Women Community Events in Oak Park, IL

Columnist and culture critic Jamilah Lemieux will be discussing her book Black. Single. Mother: Real Life Tales of Longing and Belonging! Join us on Wednesday, July 22 as we welcome writer, editor, and cultural critic Jamilah Lemieux in celebration of her new book Black. Single. Mother: Real Life Tales of Longing and Belonging! (This event was previously scheduled for Wednesday, April 29). Jamilah will be joined in conversation by Ariel DeNey Rainey, the founder of HustleMommies, who have generously provided refreshments for the event. Q&A and signing to follow! A personal meditation on, examination of, and tribute to Black single motherhood, unapologetically told through poignant essays and candid interviews by a celebrated cultural critic “Jamilah Lemieux is one of the most important feminist writers of the twenty-first century.”—Brittney Cooper With her signature candid, humorous, and sometimes biting takes, Jamilah Lemieux suffers no fools while also courageously revealing the scars of her own parenting journey and search for self-acceptance in a world that hates “baby mamas.” With a particular verve and relatability—honed in her many years among Black Twitter’s most prominent voices—Lemieux centers the complex reality of Black single motherhood: uncertainty and fierceness alike. Black. Single. Mother. combines riveting personal essays, infused with whip-smart cultural and historical analysis, with twenty-one intimate first-person testimonies from a spectrum of Black single mothers. A long-overdue offering in celebration of the American matriarch most often maligned, Black. Single. Mother. sets out to inspire a new cultural and community dialogue about this powerful figure as one profoundly deserving of love, support, and respect. Jamilah Lemieux is a cultural critic and writer with a focus on issues of race, gender, and sexuality. A leading feminist thinker, social influencer, and millennial media darling, Lemieux has written for a host of platforms, including the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Essence, Playboy, The Cut, The Guardian, Colorlines, The Washington Post, Wired, Self, Refinery29, and Vanity Fair. She was prominently featured in Lifetime’s docuseries Surviving R. Kelly and Surviving R. Kelly 2: The Reckoning. She also appeared in A&E’s Secrets of Playboy. Lemieux penned the foreword for the anniversary editions of Michele Wallace’s Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman and Ann Petry’s Miss Muriel and Other Stories. Currently, she writes a weekly advice column for Slate‘s “Care and Feeding” parenting section. She resides in Los Angeles with her daughter Naima. Ariel DeNey Rainey is the CEO and Founder of Hustle Mommies, a social service agency rooted in policy, advocacy, and social work that is transforming how mothers are empowered to lead within their families, businesses, and communities. She is also a Creative Strategist dedicated to brands, innovation, and community building, with collaborations that include Nike, Amazon, Walmart, and Hip-Hop icon MC Lyte. Guided by her lived experience and a vision for systemic change, Ariel has created groundbreaking initiatives under the Hustle Mommies brand, such as Paint The Hood Orange, a violence prevention and healing movement, and Pitch Like A Mom, a pitch competition that invests in Black mom-owned businesses. These efforts reflect her commitment to addressing community needs through innovative programs that blend policy/civic engagement and advocacy with direct impact.

Come hang out, spark ideas, and make new friends at Create and Connect — where fun meets creativity! Join Us for Create and Connect! Some of the best conversations and connections happen when our hands are busy, our creativity is flowing, and our hearts are focused on Jesus. Create & Connect is a gathering for women in the Chicagoland area who are hungry for real community and space to connect with the Lord. Come ready to make something, meet someone, and leave feeling refreshed in your spirit. Join us July 18 from 10:30 am – 1:00 pm at Windy City Coworking in Albany Park as we create a gratitude and prayer journal—a personal space to record what God is doing in your life for weeks and months to come. All supplies and snacks are included. Simply come as you are. Tickets are $28.52 and include everything you need for the morning. Space is limited, so reserve your spot today.

Spoken-word poet and performing artist Amena Brown will be visiting Call & Response to discuss her latest essay collection! Join us as we celebrate poet, performing artist, and author Amena Brown's new essay collection, Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl! Q&A and book signing to follow discussion. Amena will be joined in conversation by Chicago-based culture writer Taylor Crumpton! An irresistible delight, this hilarious and heartwarming essay collection gathers essential tales about growing up in the South, the pitfalls of date night, and why no one should ever tell a Black girl how to Black Girl. Black women always find a place to meet: in the natural hair aisle, at Beyoncé concerts, even online in memes and catchphrases. This book is one of those places: a living room where readers can contemplate how a well-picked afro can defy the laws of physics and why boob sweat has to exist in the first place. Here, Black Girl is a verb. Here, Black women can Black Girl in every way we want to. Amena Brown’s book Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl blends storytelling, humor, and pop culture commentary to traverse the magic and wisdom she's gleaned from being raised by Southern Black women, and supported by the community of Black women who hold her down today. After graduating from the International Black Girl Headquarters (the renowned HBCU Spelman College), Amena has built a career telling stories and celebrating Black womanhood. In her book, she shares stories of dancing in Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" music video and partnering with Tracee Ellis Ross to compose odes to natural hair. She imparts essential life lessons from the Real Housewives of Atlanta, and tells hair tales, including wisdom on the ideal style for her first speaking gig at Essence Fest (box braids, 100 percent). In the end, Brown shares that Black women are a whole world. A galaxy of customs, language, code, and unspoken understandings, all explored with humor and heart in this unforgettable book. Amena Brown is a spoken-word poet and performing artist whose work interweaves keep-it-real storytelling with humor. She is the author of How to Fix a Broken Record and Breaking Old Rhythms. Her poetry was featured in the New York Times bestselling book Rhythm of Prayer. Brown was featured in Olay’s Face Anything campaign alongside Jennifer Hudson. She was also the poetic partner for PATTERN Beauty, Tracee Ellis Ross’s natural hair care and beauty brand. She lives in Atlanta. Taylor Crumpton is a highly successful music, pop culture, and politics writer primarily focusing on Black culture. Boasting over nine years of experience, Taylor is currently in the drafting process of two books and also holds the prestigious role of columnist for TIME Magazine. Her work has been featured in the nation’s most revered publications such as NPR, ESSENCE, them, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Refinery 29, NYLON, Wall Street Journal, Harper's Bazaar and more. She previously worked as the Arts and Culture editor for D Magazine and frequently appears as a guest commentator, panelist, and speaker in the media and entertainment industries.

The CWLU Herstory Website Project was organized to archive and share the history of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union. Using the Internet to tell the history of women's liberation from the ground up, the Chicago Women's Liberation Union (CWLU) Herstory Project documents the role of the CWLU in the movement for women's liberation and social justice of the late 1960s and 1970s. As original members and new friends of the CWLU, we believe that women continue daily to make history and that we need to support each other. We find our lives constantly shaped by our experiences in the CWLU in our friendships and family, at work, on the streets of the city, in our travels and our quest for justice. By sharing our history we hope others are inspired to act today. "Don't mourn, organize," said Mother Jones. We say that a small group of three to five women can make mountains move. That was a lesson of CWLU workgroups in health, education, employment, and gay rights, to name a few. There we created the ideas and actions that helped women liberate each other from oppressive beliefs and old social habits. Our goal is to connect with women today who are becoming conscious feminists. We want to work together to develop women's leadership and improve the safety and quality of women’s lives in the larger struggle for social justice. The purpose of our organization is to document the role of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union (1969-1977) in the movement for women's liberation and social justice of the late 1960's and 1970's. This project is history from the ground up. With the help of other women interested in feminist issues, former CWLU activists are developing a website. Though the CWLU was active just a generation ago, an understanding of its impact on women in Chicago, as well as the national feminist movement of the times, is largely unknown.