#Standing4BlackGirls Task Force Meeting: February 25th

In the spring of 2020, WLP youth surveyed over 150 youth of color sexual violence and harassment survivors on their experiences with mental health care. The majority of Black girl survivors who responded had never received mental health care intervention or counseling for their trauma. Moreover, according to the Black Women's Blueprint, nearly 60% of African American girls will experience sexual abuse by the age of 18, and African American women are less likely to report sexual violence and abuse than non-black women. In addition, Black queer gender non-conforming and trans youth are more likely to experience sexual violence, harassment, and displacement--while having greater risk of falling into poverty--than straight youth. These youth are triply traumatized by the culture of victim blaming, shaming, and gaslighting inflicted upon them by their own communities.

Why is there no broad community outcry about these atrocities? And what would a Black girl-survivor focused policy agenda and platform look like?

African American girls and young women and community allies are invited to the first #Standing4BlackGirls task force meeting on Thursday, February 25th.

This youth-facilitated task force, co-hosted by the Office of Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager, will address developing mental health, educational, economic and social resources for Black girls across sexual orientation in L.A. County and across the state.  

Join Zoom Meeting
https://caasm.zoom.us/j/91517883069?pwd=S01WdmllSkhXZlJpZ3BuNGZhK1hydz09

Meeting ID: 915 1788 3069
Passcode: 74874

#S4BG issues survey Link: https://bit.ly/38U4RNY

Rock 'n' Roll Heretic: The Life and Times of Rory Tharpe

A novel by Sikivu Hutchinson

COMING MARCH 2021

“Those white boys on the major labels would never give an inch to a Negro woman playing race music.”

It’s the late 1970s, and ex-Pentecostal Black female electric guitarist Rory Tharpe navigates the cutthroat world of corporate rock, dive bars, dusk-to-dawn recording sessions, and shady contracts as she travels the nation in a dilapidated tour bus with her bickering, boozing all-male band.  Much-imitated and little-credited, Rory is in a late career tailspin when she goes on tour with international superstar Jude Justis, a white woman blues-rock singer who has built a turbulent mega-platinum career out of stealing from Black musicians. Broke and frustrated by the racism, sexism, and ageism of the rock boys’ club, Rory warily joins forces with Jude. She then takes a detour through the painful past she shares with childhood nemesis Divinity Mason Mulvaney, a maverick pastor at the helm of the mega church enterprise Revivals, Inc.  

 A homage to pioneering guitarist Rosetta Tharpe, Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic is a bracing look at the power politics, heartbreak, and hypocrisy confronting a queer Black woman visionary at the intersection of music and commerce, faith and heresy, in a segregated music industry that eats its Black artists.

Praise for Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic:

If you love fearless, bold, unapologetic strong leads, then Rock ‘n’ Roll Heretic is for you. Paying homage to the great trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, this book is filled with twists and turns that will leave you rethinking rock music as you know it. Sikivu, you have created a masterpiece that will challenge history and entertain readers for years.

—Malina Moye, electric guitarist, international recording artist, and co-founder of the Drive Hope Foundation

Rock 'n' Roll Heretic is a powerful, unflinching, unforgettable, wild ride journey into the struggles a vigorous Black queer woman artist endures to survive in an industry that does not want her there. Every daunting step Rory takes towards her rock ambitions leads her further back to a haunting childhood and Pentecostal past. On the edge of defeat, her trusty guitar is the armor that guards her sanity, allowing her to break through the “isms” that threaten to overshadow her contributions to Rock ‘n’ Roll.

--Samantha “GhettoSongBird”Hollins, Rock ‘n’ Roll singer-songwriter-guitarist 

Transhealthnow: Uplifting Black Trans/Gender Non-conforming and Nonbinary Youth

 

Black parents lead a discussion on affirming, uplifting, and supporting Black trans/gender nonconforming and nonbinary children at the Transhealthnow.com conference. Sponsored by Colors' LGBTQ Counseling Center with members from the Black LGBTQI+ Parent and Caregiver Group.