Women's History Month Portrait of an Artist: Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell

There are so many words you can use to describe Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell. Singer, composer, violinist, speech pathologist, activist - but the word that truly sums her up is this: storyteller. Dr. Barnwell has led thousands of people in communities around the world in using the framework of African American music traditions to tell their own stories. Her vocal community workshops bring amateur and professional singers together to learn and sing. You enter as strangers and throughout the course of the evening, a bond forms, and soon these strangers are singing as if they were a choir that's been performing together for years. It's a study in how we can dissolve the boundaries which, on the surface, separate us from each other. By the end of the night, new friendships have formed and people are sharing their personal stories with each other. 

The Dream Continues: The March on Washington 50 Years Later

Growing up in Washington, DC, I was always keenly aware of the history that flowed down our city streets and around every corner. Imagine opening up your social studies book and realizing that you had walked down the same street as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the thousands who gathered 50 years ago for the historic March on Washington. This past Saturday, the streets of DC were alive once again, with busloads of students, churchgoers, activists, and curious onlookers gathered to remember and recreate that March on Washington. There were the union members handing out signs calling for more jobs; advocacy groups such as the National Urban League and their Young Professionals shouting out fun chants that preached positivity. There were the college students - from the historically black colleges and universities as well as from Berkeley College, a career-driven college with a sharp focus on employment after graduation. The black sororities and fraternities were there, as were the black churches, like Alfred Street Baptist Church in Historic Old Town Alexandria, VA, and preachers, such as the Rev. Marina Skinner of North Carolina. The day had the feel of a massive family reunion, with groups of friends, old and new, meeting up under the bright blue skies. The World War II Memorial acted as meeting place where one could take a seat by the fountains and away from that persistent cloud of mosquitoes that greets you among the trees alongside the Reflecting Pool. It was a very good day with families bringing their small children to experience history, and as the day went on, watching these little people asleep in their strollers, I wondered what their dreams will be:)

Women Making a Difference: T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, Founders of GirlTrek

GirlTrek co-founders T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison with a team of
enthusiastic walkers in the We Are Harriet walk on The National Mall
Photograph by Shannon Finney, March 10, 2012, Washington, DC

 

Take a walk. Join a movement. With just these two sentences, a revolution

has begun. In just two short years, Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison have

inspired thousands of African American women and girls to grab a friend and go for

a walk. As diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other diseases associated with

obesity strike the African American community disproportionately, Morgan and

Vanessa found a solution that is as easy as putting on a pair of tennis shoes

and heading outside. GirlTrek, through its active network of volunteers,

creates neighborhood walking campaigns. Invoking the rich history of

walking during the Civil Rights Movement, GirlTrek invites a new

generation to take a walk and join a movement.