ICYMI: Check Out Video From The Black Girl Movement Conference

By Sameer Rao Apr 11, 2016

We reported Friday (April 8) on the Black Girl Movement (BGM) Conference, a unique gathering that organizing scholar Farah Jasmine Griffin told Colorlines is "a labor of love that seeks to provide a safe and empowering space for Black girls." Thanks to the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, which hosted the conference, you can check out streams of panels and events from the weekend. 

Journalist and Wake Forest University scholar Melissa Harris-Perry was set to speak on Friday, but was stalled by air travel. Organizers read a statement from her that they published to Facebook, which included the following passage:

But know this—the Black girl in me is there.

I am there because it still shocks me to discover how desperately I still need a Black girl movement just to get out of bed and start again. Even though my mind always knew it, my soul is stunned by how fleeting every external measure of accomplishment is. My heart is still shattered to rediscover how utterly invisible Black girls are to everyone but one another. And so I irrevocably return to the feet of my sisters. There I cling for dear life to who we are inside, to rediscover that to which I can hold onto that will not disappear through my fingers like sand.

I have watched you today as you got in formation and as you shared information. I have been taking notes. I have been praying and crying and laughing. I have been cursing the damn airline. You are—each and every one of you—the only kind of *magic* that matters. The Black Girl Magic that comes from being your own Woke Fairy Godmother. From reading, from doing the work, from staying in the struggle, from insisting on your humanity, from recognizing God in one another and from loving her fiercely every damn time.

Other streamed highlights included a live cypher workshop and a scholarly panel on research projects that center Black girls. Check out some videos from Friday and Saturday (April 9) below.