DWC Black Lives Matter Special Edition Newsletter Call for Contributors

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Hello, colleagues:

Like many of you, we watched the recent executions of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks; the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery; and the racist attack in Central Park against birder Christian Cooper with horror. These recent civilian and police acts of anti-Black violence and subsequent protests across America demonstrate that race is central to how people are treated in their everyday lives, specifically highlighting how Black Americans are negatively impacted within the criminal-legal context. We acknowledge that these recent violent acts follow a long history of both racism and police brutality, in addition to related criminal-legal issues that disproportionately affect Black communities, such as mass incarceration. The atrocities visited upon Black Americans is well documented in research from our membership. Moreover, research from our membership continues to show the devastating consequences of cultural and structural oppression on Black girls and women specifically.

Much like the long history of racism in our country generally, and criminal-legal system specifically, we also acknowledge the long history of racism within the women’s movement. As we all know, mainstream efforts to fight for gender equality and equity have historically been and often remain a fight for white women’s equality and equity. Tracing back to the suffrage movement, Black suffragettes were sidelined from the main efforts, demanded to march at the end of suffrage parades, and/or denied positions in the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s ranks. One hundred years later, we still see evidence of racial injustices and a focus on white women within contemporary efforts. The Women’s March, for example, has been criticized for racial intolerance and anti-Semitism, in addition to focusing on the concerns of white, middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual women.

The DWC Executive Board (EB) is committed to intersectional social justice and continues to discuss ways our organization can meaningfully respond to the recent acts of anti-Black murders and violence. To begin, the DWC EB would like to prepare the summer newsletter to directly respond to these tragic events by inviting voices that have personal and/or professional expertise/experience in confronting systemic racism. We are inviting our members and their networks to work with us in creating a Black Lives Matter special edition. In addition to modifying some newsletter sections to better facilitate the creation of this proposed special issue, we are also interested in compiling a reading list that spotlights our members and other critical voices doing this important work as well as highlighting steps individuals can take to be more effective agents in the fight for social justice. Allyship is not enough; we must agitate and take action. This includes reflexively looking at the DWC’s membership, leadership, programming, and activities to increase diversity and inclusion. The DWC has made significant strides over the past forty years, but there is still work to be done. This includes actively recruiting a diverse group of students, practitioners, and faculty, across disciplines, expertise, and experience and taking steps to enhance diversity and inclusivity within our membership and leadership positions. 

It is our hope that the DWC, especially our white women members, will help the organization move as a collective body from allies to accomplices to co-conspirators in this fight for justice and equity. Ultimately, racism is a white problem and it is necessary that white people do the work. If you have suggestions for additional concrete steps to take, please email the Executive Board. In the meantime, to get you started, here are some links to organizations and collectives doing work on the ground as well as anti-racism reading lists.

As mentioned, we are interested in centering our next newsletter on these topics via a Black Lives Matter special edition. One need not be a member of the DWC to contribute to this edition, so please share this call among your social networks. We recognize that contributing to this newsletter is extra labor (both emotionally and professionally). This is particularly true for Black, Indigenous and women of color (BIPOC), queer and transgender women, and other marginalized women who are often disproportionately tasked with addressing oppressive structures and educating members.  We also recognize that our members and their networks who have personal and/or professional expertise on racial justice issues are not responsible for educating our Division. While we acknowledge these often-lopsided realities, we also want to ensure that we are centering voices of color in this call. 

As a reminder, we have included the sections of the newsletter below. If you are interested in contributing in any way, please email Deshonna, Eryn, and Jordana, by July 20th. Once we have finalized the list of contributors, we will discuss (as a group) an appropriate timeline for completion.

We want to ensure this special newsletter is published in a timely matter while simultaneously accommodating contributors’ schedules. 

Thank you for any assistance you are willing to provide during such devastating times. 

Sincerely, 

Your DWC Executive Board—Elaine Arnull, Tara Richards, Deshonna Collier-Goubil, Cara RabeHemp, Christina DeJong, Jordana Navarro, Eryn Nicole O’Neal, Sarah Murray, Kristy Holtfreter, and Leslie Dawn Quick.

To contribute, comment, or inquire, please email:         

Deshonna Collier-Goubil, PhD │ Department of Criminal Justice │ Azusa Pacific University │ dcollier@apu.edu

Eryn Nicole O’Neal, PhD │ Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology │ Sam Houston State University│eno006@shsu.edu

Jordana Navar, PhD │ Department of Criminal Justice │ The Citadel │ jnavarr1@citadel.edu

Newsletter Sections: (1) Chair’s Letter—instead of this, we invite those involved with the newsletter to work together on an opening statement; (2) History of BLM Movement and its Black Female CoFounders, (3) Teaching Tips; (4) Book Review; (5) Around the Division—instead of this title and content, we are asking for a list of organizations (“Advocating outside of the Division”) that helps to elevate critical voices; (6) Ask a Senior Colleague; (7) Member News; (8) Employment and Funding; (9) Member Profile; (10) Graduate Student Corner; (11) Spotlighting Member Research and Critical Voices.

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