By Nayaba Arinde, Editor at Large
This month celebrates the 10-year anniversary of International Black Women’s Month. Created by Sha Battle from Atlanta. “We deserve it,” she told Our Time Press. “First, I just wanted to really honor the women around the United States, and then I thought about the women from around the world who have contributed to Black history. So, I named it International Women’s History Month, which serves as a time to celebrate, educate, and reflect on the profound and often under-recognized role that Black women have played in shaping history.
“It was really divinely inspired,” said Ms. Battle, founder of Atlanta’s Black Women in Jazz & Arts initiative and award show in Atlanta. “So I was looking for women in jazz to celebrate, and as I was doing my research, I looked at Black History Month, and I said, ‘They celebrate the same five, ten, fifteen women.’ And then it was the same for Women’s History Month. I knew that there are way, way, way more women who need to be honored. I woke up in the morning with this idea in my spirit of Black Women’s History Month.”
Ms. Battle wants to highlight the unsung contributions of generations of Black women in disciplines such as STEAM, literature, music, and visual arts. Malcolm X once proclaimed, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman.” In his 1962 speech “Speech to Black Women,” the icon charged, “The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”
Currently, this is a disturbing period where several Black women have been murdered by their partners. “The disrespect and killing of Black women have increased. April 2026 was a brutal and horrific month of violence against several Black women who were killed by their spouses, significant others, or children. This needs immediate attention,” Sister Tiesha X Muhammad Mosque 7C, in East New York, told Our Time Press. Quoting Minister Louis Farrakhan, saying the Black woman is the Mother of Civilization. Ms. Muhammad said, “Our nation will never be great, nor will our communities be a decent and safe place to live until women are protected and respected.”
Farrakhan she continued, “teaches that ‘A nation can rise, no higher than its woman.’ In order for our nation to rise, and for our communities to become a decent and safe place to live.”
New York has seen assaults on women this year, but across the country, there have been several deadly attacks this month. Listing nine recently killed women, in a post 21Ninety, the Black women’s health and wellness site on Blavity.com stated, “In the last 30 days, far too many Black women have been taken from us—by husbands, by exes, by sons.”
Included is Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer-Bowen, allegedly shot to death on April 1st, by her husband Stephen Bowen, and social media influencer Ashlee ‘Jenae’ Robinson, who reports say was found hanging in a closet in a Zanzibar, Tanzania hotel room. Her fiancé Joe McCann has been questioned, and his passport withheld. In Texas, Tynice Friday was killed in front of her two children, and her husband, Keith Washington, has been charged with her murder. Last week, dentist Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax, the wife of former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, was shot to death, police said, before he turned the gun on himself. Shreveport, Louisiana, father, Shamar Elkins, allegedly shot 7 of his own children, and another child aged between 3 and 11-years-old. He also shot and injured their mother and another woman. Last week, Chicago Public Schools speech pathologist Barbara Deer was fatally shot, reportedly by her son Kaleb, who police say then used the gun on himself.
More shootings on the other end, in New York City this month, has several mothers grieving the loss of their children to gun violence victims; like Jaden Pierre, the 15 year old who was shot and killed in Roy Wilkins Park; 15 year old Quacere “Chase” Hagans shot in Eisenhower Park this weekend; and 7 and half month old Kaori Patterson-Moore shot in her stroller in Bushwick.
The Black Women’s Health Imperative posted, “There is too much grief in the air right now…This time, children’s lives were taken…It is devastating in a way that reaches beyond words and settles deep in the heart.”
They continued, “We are sitting with the weight of it and holding space for the families and communities who are carrying more than anyone should have to carry.” 21Ninety said of the slain women that they were not just their abusers’ victims… They were sisters. Leaders. Friends. Women building lives, loving deeply, and showing up for their communities every single day…This is a reminder—and a call:
To protect Black women.
To believe Black women.
To check on Black women.
To create spaces where we can live fully, safely, and without fear.”
Meanwhile, the youth are organizing on every level to build community, and combat negativity.. For example, former BRIC Youth Media alum, 17-year-old Mahadevi “Devi” El Muhajir Bedford, is hosting an “inspiring event uplifting and empowering young women.” This is the 2nd annual DeviFest with the tag “Giving back–be inspired,” promoting service-focused initiatives, with powerful speakers from diverse professions who will share their stories under the theme “Resilience–the moments that shaped a journey to success.”
Attendees are encouraged to bring gently used clothing and shoes for a Clothing Swap, with items also to be distributed to local homeless shelters. A lively atmosphere is the goal, with music, food, fashion, and interactive activities. The event is on Saturday, April 25, 2026
mnnon38th@mnn.org 212-757-2670 509 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018
Those in need can contact: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community ujimacommunity.org