Activism In Context: An Intergenerational Dialogue on Organizing in the Shadow of the 2016 Elections

This year’s historic 2016 election casts a long shadow over the history of feminist activism across different generations. The first in a series of dialogues with the classes of 1968 through 1974, this event will offer an opportunity for social justice feminists to engage in generative dialogues and share resources across generations. Among the resources discussed will be the Student Activist Archives of 1968-1971, now housed at the Barnard College Archives and Special Collections and in the process of becoming digitized for greater accessibility.

Participants will include current students and alums from the class of 1971 who were catalyzed by their involvement in anti-war movements, anti-gentrification organizing, protests to end institutionalized anti-Black racism on campus, and their experiences of gender oppression within activist communities.

Together, this intergenerational group of activists will discuss:

• What are/were some of the pressing issues of your organizing years as a Barnard student?
• What were you up against then and what are you up against now?
• What resources do you need to sustain your movements and communities, including knowledge, memory, skills, and power?

Registration is preferred but not required.

About the Speakers

Katherine Brewster ’71 is a Barnard alumni. She is also the director of the ATMA Center of Yoga and Healing, a holistic center offering Svaroopa yoga classes, yoga therapies and Reiki sessions, and experiential transformational workshops—all designed to support people in moving into a holistic relationship with themselves by integrating body, mind, and spirit. Brewster was involved in the Columbia student protests of 1968.

Janet Price ’71 is a Barnard alumni and education consultant. She previously worked as a lawyer, a high school history teacher and a principal. During her time at Barnard, Price was involved in the Columbia student protests of 1968.

Katherine Acey is a BCRW Senior Activist Fellow and a leader in movement building and organizing for social justice and LGBTQ liberation from her 23 years at Astrea Lesbian Foundation for Justice to her ongoing involvement with the Griot Circle. Acey has been dedicated to various organizations that are powerful sites of support, engagement, and activism for the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQ folks who face racial, economic, gender, and age oppressions. Her extensive involvement in social justice organizing extends to groups such as: Women in the Arts, the Center for Anti-Violence Education, New York Women Against Rape, MADRE and Women Make Movies, National Executive Committee of the Palestine Solidarity Committee, and the Arab Women’s Gathering Organizing Committee.