By Aqueila M. Lewis

More than 400 women gathered at UC Berkeley on Saturday to explore self-love during the 24th annual Empowering Women of Color Conference.
     Organizers, focusing on this year’s theme — “Revolutionary Love: From ‘Me’ to ‘We’… Redefining Intimacy and Activism” — looked at ways in which women connect mind, body and spirit and discover themselves.
   The day-long event included a keynote address and book signing by author, artist and activist Cherrie Moraga. It also featured a panel discussion, which included UC Berkeley employees Lisa Walker and Lupe Gallegos-Diaz; entertainment by Shanique Scott, see.think.dance, DJ Rosa la Rumorosa, Erica Benton and Aquamoon; erotic poetry by SweetnShameless; and a performance from the Black Repertory Group Theater. There also were raffle prizes, vendors, crafts and community resources.
   “Love shouldn’t have to be revolutionary; it’s the most natural thing in the world,” said Susan Richardson, aka SweetnShameless. “We are born loving, and society teaches so many of us to stop trusting, stop using our own feelings and be cynical. It’s our obligation to expect to be loved and to express our love to others in all kinds of ways. I’m not afraid to talk about it, and in my work I try to be honest about what I like and fantasize about and celebrate it.” Richardson talked about her “shero” Mae West, who was harassed and put in jail for public indecency.
   “Being in love is not about what people think of you but what you think of yourself,” said panelist Walker. Other panel participants talked about making changes in their lives, learning to breathe, self-care, honoring family and ancestors, herstories and histories passed down through the generations and more.

    Founded in 1984 by a group of undergraduate students as their semester project, EWOCC is run by The Women of Color Initiative and is recognized to be one of the longest running conferences in the nation that addresses the needs and concerns of women of color.
    Keynote speaker Moraga, who also is an accomplished playwright, poet and essayist, is the co-editor of This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, which won the Before Columbus American Book Award in 1986. In 1997, she published a memoir on motherhood entitled Waiting in the Wings, and her 1983 classic, Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca Pasó Por Sus Labios, was updated in 2003 to include new prose.
    Moraga, who is based in Oakland, spoke on the queer liberation movement, religion, politics, gay marriage and being a mixed race Chicana in America. She also shared thoughts about “making familia from scratch” and motherhood.
   “All of these issues are connected,” Moraga said. “The Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian and African American students that I mentor are usually disenfranchised from the institution and share their personal stories and issues of oppression. I validate that they’re not crazy and their alienation is not personal but political, and that knowledge of it not being their own private trip can empower them to take an active response.”