Students Celebrate Women of Color on the Hill

The inaugural Womanist Week, created by Hannah Fink ’19 and Hana Lindsey ’20 in 2017, was imagined as “a week dedicated to celebrating and enlivening the lives of Black women both at Hamilton’s campus and beyond,” according to a campus email from that year. The event is held during the week when February (Black History Month) blends into March (Women’s History Month) — “a time when Black women are normally at the background of conversations about social justice and personal narrative.”

Center for Intersectional Feminism (CIF) co-chairs Jhoana Flores ’24 and Lucy Naughton ’24 helped lead this year’s Womanist Week, which continued the tradition of providing “an opportunity to uplift Black women on our predominantly white campus, as well as women of color more broadly.” Several other student groups helped host the events, including the Asian Student Union, Black & Latinx Student Union, Feminists of Color Collective, La Vanguardia, International Cultural Association, and Voices of Color Lecture Series.

This year’s Womanist Week included an introductory event titled “What is Womanism?” and an Art Walk with the Wellin Museum of Art that included student docents hosting several dozen students for a viewing and discussion of artwork by women of color. The week culminated with the Women of Color Banquet, which featured a panel comprised of women of color from the faculty and staff who answered questions about their experiences and offered ideas and inspiration to attendees.

“The week was very successful,” Naughton said. “There was a good balance of serious, meaningful conversation and lighthearted fun. The banquet was an incredible way to celebrate and wrap up the week -- the faculty and staff panel touched on a lot of important topics, particularly building community among students, faculty, and staff of color. It's always an honor to organize these events, and I think this year was especially well-attended.”