EWOCC History
EWOCC is recognized to be one of the longest running conferences in the nation that addresses the needs and concerns of women of color. The conference brings together cutting edge women of color activists such as Angela Davis, Elaine Brown, Cherrie Moraga, Gina Palcado and Chrystos with Bay Area community leaders and academics (especially students) to discuss and strategize ways of impacting the current issues facing women of color.
EWOCC was founded in 1984 by a group of undergraduate students as their semester project for a DE-Cal (Democratic Education at Cal) class. The project, entitled "Women of Color in the United States," received an overwhelmingly positive response, and students decided to organize another event with the help of the Graduate Assembly (GA), Berkeley's graduate student government. In 1986, with the formation of the GA's Graduate Women's Project (GWP), it was decided to institutionalize this event and make the conference and annual project under the auspices of the GWP.
EWOCC was one of the first conferences to present women of color with an opportunity to address the racial, class, and gender issues facing American Indian, African American, Asian American, and Chicana/Latina women.
Past Conferences
1985 Empowering Women of Color
1986 Organizing For the Here The Now The Future
Featuring: Michelle Wallace
1987 Standing At The Crossroads: This Bridge Called My Back
Featuring: Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga
1988 Wake Up! Women of Color Taking The Lead
Featuring: Theresa Cordova, Chockie Cottier, Raquel Sancho, Deanna Jang and Pat Norman
1989 Sister/Outsiders: A Movement of Our Own - From the Sixties To the Eighties
Featuring: Aneb Kgositsile (Gloria House)
1990 Taking Back: Taking Back/Private Truths/Public Lies A One-Day Conference Dedicated to the Work of Delores Huerta
Featuring: bell hooks
1991 Legacy of Resistance
Featuring: Betty Cooper, Maria Cora, Sheba Haven, and Helen Zia
1992 Rising Up Live!
Featuring: June Jordan, Alice Walker, Angela Y. Davis, Diane Reeves, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gina Pacaldo, Lulintang Arts
1993 A Litany For Survival... In memory of Audre Lorde and All Our Foremothers
Featuring: Cherrie Moraga and Barbara Christian
1994 Rights Of Passage: Exposing The Margins
Featuring: Paula Gunn Allen and Booma Cheema
1995 Reaping Fruit and Throwing Seed
Featuring: Angela Davis and Chrystos
1996 Sojourn Within: Defining the True Essence of Our Power
Featuring: Elaine Brown and Ninotchka Rosca
1997 Uprising: Women's Work is Never Done
Featuring: Nikki Gioovanni, Merle Woo, Nelia Sancho, Huanani-Kay Trask, Maria Elena Martinez-Torres, Alba Aguilera, and Krishanti Dharmaraj
1998 Celebrating Daughters of Diversity
Featuring:Sister Souljah, Norma Alarcon, Katie Quan, and Eva Patterson
1999 The Politics of Women of Color and Health: Taking Back our Bodies and Our Minds
Featuring: Dr. Joycelyn Elders
2000 Activism: Demonstrating Our Power
Featuring: Alice Y. Hom and Jessica Care Moore
2001 Girl to Goddess... Youth to Power
Featuring: Ursula Rucker
2002 Women of Color in Media
Featuring: Gina Prince-Bythewood and Felicia D. Henderson
2003 Fighting for Liberation! Expanding our notion of Revolution
Featuring: Yuri Kochiyam
2004 The Politicization of Women in Higher Education
Featuring: Sonia Sanche
2005 Confronting Power: A Century of Struggles and Movements
Featuring: Elaine Brown, Lakota Harden, Dolores Huerta, Susan Taylor, Angela Oh
2006 Nourishing Mother E.A.R.T.H. Environmental Awakening Restoring Traditions & Heritage
Featuring: Dr. Beverly Wright
2007 Our Bodies, Our Souls: Sistahood, Health, and Healing
Featuring: Mililani Trask, Aya de Leon, Roopa Singh