We can be corny sometimes, and that’s OK. We can be silly and sincere and hilarious and stone-cold serious. We can be anything we want, and without the permission of gatekeepers or establishments that we may find waiting for us when we arrive at wherever we want to be.
Source: WFC / Women’s Freedom Conference
Writer and WFC speaker Mikki Kendall recently expanded her professional output and is now firmly entrenched in an additional branch of writing, having had her comic book Miss Fury vs. Lady Rawhide published as part of the all-female-created Swords of Sorrow series.
I spoke with Mikki specifically about the WFC mission, which states in part, “The Women’s Freedom Conference is open to all who wish to engage in the conversations and access the content, however, we are limiting the lead organizing, presentations, and speeches to women of color. We ask that people respect the need for this space and support us, amplify us, and encourage us as we work to accomplish our goals.”
Thankfully, the organizers as a whole have not been met with significant pushback on that idea, but Mikki has been experiencing a unique strain of incredulity at what she’s achieved as a Black Woman in comics. Feelings in that universe seem especially sensitive (GamerGate, anyone?), and Mikki says, “there’s a lot of how very dare you happening on that side,” and that the straightforward story of having her writing recognized and published in that world lacks a “rescue story,” so people think she’s “making it up.”
Black female success that is free of the framework of a White Savior Narrative is, unfortunately, indigestible to many, which is exactly why WFC is happening. Speaking directly to our need for this space, Mikki adds, “I feel like some people are going to feel some kind of way about the fact that it primarily focuses on women color, but obviously anyone can tune in to watch it. No one’s really excluding you; we’re just trying to make sure that the people who are the audience get to be in the front row for once.”
Indeed, there is that knee-jerk #ALLLivesMatter response to alleged exclusion that is more often than not only imagined, and Mikki plainly states that those types of people are just “gonna be mad forever.”
Mikki’s Hood Feminism partner in brilliance and shenanigans Jamie Nesbitt Golden will be presenting with her, and Jamie defines freedom as “the ability to live [her] life unfettered by -isms and the myopia of others.” She also lauds the digital platform for the conference, echoing the cost-efficiency and ease of access.
Feminista Jones says directly, “My primary concern was about access. Having attended and presented at many conferences, I’m well aware of how cost-prohibitive they are, with attendance fees and travel and accommodation costs. Many people want to attend but simply cannot afford to. And then there are physical and psychiatric disabilities and limitations that prevent people from attending these conferences, so we wanted to bring the conference directly to the people and meet them where they are.”
WFC is here to do just that. Check out the #WomensFreedomFriday chats that have been happening for weeks, join in one today, and register to learn and commune this Sunday.
Whether you feel free already, or think that your personal liberation is not to be claimed until it is more unilaterally accessible, or feel, as Jamie Nesbitt Golden poignantly says, “I might not ever get there, but I hope to ease the way for the next generation,” you are a part of the movement and the movement is here.
Get free.
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Inaugural Women’s Freedom Conference Seeks To Elevate, Empower Women Of Color was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
