INCITE
Anti-Sexism | Feminist Movement | UN Fourth World Conference on Women - Bejing, China | GLBTQ | INCITE | Men's Liberation | Conclusion| Anti-Sexism Sources
Overview
INCITE is a national organization of radical feminists women of color. Together, these women are advancing a movement to end the violence against women of color and their communities using methods such as direct action, critical dialogue, and grassroots organizations. They intend to advance a national movement to nurture the health and well-being of communities of color by supporting grass-roots organizing. Additionally, this group is planning institutes throughout the country focused on developing alternatives to incarceration in order to address violence against women of color. However, the primary aim of the members of INCITE is to move closer toward global peace, justice, and liberation.
In their quest for unity and recognition of the need for space for women of color to engage in acts of liberation and creativity, members of INCITE follow certain guidelines that recognize many of the forces that their organization views as contributing to the violence against women of color. Thus, they make an effort to maintain a space by and for women of color, support coalition building between women of color, in addition to centering their political analysis and community action in the struggle for liberation. Furthermore, they seek to encourage creative models of community organizing and action, promote shared leadership and decision-making, and support the creation of organizational processes which address oppressive individual and institutional practices within their organizations. Moreover, INCITE supports sovereignty for indigenous people because they feel that differences across cultures should be recognized and honored. In addition, INCITE opposes all forms of violence which oppress women of color and their communities. In their efforts to improve conditions for women of color, INCITE recognizes the state as the central organizer of violence which oppresses women of color and their communities, so they discourage any solicitation of federal or state funding for their activities. They also suggest that expressions of violence against women of color include colonialism, police brutality, immigration policies, and reproductive control, among others. Additionally, they link believe that liberation struggles which oppose racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, alebism (discrimination against individuals with disabilities), ageism, to all other forms of oppression.
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In February of 2004, a two day conference was hosted by INCITE and the Community Accountability in Organizations Working Group in Seattle, to specifically address gender oppression. Among the topics discussed were patriarchical political and work environments, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and sexual assault committed against women, girls, and women-identified persons of color within progressive, radical and revolutionary people of color organizations and movement. Goals of this conference included: 1. Demand that progressive, radical, and revolutionary people of color organizations and movements take collective responsibility to address and end patriarchy and gender oppression in all of its forms.
2. Develop community accountability politics, principles, processes and practices around issues of gender oppression, abuse and violence, which can extend beyond gender to address other forms of oppression.
3. Develop community accountability principles and practices which strengthen resistance to the criminal justice system.
4. Integrate gender analysis with an analysis of other systems of oppression, such as, class, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, education, national origin, religion, physical and mental ability or disability, immigration status, language and other factors and extend community accountability politics, principles, process and practices to address and end other forms of abuse and violence.
5. Create new liberatory politics, practices, and politics to unlearn patriarchy, end gender oppression, and promote social justice and liberation for all.
Another conference was held in March of 2005 in New Orleans, where the Treme Community, one of the oldest communities of free Africans in America, hosted INCITE for a three day international conference entitled, The Color of Violence III, which focused on stopping the war on women of color. Among those in attendance were international organizations of women of color workers, organizers, artists, students, and activists. There were three main goals to be addressed at this conference:
1. Examine the various forms of violence against women of color.
2. Mobilize women of color from diverse walks of life to organize around all forms of violence in their lives
3. Share organizing models and build skills to strengthen their grassroots.
The conference provided women of color with the opportunity to come together to develop and share organizing strategies to address the global assault on women of color. Some of the many topics discussed were, stopping domestic violence and sexual violence, reproductive rights, police brutality, the “war on terror,” poverty, violence against bisexual, lesbian, intersex, transgender, and Two Spirit women of color.