Black Women’s Media Project

The Black Women’s Media Project addresses the impact of alcohol on women in the African American community. The project sponsors retreats, gatherings, media campaigns and publishes a magazine called “Crossing the Invisible Line.” This publication was born out of focus groups help in the 1990s in the bay area and attended by female, professional African American women. These focus groups identified the need for a health promotion tool focused on alcohol issues in African American communities. “Crossing the Invisible Line” has content addressing alcohol related problems, including problems in families, neighborhoods, and the community as a whole.

Over the past ten years the Black Women’s Media Project has engaged in many media campaigns, for example “Women Standing in Love” is a monthly community vigil against substance abuse and violence.

The Black Women’s Media Project also holds retreats. The “Be Still” mediation retreats are cosponsored by the Bay Area Black United Fund's Critical Mass Health Conductors. The intended audiences of the retreats are people who are always taking care of everyone in their lives and communities but who rarely take time for them. These are often the people who have learned to live with the detrimental impacts brought about by alcohol use and abuse. The goal of the retreat is to have participants draw connections between stress-reduction, relaxation and good health. To meet these goals the retreat has a schedule of workshops, demonstrations, massages, make-overs, yoga and movement classes, meditation and silent times, as well as a healthy lunch. The “Be Still” Meditation retreats take place every 3-4 months at the Jack London Aquatic Center in Jack London Square, Oakland.

To address the detrimental impact of alcohol on women in the African American community.

Over the past three years, the Blach Women’s Media Project has conducted more than a dozen free, self-care retreats for men and women in the African American community and beyond. The need for these retreats has been so strong that an additional retreat was added in 2009. This additional retreat had the highest turnout of any retreat in the history of the project; 150 men and women participated. The Black Women’s Media project is currently looking for larger spaces offered to registered non-profit organizations so that larger and more frequent “Be Still” retreats can be held.