This group believes Black ladies discover energy inside their entry to house and time.
Natalie Collier is the creator of The Lighthouse | Black Ladies Tasks, a corporation the place she offers an intimate house of assist and security for Black women and girls.
In response to Good Morning America, The Lighthouse makes use of a holistic method to the management improvement of Black women and girls, overseeing areas resembling elementary academic applications, camps, and funding scientific analysis.
“We need to curate areas of security and solidarity,” Collier stated. “Southern Black ladies specifically, I feel, are trailblazers in a variety of methods, that individuals don’t usually contemplate.”
Angela Grayson, the director of advocacy and organizing at The Lighthouse, stated the group does a variety of work round constructive programming. “So the issues that we assist ladies to empower themselves are the instruments that we give them to have an effect on change,” Grayson stated, noting the significance of conducting analysis relating to points that have an effect on Black ladies.
She shared how analysis at The Lighthouse enabled an understanding that ladies want postpartum Medicaid protection. “Girls want that protection for as much as a yr as a result of ladies had been dying in what is named the fourth trimester. We had been on the Capitol reminding legislators that we’re the info. Hearken to us. We all know what we wish and want,” Grayson stated.
“We do issues that create a legacy for Black ladies to stroll behind us, for Black ladies to know that there are locations of security and solidarity for them that they’ll relaxation, they are often highly effective, they’ll converse fact to energy, no matter they need to do,” she added.
Cristy Craig and Raquel Thomas each participated within the faculty fellowship program supplied by The Lighthouse. This system consists of serving to college students discover journey alternatives, paid internships, peer assist, and extra. Craig stated it carried her mentally and financially as she transitioned into maturity. “They are going to discover a method by way of their community to align us with individuals who will make our visions come true,” Thomas shared.
