2012 Sisterhood Summit Call For Submissions

PYT: Pleasure, Youth & Transformation

Sisterhood Summit 2012
The Black Girl Project (BGP) is holding its second annual Sisterhood Summit, a symposium designed to provide a platform for young women and girls to develop the tools to advocate, express, create and inspire, while also building active and sustainable networks on local, national and global levels, in Brooklyn, NY in October, 2012. The symposium this year is themed: PYT: Pleasure, Youth & Transformation.

“I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.” - Audre Lorde

This year’s summit, is inspired by the amazing experience and responses we received from many of last year’s participants to explore deeper themes of sex, sexuality, intimacy, love, and identity and how these issues resonate in the lives of young women and girls*, their communities and popular culture at-large. It is an opportunity for young women and girls to engage in dialogue and interactive workshops that will allow them to ask questions, engage viewpoints, and deepen their insight.

From the historical, overtly stereotypical archetypal representations of Black women’s sexual identities as “mammies” or “jezebels,” to modern pervasive inferential ideological forms, to more recent examples (see: Psychology Today and indie band Chester French): Black girls beauty, bodies, and sexual identities and practices are ever the topic of conversation. For generations overt one-dimensional stereotypes have been created to describe and target Black women’s sexual identities, experiences, and choices.”  This year we welcome parents and caregivers of the young women and girls present. There will be a parent track of workshops and tools to support and help facilitate conversations around sex/uality, values, and popular culture by those people who work with youth on a regular basis, and even by youth workers themselves!

We believe at BGP that it is always important to provide a space for a variety of perspectives to engage, grow, and that through the collective sharing of knowledge, telling of our stories, and standing in solidarity with one another that we are able to enrich, broaden, and transform ourselves and our communities. 

We are seeking submissions for PYT: Pleasure, Youth & Transformation around the following core pathways:

sex/uality
gender roles and identity
sex and representation in media, film, literature, and/or history
love and emotions
intimacy, communication and consent
sexual agency, rights, power and education
sexual health
sexual violence, resistance, and law
healing from trauma, heartbreak, etc.
reproductive justice, health, and rights
anti-bullying and building networks of solidarity
online and virtual representations of sex/uality
sexual orientation and queerness
challenging heteroseixm
sex/uality and people with disabilities
trans* health and activism

Additionally, this year, we will have a section of the summit dedicated solely to parents and other adult caretakers.

Questions to consider when preparing your submission:

-What are forms of healing from trauma?
-How do we build solidarity with communities that are oppressed? Are we allies?
-What are essential things to know about our bodies?
-What does intimacy look and feel like?
-How is sexual pleasure discussed and experienced among women?
-What are ways we can build virtual and 3D spaces of support?
-How do we create media representations that are realistic and represent our experiences?
-What are ways we can learn to deconstruct the messages we are sent regarding our sexuality?

These submissions can be in the form of presentations, performances, screenings, workshops, panel discussions, and/or interactive installations to name a few.
Submissions should include a 250 word abstract, a resume, accompanying portfolio (if applicable), and a letter of support from a mentor if you are 18 or younger. Application materials should be submitted to this link by July, 6 2012. We encourage applicants abroad to apply as at this year’s conference, we would like to provide an intercultural videoconferencing exchange.


About The Black Girl Project Sisterhood Summit 2012
BGP’s annual Sisterhood Summit is situated in BGP’s mission to empower young women and girls to navigate the challenging social issues they are faced with around  sex, sexuality, and gender by providing a safe environment for them to connect and collaborate with peers, investigate, innovate and explore;  in order to educate themselves, educate others, and take action.

About The Black Girl Project
The Black Girl Project is the outreach arm of the film of the same name. The mission of The Black Girl Project is to use the issues discussed in the film–Identity, Obstacles, Goals, Love & Sex, Family and the Media–to help build critical thinking, inspire dialogue and empower young women and girls. For more information, visit us at blackgirlproject.org.

*The Sisterhood Summit is open to all people who identify as Black and women and/or girls and is inclusive of transgender women and girls as well as people who identify with any femininity/femmeness/etc. spectrum.