Photo: Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., founder of the Black Women’s Institute for Leadership Development presented by her protégés.
February 1, 2025 was declared “Women of Color Roar Day” by the San Diego City Council. Over 600 community members including elected officials, civic leaders and students convened at San Diego City College for the 7th Annual Women of Color Roar Black History Month Breakfast.
The theme “Rooted in Resilience” resonated with the crowd but was particularly poignant to the Black women in attendance. So many had supported Kamala Devi Harris, the first female Vice President, and first Black woman major party nominee for president of the United States. The extraordinary 107 day campaign she ran and tumultuous election she fought with confidence and grace cemented her place in history. But the loss still stung.
Stacey Johnson-Baptiste and Carole Porter, two of Vice President Harris’s childhood friends gave the keynote address at closing out the event, sharing stories about young Kamala and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan. Stacey and Carole accepted the Women of Color Roar tribute gift, an original painting by TL Duryea of Kamala, her sister Maya as children with their mother Shyamala on behalf of Vice President Harris.
California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D. was honored by Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and presented with a custom Sheroes Rise Scarf featuring her portrait. The founding board members and graduates from Dr. Weber’s Black Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (BWILD) joined her on stage.
I find myself reflecting on the mission of Women of Color Roar and what the next chapter will bring.
When Women of Color Roar was envisioned eight years ago, the idea of creating a multicultural event to celebrate Black women elected officials and encourage young women of color to run for office, was a novel one. Did I get push back? Absolutely. Nevertheless, I persisted.
My motivation for starting Women of Color Roar came from a visit to the Rayburn Building in Washington D.C. I was struck by how few non-Black members of Congress employed Black staffers or interns. After doing some research, it was apparent that there were two primary obstacles; access and family economic status. The two were often overlapping, families with greater economic means also have greater access to get their children internships which lead to jobs. The average white family median income is 32% higher than the average Black family household income. And, that disparity only widens with greater wealth and influence.
I returned home from D.C. with a vision to create an event to uplift and fortify Black female elected officials and prepare young women of color for careers in public service. I had a very limited budget, so my original plan was to host thirty women in the community room at my local library. However, I was given the opportunity to share my plan with the board of the Democratic Woman’s Club of San Diego and they agreed to provide the seed money to rent the Celebration Room at the Jacob Center for the first Women of Color Roar Breakfast (Roar). The inaugural event was a tremendous success and each year Roar has grown larger, becoming an established cultural celebration in San Diego.
San Diego Community College District – City College, Mesa College. Miramar College, and College of Continuing Education came on board as Platinum Sponsors and partners this year. Gold Sponsors were SDG&E, United Domestic Workers of America, Office of Racial Justice & Equity and San Diego County Building & Construction Trades Council. The generosity of our sponsors, donors and volunteers are an integral part of our team.
