For the Love of Black Women: My Body Matters! 

Emerge is proud to partner with Jennifer O'Neill to present For the Love of Black Women: My Body Matters!  

We invite you to join us in this community conversation that will focus on exploring the disparities within the healthcare system that affect Black women. Additionally, we will explore the intersections of racism and sexism that survivors of domestic abuse encounter while navigating the healthcare system. The panel will also include special guest, Beverly Gooden, a victim's rights advocate and creator of the viral hashtag #WhyIStayed, to share from a personal perspective the situations that can arise when seeking support. 

Panelists will examine the disparities in healthcare access, such as insurance, the impact of the third year of the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Understanding why many Black survivors are often unwilling to report partner abuse to healthcare providers is critical to learning how to begin a process of building confidence in the healthcare system with Black survivors. We must prioritize how we can create a community-wide support system for Black survivors to seek wellness and thrive on their healing journeys.  

We hope to offer a space for people in the community to learn how intersections of healthcare inequity and intimate partner violence affect survivors by creating additional barriers and rethink ways to advocate and center our efforts on the safety of Black Women.

Background 

For the Love of Black Women Forum was an online event created by Jennifer O'Neill from Omega Rho Zeta in 2020 that focused on uplifting Black women and their experiences in their communities and the importance of support systems that affirm their value.  The discussion also highlighted the complexity of an experience where Black women are often celebrated for being "strong" and "resilient" and while these are important qualities, it also comes at the great personal cost of being invisibilized and a lack of support.  

This year’s event is a continuation of the first For the Love of Black Women Forum and is intended to continue uplifting the humanity and spirit of all Black Women and the complexity of their experience in our community.  We also hope that our community will join the forum with an open heart and willingness to be a part of our work to build safer communities for all survivors.