believe them…so again…educate yourself and do the inner work.
4. Trans Women are Women.
This statement within itself is a celebration for our trans siblings. Recently, we have seen legislation within our federal and state governments that deny the embodied identity of trans women. Call your representatives and speak out against these bills.
5. Empower Women in Ministry
Women identifying people still experience discrimination and misogyny within the church even if a denomination ordains women. Affirm the call to ministry for women. Hire more head of staff who are women. And speak truth to stories in scripture that both empower women and disempower them. Representation matters. Truth matters.
Just Lists by Unbound was created by the Unbound Team.
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