But she is a 19-year-old single mother with no one to look after her 10-month-old daughter, making work essentially beyond reach. Reluctantly, she has turned to an alternative that might at least provide minimal sustenance: She is applying for monthly $235 welfare checks from the state of Georgia.

Butler is eligible for those checks. Officially, she is homeless and has no income. Most nights, she sleeps on the floor at her mother’s house in this predominantly African-American suburb of Atlanta, where 1 in 5 people live in poverty. Her mother is out of work and behind on her bills. When Butler runs out of money for baby food, she gives her daughter nothing but “water or juice for a day or two,” she says, “just to tide her over.”

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/19/breakdown-tanf-needy-families-states_n_1606242.html

          This year’s campaign launches publicly with a rally Monday, Oct. 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mitchell St. Plaza of Atlanta City Hall, including a live remote broadcast from The Jazz of the City – 91.9FM WCLK. During the rally, survivors, supporters and friends will honor the day with a memorial (eco-friendly) balloon lift, literally raising awareness of ‘The Call to True Beauty.’ Participants also will enjoy free giveaways and information, followed by a full week of campaign events, workshops and programs.

          “This series continues to be a priority outreach effort on our campus,” says CAU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joseph H. Silver Sr., Ph.D. “National data indicate that women between the ages of 16 and 24 in dating relationships experience the highest rate of dating violence and sexual assault. Although our campus is not overrun with incidences of dating and domestic violence, even one case is too many. We also are concerned,” Silver added, “that the State of Georgia ranks 10th in the nation for single perpetrator, single-victim violent crimes committed by men against women. This signals that we must continue expanding the scope of our efforts beyond the campus footprint. ‘The Call to True Beauty,’ allows us to do that in meaningful, strategic partnership with local and national agencies.

          This year’s campaign partners include The Partnership Against Domestic Violence, Georgia’s largest nonprofit domestic violence organization, and the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a statewide network of member agencies, allied organizations and individuals united in the crusade against domestic violence. In addition to WCLK-91.9FM, the campaign also will be supported by CBS Atlanta’s “Better Mornings Atlanta,” represented by Co-Host Tracye Hutchins.

          ‘The Call to True Beauty 2011’ campaign highlights include:

Sunday, Oct. 16 “The Call to True Beauty” in Worship (10:45am) Davage Auditorium (CAU)

Monday, Oct. 17 “The Call to True Beauty” Rally and Memorial Balloon Lift (11 a.m.) Atlanta City Hall

Tuesday, Oct. 18 “The Faces of Dating and Domestic Violence” (6 – 8 p.m.) Cole Auditorium (CAU)

Wednesday, Oct.19 “There Ought to Be a Law….” (6 – 8 p.m.) Cole Auditorium (CAU)

Thursday, Oct. 20 “The Dating Game” Information Fair (Noon – 5 p.m.) Henderson Center (CAU)

Friday, Oct. 21 “The Call to True Beauty” 2011 Awards/Press Conference (Noon) Aspacio Atrium (CAU)

          With the exception of the rally and balloon lift, all events will be held in venues on Clark Atlanta’s main campus, 223 James P. Brawley Dr., SW in Atlanta (30314). A full schedule of the week’s events is located on the University’s web site, www.cau.edu. For more information, call 404-880-8337.

          Herb Caver, director of customer service for Avon Products Inc., says that “one in five women will be a victim of sexual assault while in college. ‘The Call to True Beauty’ seeks tolift that veil and create a portal of education, awareness and advocacy, helping to ensure that they are able to answer the call to what is beautiful and precious in their lives. That this effort seeks to help women realize their true, fullest potential aligns perfectly with Avon Products’ corporate mission.” Avon Products Inc. this year funded $20,000 in gap scholarships for 10 Clark Atlanta University students selected into the first Avon Scholars and Ambassadors Program, an intensive training program designed to equip students to speak out against dating and domestic violence on campuses and in their communities. The selection process for the next class will begin in January 2012.

          Verizon Wireless Executive Public Relations Director Sheryl Sellaway says “with domestic violence at an all-time high, Clark Atlanta University’s work is critically important because it reaches a key population and includes a commitment to address domestic violence through training student leaders, equipping them with best practices and preparing them for service in this realm. This aligns perfectly with Verizon’s mission to end domestic violence, a crime not simply against women, but also their families and communities.” Clark Atlanta University’s Whitney M. Young, Jr., School of Social Work continues to advance its research on dating and domestic violence thanks to a $50,000 graduate fellowship from Verizon Wireless which in 2010 led to the establishment of the School’s Verizon Wireless Domestic Violence Prevention Leadership Academy.

          Avon Products Inc. and Verizon Wireless in 2010 each committed $6,000 to assist Clark Atlanta students demonstrating their personal commitment to the crusade against domestic violence through research, professional or service pursuits.

About Clark Atlanta University

Formed in 1988 by the consolidation of two historic institutions, Atlanta University (1865) and Clark College (1869), Clark Atlanta is a private, coeducational university and the largest of the United Negro College Fund institutions with an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students. The University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097: Telephone 404-679-4501) to award the bachelor’s, master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees. The University is among a select group of HBCUs to be designated by the Carnegie Foundation as a Research University, and is frequently cited as one of the best values in American higher education.

About Avon Products, Inc.

Avon, the company for women, is a leading global beauty company, with over $10 billion in annual revenue. As the world’s largest direct seller, Avon markets to women in more than 100 countries through approximately 6.5 million active independent Avon Sales Representatives. Avon’s product line includes beauty products, as well as fashion and home products, and features such well recognized brand names as Avon Color, Anew, Skin-So-Soft, Advance Techniques, Avon Naturals, and Mark. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest and most advanced 4G network and largest and most reliable 3G network. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ:VZ) and Vodafone (NASDAQ and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com.

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Presenters: Martha Rust – Tools for Life AT Specialist/Services Coordinator; Jennifer Thomas – Vocational Rehab Blindness Services Regional Unit Manager; John Rempel – AT Specialist at the Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI)

Credits Available! Free CEU’s – Visit www.aacinstitute.org to register for CEUs CRC’s have been Requested If you are requesting CRCs, please email Liz@gatfl.org with your name, organization, city, state and corresponding email address. With over 19% of people in the United States experiencing some sort of vision difficulty, Assistive Technology and strategies to assist these individuals to remain independent are at the forefront. Join us as we explore various aspects to vision loss. This webinar will discuss common eye diseases as well as different levels of vision loss. We will show a common eye exam and share what to look for when reading an eye exam. Assistive Technology solutions for those who are Blind or have vision loss will be shown and we will explain how you can access AT through the Tools for Life Network Lending Libraries. Instructions to Access the Webinar Instructions for joining the Webinar are available online at: http://www.gatfl.org/Training/Webinars.aspx For more information, please contact Liz Persaud – Liz@gatfl.org or visit www.gatfl.org. Please forward this email to anyone interested in this topic or the Tools for Life webinars.

Presented in Collaboration with Georgia Department of Labor, Rehabilitation Services and the Center for the Visually Impaired

I first learned about the proverb of Sankofa when I studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa in the Summer of 2007. Sankofa, which literally translates to “go back and take,” is a vital component of Ghanaian culture, emphasizing the importance of learning from the past, especially in an effort to make positive progress for the future. Sankofa is often represented by an Adrinka Symbol, shown here, or depicted as a bird reaching its head backwards.

As an intern at the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a fairly new member of the Movement, I have continuously been amazed by the great number of strong, determined advocates who are fighting to end domestic violence in Georgia. I have also continuously been amazed by how advocates against domestic violence still struggle to make domestic violence seen as a public policy priority and a public funding priority.

As much as we struggle today to secure funding for services for victims and raise awareness of the seriousness of domestic violence, I have often wondered how domestic violence advocates from the beginning of the Movement in Georgia were able to accomplish so much. After all, this issue was rarely even talked about in the early 1970s and there were no formal shelters in most states until the early 1980s. Who were these courageous women and men who broke the silence and began the movement to end domestic violence in Georgia? What hurdles did they overcome? How did we get where we are today?

In the spirit of Sankofa, I decided to do some digging around to see what I could find on the issue. Luckily, I was able to uncover some insightful information from the Women’s Collection at the Georgia State University Library, as well as some documents here at the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. However, because the Movement has been so grassroots in nature, the history of what has been accomplished and how it was accomplished is often best told through personal stories and narratives rather than looking through the limited number of documents that have surfaced over the years.

In honor of Black History Month, I decided to compile some information on the history of women of color within the movement to end domestic violence, both nationally and here in Georgia. Many of you may be able to tell this story more accurately than I can, and for those individuals I hope this brief history provides a moment of remembrance and reflection on the past. For those of us who are new to the Movement or may not be aware of the history of the Movement, I have put together a few key facts on the history of women of color in the Movement in Georgia.

Here’s what I have gathered so far:

Women of color in the Battered Women’s Movement first came together in a collective way in Washington, DC at the first national meeting of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in February of 1980. At the conference, there was a severe lack of representation of women of color; the trainings, speakers, and workshops were rarely led by women of color and they barely touched on the experiences of women of color within the movement and shelter programs. This extreme sense of invisibility led the women of color at the conference to form the Third World Women Caucus. This caucus made several recommendations to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Their recommendations focused on bridging the information gap through forming alliances with organizations that addressed women of color, increasing sensitivity of women of color and increasing cultural-historical presentations, actively promoting women of color leadership and representation, and the establishment of a collection of anti-racism documents and tools to be used in domestic violence agencies. This caucus also led to the development of The Gathering, the first newsletter focusing on women of color working in the Battered Women’s Movement, published by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (Catlin Fullwood).

In Georgia, the Women of Color Task Force (WOCTF) grew out of an anti-racism training held by the Georgia Network to End Domestic Violence (GCADV’s predecessor) in 1985. At the time, there was limited diversity on shelter staff and boards and the WOCTF was originally comprised of only a handful of women. Their mission was to actively promote the cessation of domestic violence, nurture, strengthen, and empower battered women of color, to increase the involvement and support of communities of color, and work to end the polarization of the shelter movement (GNADV Annual Report 1987-1988). The WOCTF focused on greater participation of women of color and implementing affirmative action policies and developing leadership skills. The WOCTF grew slowly during its first few years, steadily working to become an integral part of the Georgia Network to End Domestic Violence.

Women of color from Georgia went on to lead the Southeastern Regional Conference on Domestic Violence and organized a Women of Color Caucus in 1987. On the last day of the conference in 1987, the caucus became the Southeastern Regional Women of Color Taskforce. The Georgia Network Against Domestic Violence served as the clearinghouse for the Southeastern Women of Color Task Force and assisted in increasing visibility and outreach to communities of color in Georgia. The WOCTF hosted several workshops, trainings and conferences throughout the late 1980’s including, “Battered Women & Battered Women of Color: Where do the differences lie?,” which was keynoted by Loretta Ross in October of 1989 as well as a forum entitled “Domestic Violence in the African-American Community”, identifying women of color working in shelters in Georgia, networking with other women of color in Georgia, the south and nationally (GNADV Annual Report 1987-1988).

Women of color in Georgia have played an integral role in the grassroots efforts of ending domestic violence and actively addressing the racism and oppression many experience in Georgia. Since their creation, the Women of Color Task Forces in Georgia have experienced an unsteady history and currently, there are no active Task Forces in the state. However, GCADV recently met with the National Women of Color Network in an effort to understand the mistakes from the past in order to successfully move forward. From that meeting, there is now great hope of reinstating the Women of Color Task Forces and Caucuses in Georgia in the next few years.

Before my time at GCADV is over in April, I hope to interview willing advocates from the Movement in Georgia to help elaborate and fill in missing pieces of information on the history of how we got to where we are today. I would love to hear from any individuals who may have some more information they would like to add to the history of women of color in Georgia’s domestic violence movement.

Written by Jenny Aszman, GCADV Graduate Intern
Image source: http://knink.com/content/tattoos/adinkra-african-tribal-symbols.htm