By Julia Berkman
Of the 85,000 people in Bellingham, 84 percent are white. As a part of the sixteen percent, I can tell you just how much being a POC (person of color) in Bellingham affects your everyday life. Exquisite Erika can also tell you. That’s why she, along with the Racial Justice Coalition (RJC), have organized a march against violence towards womxn of color.
“Say Her Name: No More Silence” refers to the thousands of womxn killed every year in this country by police, men, and lack of government aid. This march will “allow womxn of color to safely present themselves to the Bellingham community” while empowering themselves at the same time.
The march is being held on October 1 at Civic Field. All womxn-identifying people are encouraged to attend and speak out against injustice towards womxn of color. After the march, a meeting of the RJC will meet and talk about future events on October 4.
While the stories of violence against men of color are typically in the news for a short spell after an injustice is committed, the violence perpetrated against womxn of color is hidden in the shadows. The list of trans women of color killed in this country is staggering. More trans women were killed in 2015 than in any other year.
“In light of the 2016 police shootings of unarmed Black men, the police shootings of unarmed Black womxn have not been allowed the same publicity or media coverage,“ Erika states.
This is true. Black women are caught in a terrible paradox. They suffer from both misogyny and racism, a concept known as misogynoir. For an example of misogynoir, you need look no further than the recent scandal involving “Ghostbusters” star Leslie Jones. The racist comments and actions enacted against her after a hacker leaked private information and photos is exactly the kind of injustice to which the march aims to call attention.
This isn’t the first march the Racial Justice Coalition has organized. Last January, the RJC marched down Meridian street on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in protest of the unfair profiling of black men. Carrying signs that read “predictive policing (does not equal) community policing” and “stop racial profiling,” they interrupted another coalition’s speech in order to protest police profiling and unjustified killings. Their reason for protesting on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was to call for white-led events to stop perpetrating the sanitized, white-friendly version of MLK that is touted each year.
There are many events the Racial Justice Coalition is organizing in the next few months. Each Friday, they are the local peace vigil’s #BlackLivesMatter presence in downtown Bellingham at the corner of Magnolia and Cornwall 4 p.m. every Friday. Everyone is invited to come with signs and speak out against racism and violence.
A Note from the Editor: The term “womxn” includes transgender women and gender nonbinary folks in discussions of misogyny. It reframes the word; taking out the “-man” or “-men.” Womyn Creating Consciousness Collectively, a group at Michigan State University, wrote that the alternative spelling indicates that people who identify as non-male are not a subcategory of men, but are individuals of their own right.
