Summer is Near…

Barbara Perkins sitting in chair wearing white dress | IBWPPI
From The Desk of President Barbara A. Perkins

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

It is about the courts, people.

Black women and advocates for the rights of women to control their own bodies have been watching and speaking out on what the country now knows about the years of consistent plotting and planning by the republican party to overthrow Roe v. Wade. Our industrialized country shamefully has an ever-increasing rate of maternal mortality, with Black women being two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. This was reported by the Center for Disease Control, in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Georgia, the state where I now reside, is among the top three states on the list with extremely high rates of maternal mortality.

Do we really want to see more women dying? Do we really want to force women into back-alley procedures because their freedom to decide what happens to their bodies is taken away?

This is exactly what striking down Roe v. Wade will do. The shock waves running throughout the country in the last few days I believe will motivate, unify, and fire up Americans like never before in recent history. It is mind-boggling to see female members of the Republican Party serving in the US Congress expressing their surprise and outrage. For me, this is too little too late. What did they think Donald Trump was doing when he turned the Supreme Court into the political right-wing court that it is today?

The Supreme Court, poised to eliminate the national right to safe abortion, is teeing up for not only this unbelievable turning back the hands of time. This Supreme Court intends to bulldoze this country and the rights of the American people. Congress can and must do something. What would the Republicans be doing if the tables were turned? They would be in action mode. The Democratic house and senate should rise up as the people in America have done and will do in the next election cycle.

This past Mother's Day, I spent my time supporting Democratic candidates that believe in the rights of women and who will sign a public statement saying so. I think about my own mother, born in 1935, a teenage mother who struggled to raise five children by the time she was 23 years old. The times were such that extended family had to step in to help raise her children. My mother was forced to send three of us away to be raised by other family members.

The stories of women today in states like Texas where their rights have been stripped away are much more horrifying. The financial burden, the long-distance travel to find nearby states to have a legal procedure, and the lack of family support, due to fear of implicating them in an illegal action.

It is important for us today, as it has always been, for us to unite and advocate on behalf of women's rights and well-being in this country.

Sincerely,

Barbara A. Perkins

Congrats to the Class of 2022!

It is always an amazing moment when we can celebrate Black women. IBWPPI would like to congratulate Nayila Moore and Taylor Newkirk for graduating from their respective programs and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

International Black Women's Public Policy Institute - Young Ambassador
International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute – Policy Fellow 2021-2022

Nayila graduated from Howard University Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business with a concentration in Management and Spanish. After graduation, she will be working in Washington, DC for Spencer Stuart as a Business Analyst.

International Black Women's Public Policy Institute - Policy Fellow 2021-2022
International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute – Policy Fellow 2021-2022

Taylor graduated from the University of Maryland College Park with a Master of Public Policy specializing in Education Policy. After graduation, she will be joining the Prince George’s County Resident Teacher Program. Taylor also plans to continue serving with IBWPPI as a Policy Fellow.

Self-Care and Grace

 

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Covid-19 left a devastating impact on millions of people around the world. In the United States of America, the Black and Brown communities experienced unprecedented sickness and death. In already disenfranchised communities and communities where the quality of life had been determined to be far less than in other communities, we saw the rise in economic uncertainty, disperse, crime and apathy. The sum of this devastation caused the greatest enthusiasm gap of my lifetime. The question I asked myself repeatedly during these two years of the pandemic was “what can I do to feel better about myself and to contribute to the feeling better of others?”

I have a few things that I have been intentional about that have helped me:

1. Getting enough rest.

2. Calling family and friends to stay connected.

3. Doing something personal for myself that inspires me.

4. Engaging in a positive hobby with consistency.

5. Minimizing time spent with negative conversations.

Remember, we all need a little more patience and grace.

Reading Room: Our Summer Choice

The Summer Reading Selection for our Reading Room Initiative is Climate Change For Beginners, by Dr. Dean Goodwin.

The IBWPPI Reading Room Initiative Project is dedicated to promoting leisure reading as a key to unlocking a youth’s full potential.

Our primary goal is to enable elementary, middle, and high school students to improve their literacy skills. The Initiative will create a nurturing environment for youth to feel safe and secure as they develop their reading skills.

The IBWPPI Reading Room Initiative allows at-risk communities the opportunity to have high-interest reading materials. In addition, youth rarely have an opportunity to have their own reading materials in a classroom setting.

                                                                                        Delerice Mackey and Reading Room students, 2018

Message to Membership

IBWPPI invites you to either join or renew your annual membership with us as we begin the New Year. Join as a new member or renew your membership online.

Even in the midst of a two-year Pandemic, IBWPPI has not faltered in our mission to connect and advocate for Black women globally through our programs and initiatives. We have continued our support of the Cordelia-Sutherland Birthing Center in Ghana, the Sunday Girls, the Reading Room Initiatives, and our Boots on the Ground projects. Your membership is vital to the success of all these programs and so much more.

I would like to personally invite you to renew your membership today.

Thanks from your Membership Director, Kathlyn Adams Seay

Why Join IBWPPI?

IBWPPI started in 2009 in the spirit of global unity and sisterhood. Our mission is to connect and advocate for Black women globally through acts of kindness and public policy. We thank our members and ask that you continue your support of IBWPPI and ask others to join us.

Summer is Near…

Barbara Perkins sitting in chair wearing white dress | IBWPPI
From The Desk of President Barbara A. Perkins

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

It is about the courts, people.

Black women and advocates for the rights of women to control their own bodies have been watching and speaking out on what the country now knows about the years of consistent plotting and planning by the republican party to overthrow Roe v. Wade. Our industrialized country shamefully has an ever-increasing rate of maternal mortality, with Black women being two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. This was reported by the Center for Disease Control, in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Georgia, the state where I now reside, is among the top three states on the list with extremely high rates of maternal mortality.

Do we really want to see more women dying? Do we really want to force women into back-alley procedures because their freedom to decide what happens to their bodies is taken away?

This is exactly what striking down Roe v. Wade will do. The shock waves running throughout the country in the last few days I believe will motivate, unify, and fire up Americans like never before in recent history. It is mind-boggling to see female members of the Republican Party serving in the US Congress expressing their surprise and outrage. For me, this is too little too late. What did they think Donald Trump was doing when he turned the Supreme Court into the political right-wing court that it is today?

The Supreme Court, poised to eliminate the national right to safe abortion, is teeing up for not only this unbelievable turning back the hands of time. This Supreme Court intends to bulldoze this country and the rights of the American people. Congress can and must do something. What would the Republicans be doing if the tables were turned? They would be in action mode. The Democratic house and senate should rise up as the people in America have done and will do in the next election cycle.

This past Mother's Day, I spent my time supporting Democratic candidates that believe in the rights of women and who will sign a public statement saying so. I think about my own mother, born in 1935, a teenage mother who struggled to raise five children by the time she was 23 years old. The times were such that extended family had to step in to help raise her children. My mother was forced to send three of us away to be raised by other family members.

The stories of women today in states like Texas where their rights have been stripped away are much more horrifying. The financial burden, the long-distance travel to find nearby states to have a legal procedure, and the lack of family support, due to fear of implicating them in an illegal action.

It is important for us today, as it has always been, for us to unite and advocate on behalf of women's rights and well-being in this country.

Sincerely,

Barbara A. Perkins

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