"Keep doing what you're doing. If you're at this conference, you're doing something right." Sarah Jones' words have been on repeat in my head since August 6th, the second day of the 6th annual She's the First Summit. It's taken me a while to gather my thoughts and feelings to put them into words for Odyssey. That weekend, I never felt more of a sense of belonging and empowerment in my life.
Even a months later, I'm still thinking about all the people I got to listen to, meet and retweet on Twitter. I completely fangirled over Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, the founder and EIC of muslimgirl.com, a website for Muslim girls to have a place to speak their minds. Empowerment to the fullest. I definitely had a rambled moment with Amani after I got a picture with her and after she said she liked my shirt *heart eyes emoji*.
If She's the First is the first time you're hearing of the organization (not likely if we're friends on Facebook), then let me tell you this: we fight gender inequality through education. We support girls to be the first in their families to graduate high school. We empower women globally to break the cycle of poverty. And, it's pretty badass.
The first day of the summit was just for chapter members, we got to speak with other chapters, some from across the country and some from high schools (SO COOL). We attended workshops about how to make our chapter stronger and find new and creative ways to amp up our social media and fundraising efforts. We made so many connections with other chapter members and I can't wait to get back on campus and begin working on the next fundraising event.
On the second day, they opened up the summit to the general public for the first time! It was awesome to see not just high school and college students fighting for girls' education.
The panel I loved the most was called "She's the Consumer: When Feminism Has a Price Tag." We learned from the panelists, Heather Arnet, Doraya Chemaly, and Jessica Bennett, about how entangled capitalism and feminism are. Personally, I did not even consider how some corporations may seem to promote feminist agenda, yet they may not donate to women's groups or associations. One example we talked about was the "Fearless Girl" statue at the "Charging Bull" statue on Wall Street. Apparently, the company who commissioned the statue does not have a single woman in power within the company. Now, the "Fearless Girl" statue feels less empowering...more like they felt obligated to make a wave in the news.
Another one of my favorite panels was "She's the Spark: How Activism Inspires Art." This was so cool to think about, as so many people use activism within their art. Amanda Gorman, a current 19-year-old student at Harvard, became the first ever Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. Using her poetry, she's been able to make a mark in the US and around the world promoting activism.
I am so incredibly blessed and happy that I was able to attend the Summit, and I hope I can go back again next year. Being a part of She's the First has opened my eyes and made me an incredibly passionate person about activism and issues that plague the world. Every person should have the chance to voice their truth and She's the First has allowed me to do so.
If you feel like joining She's the First, check out the website here! The Boston University Chapter Facebook is here and Instagram is here. I'm currently trying to raise money to face my fear and do #AnythingForEducation - meaning, I'll get a She's the First-inspired tattoo if I meet my fundraising goal here! That's scary.
