Ep. 052 – Black Woman Be Whole Takeover with Anzala Alozie

February 23, 2021

Welcome back to BeREAL this week… well kind of. The team at Black Woman Be Whole are back for another takeover this month. Kimberly, Marquia, and Ednesha are joined by Anzala Alozie to discuss domestic violence against women of color.

Anzala B. Alozie is a social impact strategist, change maker and executive. Anzala is a recognized leader on women and girls’ empowerment, leadership development and diversity, equity and inclusion. Anzala’s expertise includes organizational development and management, strategic planning, global policy, DEI culture & systemic change, strategic partnerships, program development and transformational leadership & social change. She is a national speaker and trainer.

Anzala begins the episode by giving listeners a little backstory on her. She’s a lawyer that specializes in immigration law. Specifically, she would work cases revolving around the sexual assault of immigrants. She touches on the theme of history, which you already know is big at Black Woman Be Whole. She grew up with only brothers, so she talks about the sisterhood she has formed with her girlfriends, such as Marquia.

Next, Anzala discusses households where domestic violence against women of color occurs. Anzala shares her experience of being in this situation, and Kimberly shares a similar story that happened to a friend of hers. Kimberly brings up the trauma that is imbued within events of this sort, and Ednesha adds that trauma in the Black community is not spoken about often. People believe that trauma is a result of very specific events in one life, but the truth is trauma can emerge from any event, especially ones horrific as intimate partner violence. Adding to this, Ednesha brings up the statistics that 40% of Black women will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime, and that domestic violence against women of color is the number one health issues affecting Black women.

After a short break, the women return to discuss how domestic violence against women of color has seen an uptick due to the coronavirus pandemic. Not only are couples stuck together for longer periods of time now, but many outlets of support have been closed off. Examples of these outlets are staying at a friends house, or going to a women’s shelter. Marquia shares a story of a friend of hers who was socially isolated with her violent intimate partner during the pandemic.

To finish of the episode, the women speak about how to support a friend who opens up about their experience with intimate partner violence. Anzala brings up why phrases such as “why don’t you just leave?” are not helpful, because often attempts to flee domestic violence significantly increase the rate of fatality. They also discuss why many Black women may not want to report their partners to the authorities. Black women have to juggle both racial and sex based issues, and they often choose to put race based isses first. This means they would not want to report a Black man to the authorities, because there is an increased likelihood they will die in the hands of authorities.

Thank you for tuning into BeREAL this week. Be on the lookout for another Black Woman Be Whole take over next Tuesday. In the meantime, make sure you check out last week’s rebroadcasting of our live 50th episode on cultural competence in therapy practices.

If your seeking out resources for victim of domestic violence, for you or a loved one, visit the links below:

National Domestic Violence

https://www.thehotline.org/get-help/local-resources/

800-799-SAFE

National Coalition against Domestic Violence

https://ncadv.org/

National Dating Abuse Helpline

1-866-331-9474

www.loveisrespect.org

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

1-800-537-2238

www.nrcdv.org and www.vawnet.org