The 10th-annual Women of Color Conference promises to be unlike any of the previous conferences. This year’s event will host speakers from around the world, five separate workshop tracks, an open mic and two performances.
“This year is a re-investment in women of color,” ASUO Women’s Center Interim Director Erin O’Brien said. “It is an exciting prospect for the Women’s Center addressing women-of-color issues.”
The conference is titled “Dialogues About the State of Women’s Rights as Human Rights” and focuses on the rights of women of color as basic human rights that have been denied or jeopardized.
The conference will feature keynote speaker Ninotchka Rosca, a former political prisoner under the Marcos regime in the Philippines. She is also the founder of GABRIELA, a women’s rights organization of the Philippines. Her primary concerns are the issues of sex tourism, trafficking, the mail-order bride industry and violence against women.
Issues women of color face will be discussed in a sexual orientation and sexuality workshop and a theater of the oppressed.
“It’s giving a voice to cover all different parts of life,” said Stefanie Loh, public relations coordinator for the Women’s Center. “Being a woman of color is not a single thing.”
Some of the workshops will be closed workshops, open only to women who identify themselves as women of color. Other workshops will be only for those who do not identify themselves as women of color.
“The whole thing is a big deal,” Women’s Center Diversity Coordinator Ma Vang said. “Every workshop, performer and speaker is important.”
The conference will begin today at 2:30 p.m. in the EMU Ben Linder Room and will continue throughout the weekend with the closing session ending at 1 p.m. Sunday. More than 50 people have registered for the conference, and registration will remain open for the weekend. The conference is free for University students, staff and faculty.

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