Days after George Floyd protests began in New York City in early June, Caroline Gombe joined the case.
“Walking and singing helped me heal in a way,” she said. Recently, Gombe (40), an event planner by profession, helped organizers distribute water, hand out masks, disinfect dolls in outstretched palms and wave the front banner.
But she experienced a striking omission in the larger struggle for racial justice and equality. When they asked organizers if protests were planned in connection with issues of black women, one suggested they start one.
“So I went there to ask African-American women if they wanted to start a women’s march,” she said. “I wanted to create a platform for black women to put their problems, problems, solutions, ideas and struggles on the table and build them together.”
With Kimberly Bernard, 31, and Monik Walters, 22, the Black Women’s March made its Brooklyn debut in Herbert Von King Park in June.
Bernard invited Chivona Newsome, co-founder of Greater New York’s Black Lives Matter, and Kristin Richardson Jordan, who is running for a New York City Council seat representing Harlem, to speak. “We had these two powerful women,” Bernard said. “Our message was clear: Vote for women of color. Black and brown women protect and respect.”
For weeks, community members, white allies, men and other organizations led by Black women, such as Warriors in the Garden, Freedom March NYC and The Descendants 2020, have approached Gombe about collaborating on the next program.
One month later, on July 19, the coalition held a candlelight vigil at the Brooklyn Museum dedicated to Black women and men who had lost their lives. Among the honorary speakers was Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 in New York while in police custody.
“Black Women’s March is an organization that is part of the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Regine Shabazz, 26, an organizer who joined Black Women’s March this summer. “We have more visibility for Black women and more inclusivity, especially for Black trans women.”
On the night watch, Shabazz Gombe introduced to Qween Jean, a costume designer off Broadway who is an organizer for Black trans liberation.
They found a synergy, and Qween Jean collaborated with Black Women’s March. “We participate in many neighborhood community organizations, and advocate for trans and queer youth who have been kicked out of their homes, who have food and insecurity in their homes,” she said. “So if we are going to restructure our language and advocate for black lives and equality, trans-lives must also be central in that conversation.”
The Black Women’s March was held a week later, on July 26, in Times Square, and hundreds of participants signed up for a program of speeches aimed at dismantling systems and policies that Black women and girls in. the criminal justice system. “There are schools that function as privileges for detention centers, where armed police are more than teachers, and inexpensive health care that leaves Black women vulnerable to heart disease and cancer,” Bernard said.
The crowd gathered and marched from 42nd Street to Harlem with a team of cyclists forming a protective barrier between the peaceful Protestants and traffic along FDR Drive.
Two weeks later, the group organized a procession dedicated to Breonna Taylor that ran from Central Park to the Henry Hudson Parkway. “Every event has grown exponentially,” Gombe said.
March in Washington is set for Friday to mark the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. to remember. Black Women’s March organizers say it promises to be their most far-reaching alliance yet.
For the past week, Gombe and her team have partnered with two other local charities, The People’s Bodega NYC and Save Our SISTERS NY, to collect women’s care products and blessing bags. The idea is to donate the items to N Street Village, the largest provider of housing and support services for homeless women in Washington, DC
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Attendance at what some have called the “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks” march in Washington is expected to be in the thousands Friday, beginning with speeches on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
In New York, Gombe hopes for a final march before the end of the summer, with September focused on community action, such as food and clothing, finding a fundraiser for mental health and finding ways to help New Yorkers escape.
To carry out those actions, Black Women’s March has launched a $ 20,000 fundraising campaign. “As the founder of this group, I am so incredibly proud of each member and the teamwork,” Gombe said. “It’s a great example of how Black women get things done.”
