RESISTING SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME – THE POWERFUL RISE OF THE NAACP
Some nights arrive not as events,
but as visitations.
Moments when history, healing, and human truth
sit down together in the same room
and invite us to listen.
Monday, December 8th, 2025
was one of those nights.
Inside the lower lounge of the YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester,
the Westchester Women’s Agenda Juneteenth Committee
hosted:
“Resisting Slavery By Another Name: The Powerful Rise of the NAACP.”
But what happened inside that room
was more than a panel.
More than a program.
More than a commemoration.
It was a remembering.
A recalibrating.
A reclaiming.
It was the kind of evening that leaves a soft echo in your spirit
long after the chairs are folded and the lights are dimmed.
(See the event in its entirety in the video below)
When a Woman’s Voice Softens the Room into Safety
Before any declarations of history or calls to action,
Tasha Young stepped to the microphone
with a calm, maternal steadiness
that instantly grounded the entire space.
She welcomed us,
not just as attendees,
but as honored guests entering sacred work.
She named where the bathrooms were.
Where the exits were.
Where the refreshments waited.
Small details,
but spiritually essential.
A reminder that liberation begins with care.
Only when the room relaxed into itself
did the night begin to rise.
DR. JENNIFER LEWIS
Opening the Portal with Precision and Presence
Dr. Jennifer Lewis moved to the podium
with the authority of someone who has held many rooms
and guided many truths.
She spoke with clarity,
setting the historical grounding for the evening,
weaving together justice, remembering,
and the lineage of resistance.
Her tone was steady, focused,
but filled with heart,
like a door gently opening itself
inviting us to step through.
SALLY PINTO
A Voice of Gratitude on Behalf of WWA
Representing WWA and speaking for Kate Permut,
Sally Pinto brought warmth and sincerity.
Her voice carried appreciation
for the community that gathered,
for the work that continues,
and for the women who labor behind the scenes
to make nights like this possible.
She anchored the space in gratitude,
a rare but powerful leadership.
THE ROLL CALL OF PRESENCE
Tasha returned to honor the elected officials in the room.
Each name spoken was a soft drumbeat,
a recognition of stewardship and accountability.
In a space filled with memory,
names matter.
TIFFANY HAMILTON’S HOUSE
The Quiet Power of Women Who Build Possibility
Then came a moment that rippled through the room:
Honoring Tiffany Hamilton
and the sacred space known as Tiffany Hamilton’s House,
a sanctuary where strategy, leadership, and sisterhood
are cultivated with intention.
And then Tasha shared a truth that felt like prophecy:
“Women didn’t wait for opportunity — we created it.
And now it’s our turn.”
Every woman in the room felt that.
Some nodded.
Some exhaled.
Some simply placed a hand over their heart.
Because it was true.
LEGISLATOR JEWEL WILLIAMS JOHNSON
A Full-Circle Moment in the Same Building Where She Once Swam Alone
When Jewel Williams Johnson approached the mic,
her vulnerability opened a deeper layer of the night.
She shared that she once swam competitively
in the pool next door,
as the only Black girl on the team.
Now, decades later,
she returned to this building
as a legislator,
standing before a convening on racial justice.
That is not coincidence.
That is alignment.
That is healing walking back into the spaces that once held its ache.
THE YOUTH VOICE
Sister to Sister Speaks
A young woman from Sister to Sister stepped up.
Her voice trembled for a moment,
not from fear,
but from the weight of being witnessed
by a room full of leaders.
But as she spoke,
her words gathered strength.
She reflected on identity, belonging,
and the power of being seen.
Her presence was soft,
but her truth was solid.
The future entered the room
through her voice.
MARITZA FASACK
The Silent Guardian Holding Up Signs That Guided the Flow
Not all leadership speaks through microphones.
In the back of the room sat Maritza Fasack,
the timekeeper,
the guardian of rhythm.
Throughout the night,
she lifted different signs
with reminders:
“Two minutes”
“Wrap up”
Each sign rose with precision,
and with every lift,
the energy in the room subtly recalibrated.
Panelists adjusted their cadence.
Moderators synced their pace.
The conversation flowed without rush
or stagnation.
Maritza wasn’t just keeping time.
She was tending the energetic field of the evening,
ensuring that every truth had space
and every voice had room to land.
She held the room
without ever needing to speak.
THE PANEL
A Trinity of Memory, Law, and Youth Rising
When the panelists took their seats,
the room shifted again,
as if preparing to deepen its listening.
These were not just speakers.
They were carriers of lineage,
defenders of justice,
and midwives of the future.
KISHA SKIPPER
The Embodiment of Community Lineage
Kisha began by honoring every NAACP branch and president present.
She spoke their names with reverence,
not as a list,
but as a lineage.
Her posture was firm.
Her tone assured.
Her presence grounded.
She spoke of the Yonkers NAACP
not as an institution,
but as an organism,
alive, responsive, rooted.
Her voice carried the resonance
of someone who holds both history and responsibility
in the same hand.
MAYO BARTLETT, ESQ.
The Legal Alchemist Who Speaks to the Soul
Mayo leaned forward slightly before speaking,
hands clasped,
eyebrows soft in contemplation.
He spoke of the 14th Amendment with clarity,
but also with compassion.
He shared a story of affirming a young man
against a system intent on defining him by harm.
His words landed like balm:
“You are not what they are describing.”
It wasn’t a legal argument.
It was liberation in a sentence.
Mayo reminded the room that justice
is not only fought in courts
but in how we speak to each other.
INGRAHAM TAYLOR, LMSW
The Midwife of Black Excellence
Ingraham spoke with her whole body,
hands expressive,
eyes bright,
smile unguarded.
Her stories of ACT-SO were stories of transformation.
She talked about youth with tenderness,
like one speaks about seedlings in their first bloom.
Her story about taking a young girl to get her ACT-SO dress
was a sermon on worthiness.
“She needed to know she was worth the trip.”
Ingraham teaches more than excellence.
She teaches self-belief.
Together, They Formed a Living Blueprint
Kisha brought memory.
Mayo brought framework.
Ingraham brought future.
Their synergy was seamless,
a braid of truth, justice, and possibility.
The audience didn’t just learn.
They felt.
Truth has texture when spoken by those who live it.
THE ROOM REFUSED TO EMPTY
A Sign That Real Work Happened
When the formal program ended,
no one rushed out.
People lingered.
Hugged.
Made eye contact.
Exchanged numbers.
Reflected quietly.
That is how you know
the soul of a community has been stirred.
THE NIGHT CLOSES,
BUT THE CALL CONTINUES
As the room began to soften into evening,
Tiffany Hamilton’s words echoed once more:
“Women didn’t wait for opportunity — we created it.
And now it’s our turn.”
This night proved something:
We are not waiting.
We are remembering.
We are organizing.
We are rising.
And after a night this intimate, this honest,
This aligned with lineage and liberation.
I cannot wait to see the next event under this series.
Because once a community wakes up together,
The healing cannot help but continue.
