Aiesha Truesdale and Ariel Hope saw how involved the male students were at Winston-Salem State. They saw a need for female involvement.
In September 2010 they started “Black Women for Change.”
Truesdale, a junior political science major and Hope, a junior fine arts major, wrote the organization’s bylaws, constitution and mission statement. With several other female organizations on campus including Legendary Ladies and My Sister’s Keeper, BWC had to find a way to stand out.
“Black Women for Change differs from other female organizations on campus because BWC wants to uplift the women on WSSU’s campus and surrounding communities,” Truesdale said.
“We are striving to change the perspective of women on our campus by having forums, panel discussions, hosting documentaries and even the simple “girl talk” in freshmen dorms.”
Truesdale said this organization wasn’t created for competition with the other female organizations. She said she believes that there should be much more involvement from women on this campus because females are the majority.
BWC hosted the first Black Women’s Symposium March 21 in Dillard Auditorium. Speakers from the community as well as faculty and staff members sat on a panel to discuss being a black female in the work force.
BWC partnered with Career Services and the Black Executive Exchange Program March 31 for a program titled “Sister to Sister: Do Nice Girls Finish Last?”
There are 30 members of BWC. Shana Adams, a sophomore English major from Raleigh said her interest in the organization has grown.
“I had always heard about Black Men for Change, but after participating in a lot of Women’s HERstory Month I would like to see what Black Women for Change has to offer the women on this campus.”
Other events Black Women for Change has hosted are “Precious Pocketbook Conversations” in Atkins and Dillard halls and “NO!” a film documentary about various women telling their stories of their encounters of being raped and how they handled the situation.
Truesdale said it was especially important to her to reach out to younger females.
“[For “Precious Pocketbook Conversations] We would take an item out of a purse and it would be symbolic to a topic that we wanted to talk about. For example, we’d take out a mirror and asked them how did they view themselves and how did they think others viewed them.