What better way to celebrate Black History and Black Futures than to have three brilliant Black women on Glide Memorial Church’s stage representing nonprofit, local and state level leadership!
It was a night of humor, inspiration and a call to action last Thursday when Dr. Gina Fromer moderated a discussion with Controller Malia Cohen and Congresswoman Lateefah Simon.
Before diving into current affairs, we all were so happy to learn of the deep personal connections shared between Cohen and Simon as they reminisced about Simon’s grandmother, Betty Simon, attending Cohen’s father’s church.
Also, how Cohen and Dr. Gina were connected decades ago from their work in Bayview. It was so much fun to witness the wit, charm and connection among all three women on stage.
The discussion covered topics that are on everyone’s minds – from the attacks on Bishop Budde when she stood up for the rights of immigrants and LGBT youth, to the attacks on organizations that center marginalized groups or have DEI training programs.
Collectively, we processed the disruption of the world we know. Federal employee layoffs, delays in processing tax returns, the lack of guard rails to protect our data from DOGE– it’s a lot for all of us to process!
And our speakers warned the community to brace themselves for yet more chaos down the line. They also said, “We’ve seen this before: it’s time to lean into community, and dust off the Black Panther Party policies.” They pointed out there is opportunity in chaos: perhaps people will now finally understand the urgency of building a new system.
It was clear that Cohen and Simon had differing, but complementary approaches to change. Lateefah Simon told a story of working for Kamala Harris only after she was assured she could get people out of prison and live her revolutionary values.
Malia Cohen’s approach to liberation focuses a great deal on financial literacy as a path to personal freedom. Although they approached liberation from different perspectives, they had a strong rapport from supporting each other throughout their unique challenges. GLIDE loves helping bridge diverse perspectives at our events.
The event closed with this advice: “We don’t have power over the government but we have people power.”
We must learn to leverage our people power in the days and weeks to come. One great way to do that is by signing up to join GLIDE’s Justice Warriors. We hope to see you in the future writing, phone banking, and marching with us!
