AAPF would like to extend our deepest gratitude to our wonderful supporters and donors for all that you’ve done in 2015. On this Giving Tuesday, pledge your continued support for intersectional social justice! Your contributions will allow AAPF’s efforts to break the silence on the marginalization of women and girls of color to continue into 2016 and beyond.
2015 has been a tremendous year for the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) -- a unique think tank that engages with wide-ranging audiences to advance an intersectional, structural approach to racial and gender justice. From #SayHerName to #BlackGirlsMatter, our work to shed light on the barriers to equality facing Black women and girls reached across the country and globe, impacting a diverse audience of policy makers, activists, media, academics, and concerned stakeholders.
AAPF has also engaged in widespread community outreach and social media advocacy initiatives. On May 20th, 2015, AAPF hosted #SayHerName: A Vigil in Memory of Black Women and Girls Killed by the Police at Union Square in New York City. Family members of Black women killed by police came together from across the country for the first time in a powerful vigil designed to uplift their loved ones' stories. The #SayHerName hashtag -- coined by AAPF in February 2015 -- has come to represent the burgeoning movement to uplift the stories of Black women killed by the police.
AAPF extended its “Breaking the Silence” town hall series -- hearings held in cities throughout the country to elevate the disenfranchisement women and girls of color experience in regards to a range of issues including: school discipline, incarceration, state-sanctioned violence, domestic violence, foster care, trafficking, and housing discrimination. In 2015 AAPF partnered with local organizations to bring Breaking the Silence to cities including New Orleans, Miami, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. As another level of Breaking the Silence, over the summer we convened an intergenerational group of women and girls of color from across the country for “Breaking Silence: An Arts, Action, and Healing Summer Camp.” At the Breaking Silence Summer Camp we created an unprecedented space to share stories, uplift spirits, and fight for justice using artistic modes of expression.
AAPF also continued to organize timely virtual events that garnered thousands of attendees. These included #HerDreamDeferred, a weeklong webinar series on the status of Black women in society; and Spring Valley is Everywhere, a response to the brutal assault at Spring Valley High.
AAPF continued its work on #WhyWeCantWait, a campaign calling for the inclusion of girls and women of color – alongside boys and men – in racial justice policy initiatives. We released open letters, wrote op-eds, showed up on TV and radio and produced a series of nationally-broadcast webinars calling for the inclusion of women and girls in racial justice initiatives, particularly President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper. As part of the campaign, in May 2015 AAPF held a seminal Researchers Convening at Columbia Law School, in which academics whose work focuses on Black women and girls came together to advocate for increased research support from academic and political institutions.
In November -- after over a year of advocacy and an op-ed by Kimberlé in the Washington Post on why we cannot wait to support Black women and girls -- the White House launched an $118 million initiative targeted toward women and girls of color.
We are immensely grateful for the supporters who have helped make all of this possible -- but our work is far from done, and we can’t do it without you.
About the AfricanAmericanPolicyForum Founded in 1996, AAPF was developed as part of an ongoing effort to promote women’s rights in the context of struggles for racial equality. It serves as an information clearinghouse that works to bridge the gap between scholarly research and public debates on questions of inequality, discrimination and injustice.
