A small group of women presented their thoughts Tuesday night about issues such as sexual and domestic violence and racism as were discussed at the 2002 "INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence Conference."
The UNM Women's Resource Center sent five students to the Chicago conference in March.
The first conference was in Santa Cruz, Calif., in April 2000 and drew more than 1,000 participants. More than 1,400 people attended this year's conference.
INCITE is a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement to end violence against women of color and their communities through direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots organizing, according to the group's Web site. The organization was formed during the California conference.
Sandrea Gonzales, director of the Women's Resource Center, said the conference offered many workshops with topics ranging from globalization to war and militarism.
"It was a moving conference and each of the women who went came away with something different," Gonzales said.
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UNM student Alma Rosa Silva-Ba§uelos began the discussion with explaining her personal experience at the conference.
"The experience really shifted my life and moved me," Silva-Ba§uelos said. "Being with 1,400 other women of color was really like a rebirth for me."
Silva-Ba§uelos said the conference included different women with many experiences to share.
"I remember a 13-year-old girl there and also many elders," she said. "It was really great to vibe with those young sisters."
UNM student AndrÇa Mays recounted her experience by telling the group about her corporate background.
"I used to work at a newspaper and for a nonprofit organization," she said. "To move through the world as an African-American lesbian, you have to be conscious about things around you."
Mays said the conference opened her eyes, and the accessibility was amazing.
"I've never been involved in such a conference with such political activism," she said. "There was no one I felt I couldn't go up to and talk to - no one was off limits."
Mays said Cathy Cohen, a speaker and author of a book discussing the politics of AIDS in African Americans, made a huge impact on her frame of mind.
"After hearing her talk, I just felt like we're not alone," Mays said. "Being at the conference was the biggest affirmation that there is no such thing as being oppressed alone."
UNM graduate student Sofia Martinez said part of her goal at the conference was to raise awareness about issues she felt were important.
"I wanted to take the message on the road about environmental justice and environmental racism issues and how these effect people of color," Martinez said.
UNM undergraduate Riti Sachdeva said the conference was interesting because it dealt with many issues that she was pondering.
"That's where I needed to go - where people are thinking about things that I'm thinking about," she said.
Sachdeva said the Southeast Asian activist Shamita Das Dasgupta discussed Arab and Muslim women during a workshop, which was something she said she could really relate to.
"I think we all just really saw how much we really don't know each other," she said. "It really made me feel powerful to see that we had our own context in this conference."
Gonzales said the conference was not a place where everyone is nice and cheery.
"I have a lot of impatience with small talk and, at this conference, all the interactions were very real and genuine," Gonzales said.
