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Courtesy of Nikia Paulette
Alison Dreith, executive director for NARAL St. Louis; Nikia Paulette; Christine Assefa and Nabeehah Azeez core members of Sistahs Talkin' Back; Angie Postal, director of public policy Planned Parent Hood St Louis.
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Courtesy of Nikia Paulette
Eutisha Mitchell, Imani Aisha of Williams & Associates.
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“Say you're a black woman and you're poor. Or you're a black woman and you may be experiencing some sort of sexism or racism, and you may also have some reproductive justice issues going on or health issues. Most of the time, being a black woman, you occupy a number of spaces at the same time,” says Nikia Paulette, volunteer board member of the Organization for Black Struggle, a human rights activist group that has helped black working class folks for more than 25 years.
This Sunday, the general public can take a close look at these intersectional issues while taking in live music, poetry and performance art at Rise Up for Women Now, a benefit concert taking place at Blank Space on Cherokee Street from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The proceeds will help send a local activist to the International AIDS Conference and the Women NOW! 2016 summit, both taking place in Durban, South Africa.
“The sistah that we're trying to send found out that she had HIV when she was pregnant at the age of 18. She is now in her mid to late 30s, and has been working here locally to help support other women who are HIV-positive. She's been a leader and advocate for the cause and we thought 'Who would be better to send to something like this?'” Paulette says.
In her position, Paulette focuses on the cross-sections lived in by many women in the greater St. Louis region. One way she hones in on the issues is through Sistahs Talkin' Back, a program of the Organization for Black Struggle.
“STB focuses on the empowerment of black women in the community. The way that we do that is through partnerships and collaborations with other community organizations, business and the like. And we also do a lot of programming around issues that affect women of color. Mostly we look at things through an intersectional lens,” she says.
For this Sunday's event, STB teams with Williams & Associates, Inc., a local nonprofit promoting health education, disease prevention, and wellness for minority groups in the area. The list of local groups providing support includes Planned Parenthood among others—so many that Paulette runs out of breath trying to name them all.
After the summit, STB plans to follow up with a report and several roundtable discussions designed to supply the community with a space to talk about sex.
“Believe it or not, [sex is] still a taboo subject,” Paulette adds. Yet HIV/AIDS prevention requires what she identifies as “kitchen table discussions that are not happening.” She notes that the public support for black women living with HIV/AIDS is decreasing while counting the lack of overall funding as the root cause, which leads to support being shifted from one group or demographic to another. For now, Paulette and company hopes to make the most of the what is available for black women.
“We want to make sure that the funding that's coming to St. Louis and the community response to HIV/AIDS is effective. With STB, we want to make sure that we're doing whatever we can to support that effort,” she adds.
This Sunday's event features an all-female and femme lineup, with a number of poets leading a concert rich with soul, rap and acapella music. Performers include Pacia Anderson, Mama Blue aka Zaire Imani, Lightening, Hallōd Sound, Bates, DJ Divi and more. The full show is set to run on a tight schedule starting at 5 p.m. with each providing a 15-minute set in rapid succession.
Artwork depicting the lived experiences of black women and women in general will be featured throughout Blank Space for the evening. When asked about how the space itself played a factor in the show, she had this to say:
“Its a space for social justice activists and performers and artists to come and share what they're doing with the community. It feels very, very close to my heart. And it's right across from my husband's business Master Pieza, so that's pretty cool too.”
Blank Space is located at 2847 Cherokee; for all the details, go to the Rise Up for Women Now Facebook event page.
