YWCA Madison will attempt to bring the community together to take a Stand Against Racism today as it hopes to unite people together as it takes part in the YWCA USA’s national campaign.

“Basically, the YWCA national has this campaign that we do every year – this is our 10th year doing this – in which we have a Stand Against Racism campaign,” YWCA Madison Interim CEO Vanessa Mc Dowell tells Madison365. “This particular year, the theme is ‘Women of Color Leading Change.’ Each YWCA across the nation participates in some way around that theme.”

Stand Against Racism is a signature campaign of YWCA USA to build community among those who work for racial justice and to raise awareness about the negative impact of institutional and structural racism in our communities. This campaign is one part of the YWCA’s larger national strategy to fulfill its mission of eliminating racism.

Vanessa McDowell
Vanessa McDowell

“It is always critical to elevate the discussion about racism in our community, particularly in this challenging political climate,” McDowell says. “While much work needs to be done, YWCA Madison is excited to have the opportunity to highlight some of the outstanding work being led by women of color, as well as to converse about some of the challenges in leading during these difficult times.”

From today through Sunday, an anticipated 750 events will take place across the country including public policy advocacy, community education, and public proclamations.

“Here in Madison, we’ve chosen to do a webinar on ‘Women of Color Leading Change’ and we will have three fantastic speakers and I will be facilitating the discussion on Thursday at noon,” says McDowell of this collaboration with Forward Community Investments who will co-host the webinar with YWCA Madison.

Sagashus Levingston
Sagashus Levingston

Presenters will include Sabrina “Heymiss Progress” Madison, founder of the Black Women’s Leadership Conference; Sagashus T. Levingston, founder and author of “Infamous Mothers;” and Annahid Dashtgard, who is the facilitator of “Break Open, Bust Out: Authentic Leadership for Women of Color.”

“We are going to have a conversation about the topic of Women of Color Leading Change and it should be pretty interesting,” says McDowell. “We are going to learn a little bit of the work that the three women are doing in their respective communities and talk about some of the challenges to doing that work.”

Sabrina Madison
Sabrina Madison

Participants in YWCA’s Stand Against Racism will range from schoolchildren to elected officials, from executives of large corporations to church leaders, and many others.

“Folks can go to our website and find the information about the webinar and people can register. There will be an opportunity for them to take a pledge at the end to stand against racism,” McDowell says. “We’re just asking people to tune into the webinar but we’re also asking companies and surrounding organizations to also tune in and make it a bag lunch series for their organizations to listen to the webinar and discuss what they hear if they choose to.”

Today’s YWCA Takes a Stand Against Racism is just one of the many initiatives of YWCA Madison, whose mission is to eliminate racism and empower women. Coming soon on May 23 at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, the YWCA Madison will present the 44th annual Women of Distinction Leadership Awards to women who represent outstanding achievement in their field of endeavor during their upcoming Moxie Conference.

“We’re excited about the Moxie Conference coming up soon and we are already starting to prepare for the YWCA Racial Justice Summit that will take place in the fall,” McDowell says. “At the end of August, we’re going to be moving to a new location – we’re going to be relocating to Park St. [on Madison’s south side.] So that is a big move for us.”
SAR web graphics_R3
In the meantime, McDonald encourages Madisonians to sign up to Stand Against Racism today.

“We’re doing this to bring awareness to people predominantly in the Madison area about the great work that women of color are leading as well as to give an opportunity for folks to really take some time to think about what their stand against racism is in their respective organizations, personally and individually,” she says. “I’m hoping that this webinar will really cause dialog and will really lead to action.”

For more details, or to look up a participating site, visit: www.StandAgainstRacism.org. For more information, click here.