The 45th National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) conference was held in November in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This year’s conference theme, An Honour Song: Feminist Struggles, Feminist Victories, featured a wide array of attendees and presenters, each committed to sharing and expanding their knowledge of feminist scholarship.
Liberation at the Margins (LAM) Collective learning community hosted a roundtable discussion titled, “Feminist Solidarity at the Ohio Reformatory for Women: Engaging Black Feminisms at the Margins.” Streaming live from the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW), LAM members Danielle, Liz, Stormy and Beth each gave presentations, reflecting on the ways that Black feminisms foster connection, critical inquiry, and resistance in and to carceral spaces, as well as the challenges and possibilities of creating feminist intellectual centers in prisons.
The result was multiple engaging conversations surrounding how feminist solidarity operates in carceral spaces, how Black feminist principles and pedagogy transform prison classrooms, and what it means to build community across barriers of incarceration and race.
The roundtable was well attended, and the audience had many questions, as well as accolades, for LAM members. Danielle reflected on the experience, sharing, “the feedback led me to self-evaluate myself internally – mentally and emotionally…. I felt worthy of my story being beneficial, helping others and showing the importance of communication. Communication has led to other doors being opened. For example, I was selected to speak on a panel to Stark County regarding re-entry from ORW. I enjoy speaking about information that I am passionate about and have better judgment on. All of this would not have been possible without the NWSA panel discussion that I got to be a part of.”