NORTHAMPTON — Two local organizations aim to shine a light on the perspective of minority women within the #MeToo movement in a panel discussion planned for Tuesday, Feb. 27.
The event, “The #MeToo Movement and Minority Voices,” will feature Shaheen Pasha, a University of Massachusetts professor of international journalism, and Gina Beavers, arts and culture editor at the Valley Advocate newspaper.
The free event, slated to run from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Northampton Friends Meeting House, 43 Center St., has been organized by Critical Connections and the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, and funded by a grant from Mass Humanities.
“This is an event where we can respond to the national conversation about the MeToo movement in our own unique way,” said Leif Maynard, program director at Critical Connections. “What we want to do is highlight the minority voices in the movement.”
Pasha and Beavers will talk about the sexual harassment accountability movement and potential ways to address entrenched misogyny. They’ll take questions from the audience, and then organizers will split the audience into groups for discussions on a smaller scale, said Maynard.
The #MeToo movement began as a viral campaign to protest and demonstrate the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in society, with an emphasis on workplace behavior. The movement gained popularity after over 80 women made allegations on social media against film producer Harvey Weinstein.
That led to a succession of public allegations against other prominent men, sparking the removal of many from positions of power. Maynard says that continuing to talk about the issues is what will help move them forward.
Pasha, who joined the faculty at UMass in 2013, has an extensive background in journalism and education, including working as the Middle East regional editor for The Brief, a legal magazine published by Thomson Reuters, and teaching print and online journalism for students at The American University in Cairo. A contributor to The Dallas Morning News, New England Public Radio and USA Today, among other news outlets, she focuses on international journalism, Islam and religion, business reporting, and mass incarceration issues. A writer, painter and graphic artist, Beavers holds a master’s in American history from UMass Amherst and is on the steering committee of the Springfield Central Cultural District.
The two women will lead a discussion on a bevy of questions about how women of color are experiencing the movement, the particular challenges they face, the causes of misogyny in American culture and the legal, political and social shifts required to address the prevalence of sexual harassment in society.
“These conversations are the lifeblood of a functional civil society,” Maynard said. “We need these nuanced conversations in our community.”
The groups organizing the event specialize in fostering understanding and building bridges. Critical Connections, based in Longmeadow, aims to “improve understanding of social, political and religious trends related to Muslim communities here in the U.S. and abroad.” The Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, based in Amherst, aims to “to empower people divided by conflict to develop mutual understanding.”
More information about the event can be found at criticalconnections.org.