Provost Pam Benoit, YWCA Central Alabama CEO LaRhonda Magras Provost Pam Benoit and YWCA Central Alabama’s CEO LaRhonda Magras, Ed.D., will team up Sept. 18 for #Sharethemicnow, a national campaign to amplify the voices and perspectives of Black women and the work they are doing — and have done — in America.
Benoit will lend her Instagram platform @pam_benoit_uab to Magras 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. to share YWCA public policy initiatives and kick off the organization’s 21-day racial equity and social justice challenge.
The campaign is “a way to tune into conversations about race and to learn specifically what initiatives we can become involved in to truly make changes in our society,” said Benoit, who is “especially glad to be sharing a platform with Dr. Magras.”
“We work to empower women and sometimes that means being their voice by advocating on their behalf until they are able to do so themselves,” Magras said. “It is imperative that we use our platforms to magnify the voices of Black women who are often marginalized and undervalued. It is because of the support we receive from allies such as Dr. Benoit that we share the mic and the work toward racial justice.”
The social media campaign, founded by Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Bozoma St. John, Alice + Olivia CEO Stacey Bendet and authors Luvvy Ajaya Jones and Glennon Doyle, kicked-off June 10 with white female celebrities lending their Instagram accounts to Black women.
UAB alumna Jasmine Shaw of QueensBeLike podcast brought #SharetheMicNow to Birmingham, and 13 Black female Birmingham professionals will take over well-known Instagram accounts to share their voices, their stories and their perspectives.
“It is such an honor to have my alma mater participate in such a trailblazing event, said Shaw, who explained she chose to use her skills to help raise awareness for the plight of Black Americans by shining a light on an often-overlooked population: “Black women have been leading from the shadows for far too long.”