Mount Holyoke hosts Sexual Assault Awareness Month keynote panel

By Tara Monastesse ’25

News Editor

Content warning: This article discusses racism and sexual violence.

In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, an annual commemoration overseen by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Mount Holyoke hosted a panel titled “Ending the Silence: Black Feminists Speak on Racial Terror and Gender-Based Violence” in Gamble Auditorium on the evening of Monday, April 24. In keeping with the 2023 SAAM theme of “Drawing Connections: Prevention Demands Equity,” the keynote panel centered discussions of gender violence examined through an intersectional lens.

The event featured three prolific Black feminist academics, all of whom have experience teaching at gender-diverse women’s colleges: Paula J. Giddings, the Elizabeth A. Woodson professor emerita of Africana Studies at Smith College; Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Anna Julia Cooper professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman College; and Dr. Cynthia Spence, associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Spelman College.

Emma Quirk ’26, a fellow at the College’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, provided a land acknowledgement and a description of the event’s purpose.

“Tonight’s program is especially important because it honors the theme of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, which notes that this year’s events should recognize that we cannot end sexual violence unless we end racism,” Quirk said.

Interim President Beverly Daniel Tatum provided opening remarks following the land acknowledgement, where she welcomed the panelists. Tatum described her enthusiasm at reuniting with Spence and Guy-Sheftall, whom she worked with previously during her time as President of Spelman College. Tatum went on to describe the panelists as “three Black feminist scholars who have been activists resisting the tyranny of violence against Black women, as part of a tradition that goes back hundreds of years.”

The panelists were then introduced by Lauren Gaia, chief of staff and strategic communications and Nohelya Zambrano Aguayo, LGBTQ+ community resource coordinator, employees of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

A screening of the documentary “The Rape of Recy Taylor” was shown before the panel. The film tells the story of Recy Taylor, a Black woman living in Alabama in the 1940s who was abducted and sexually assaulted by a group of white boys. Through interviews with Taylor’s relatives and various historians, the documentary explores her role in the civil rights movement as she searched for justice and details “the long history of sexual violence perpetuated against Black women,” a description for the event read.

Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Interim Title IX Coordinator, Kijua Sanders-McMurtry served as the panel’s moderator. Taylor’s story provided the panelists with the opportunity to discuss sexual violence enacted against Black women throughout history, including more recent examples such as Anita Hill’s 1991 sexual harrassment allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.

In response to Sanders-McMurty’s question,“…what does it mean to be a Black feminist?,” Dr. Guy-Sheftall described Black feminism as “…rage and opposition to all forms of oppression. And you don’t prioritize white supremacy over heteropatriarchy … it’s all of these things.”

“Why do you have to choose?” Spence added.

Before opening the floor to questions from attendees, Sanders-McMurtry closed the discussion by asking what gave the speakers hope as Black feminists. Giddings spoke of her belief that mounting opposition to social progress is often a sign that real change is happening.

“We can get very depressed about the many things that are going on, but you can say that a lot of this is pushback because of some success, and progress, and movement,” Giddings said. “There’s not just one thing happening, there are two things happening. And there’s just lots of people who are doing very important, wonderful things in terms of movements.”

Observations of SAAM continued to take place throughout the week at Mount Holyoke. On Thursday, April 27, the College sponsored Denim Day, a worldwide campaign wherein supporters of sexual assault survivors wear denim. The Denim Day movement originates from an rape conviction overturned in the Italian Supreme Court because of the justices’ claim that the victim’s clothing choice implied consent. A DEI resource table was also made available in the LITS atrium.

The College will also observe the National Week of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, which takes place from May 1 to 7. This observation is described as “building upon the theme of gender-based justice and racial justice” explored through the College’s intersectional approach to SAAM in April. A virtual panel will be held on May 1 at 7 p.m.

Editor’s note: Emma Quirk ’26 is a member of Mount Holyoke News.