ABSTRACT
I WANT TO THANK EVELYN HAMMONDS AND ROBIN KILSON for having devoted probably the last year of their lives to the organization of this absolutely magnificent gathering. This gathering has done so many things for all of us: we have been able to reconnect with friends and former colleagues and sister comrades and students, many of whom we might never have seen if not for Robin and Evelyn’s determined organizing. And we have made new connections with new people, new ideas, new issues and new struggles. We have, at least for the last three days, constructed a powerful community of Black women and our sisters of color located within, around and against the academy. And we will go on record for having been here in all our wonderful, complicated and sometimes frustrating diversity. We have also agreed to let the Clinton administration know that we are indeed capable of formulating political demands. Whether we will follow up on them remains to be seen. But that is up to us.
