Serenading us with the words and wisdom of female activists, past and present, keynote speaker Jamila Woods asked us to contemplate the conference’s topic and ask ourselves “what strategies still serve us and what needs to be burned down and reimagined.” As I attended my elected sessions throughout the day, what struck me was the way each of these presentations embodied Wood’s call to wrestle with the legacy and efficacy of what we have inherited.

This is a quote from author Pearl Cleage’s same-named poem, celebrating the resilience and achievements of African American women throughout history. It is with this quote that scholars Jené Watson, Dorothy Clarke, and Kalimah Redd Knight introduced their presentation, “A Broadband of Sisterhood: The League of Women for Community Service.” Though we often conceive of history as something molded by tangible moments and events, history is equally impacted by how we speak about and remember the past. Beginning their presentation with this quotation thus grounded their work in rectifying the historic neglect of Black women’s voices in American history, despite their widespread involvement and profound achievements.

The First Cracks in the Wall, But Not the Last Lights to Pour Through: An Inspiring Day at the Chicago Women's History Conference by Ella Grace

On Saturday, March 22, I had the pleasure of presenting some of my research on jazz and gender at the Chicago Women’s History Conference. Aside from my own presentation, I got to take in several other fascinating presentations, packed in from 9:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night.

Hosted at Roosevelt University by the Chicago Women’s History Center in partnership with the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, the conference was titled Past and Present Strategies to Advance the Rights of Women. The day began shortly after 9:00 am in the aptly-named Ida B. Wells Hall with some opening remarks and keynote speakerJamila Woods, a poet and singer from the South Side of Chicago. I have been a long-time listener of Jamila’s music so I was particularly excited to hear her speak. She opened with a beautiful poem before telling us all about her creative process and purpose and how poetry and lyrics have become an emotional outlet for her. Her teaching experience showed when she gave us prompts to discuss with our neighbors, keeping us engaged and energized and facilitating new introductions. She had us think of people we admire and aspire to be like and what specific traits we are drawn to incorporating in ourselves. Woods spoke about developing a vocal injury that made it hard to sing and how she used somatic healing to overcome it. She explained how the things we practice, good or bad, become habits that we embody and invited us to think about negative practices we would like to give up and positive practices we would like to move towards. She then told us about three practices she is moving towards inspired by three historic women.