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<\/a>\u201cThis is the second year for the Womxn of Color Symposium. The symposium offers a space for womxn of color to discuss shared and divergent experiences, and connect and build a network of support to maximize self-actualization in our society,\u201d said Malaika Bell, program manager for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. <\/p>\n\u201cCharlene Gilbert, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, an academic and leader, will start the day\u2019s conversation. During dinner, we will wrap up with Denice Frohman, a queer, Puerto Rican poet, performer and activist,\u201d Bell continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cWomxn of Color includes as many identities as there are womxn. Our experience, skin color and background are all unique, but we are all subject to the same systems of traditional power structures and messages of inadequacy that can erode our senses of personal power,\u201d Bell said. \u201cWe want to use this time and space to learn and share together and focus on bringing our voices together, so we don\u2019t just use them, we will be using them to create a better world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The committee chose to use womxn (with an \u201cx\u201d) to emphasize that the symposium embraces an intersectional approach and is inclusive of all womxn: transgender womxn, womxn of color, womxn from developing countries, and any womxn who feel marginalized by society\u2019s expectations of women.<\/p>\n
The Womxn of Color Symposium will take place Monday, March 18, from 1 to 7 p.m. in the Thompson Student Union Ingman Room. Frohman will speak at 5:30 p.m. <\/p>\n