Incite! facts for kids

INCITE! Women, Gender Non-Conforming, and Trans people of Color Against Violence is a group in the United States. It used to be called INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. This organization works to stop harm against women, gender non-conforming, and trans people of color and their communities.

INCITE! is led by a national team of women of color. They have active groups in many cities. These include San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Denver, Albuquerque, Austin, New Orleans, Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Ann Arbor, Binghamton, and Chicago. There is also a group in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. INCITE! started in the year 2000.

How INCITE! Started

INCITE! began in 2000 after a special meeting. This meeting was called "The Color of Violence: Violence Against Women of Color." It took place at the University of California-Santa Cruz on April 28–29, 2000.

Before this meeting, many women of color felt left out. They felt their needs were not heard in the movement to stop harm against women. Much of the leadership in this movement was made up of white women. These leaders often did not include different experiences based on race and other factors. Women of color had different ideas about how to stop harm. These ideas were often ignored. Many women of color became frustrated and left the movement.

The Color of Violence meeting gave women of color a place to share their ideas. They could make their approach the main focus. Topics at this meeting included rights for immigrants and Native American treaty rights. They also talked about the growth of prisons and military actions. Other issues were health choices for women of color and unfair medical practices. They discussed economic unfairness and how politics affected the movement against domestic harm.

Organizers thought only 100 to 200 people would come. But over 1,000 people attended! More than 2,000 people could not get in because there was not enough space. Andrea Smith, one of INCITE!'s founders, wrote about this. She said the huge response showed that people wanted new ways to end harm. Because so many people were interested, the organizers started INCITE! to keep working on these ideas.

What Projects Does INCITE! Do?

INCITE! works on many local and national projects. They organize against police harm towards women and trans people of color. They also work against war and U.S. military actions.

In 2004, INCITE! started "SisterFire." This was a national tour featuring women of color artists. They used creative ways to talk with other women of color. They discussed important topics like war, health choices, and immigrant rights.

Local Group Projects

INCITE!'s local groups also create projects. These projects deal with many types of harm against women of color. After Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans INCITE! group started a health clinic. This clinic helped low-income and uninsured women of color. It also worked for fairness in race, gender, money, and the environment.

The Philadelphia INCITE! group has worked on housing issues. They also dealt with how neighborhoods change and become more expensive. The Washington, D.C. INCITE! group organized actions against street harassment.

Important Conferences

INCITE! also organized two other "Color of Violence" conferences. "The Color of Violence II: Building A Movement" was in Chicago, Illinois, in March 2002. "The Color of Violence III: Stopping The War On Women of Color" was in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March 2005.

INCITE! also helped organize a national meeting in April 2004. It was called "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond The Non-Profit Industrial Complex." This meeting was at the University of California-Santa Barbara. It brought together activists to look at how the non-profit system affects community movements.

Books and Publications

In 2006, INCITE! published a collection of writings. It was called Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology. South End Press published this book. In 2007, they also published another collection. This one was titled The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond The Non-Profit Industrial Complex. South End Press also published this book. The Revolution Will Not Be Funded won the Gustavus Myers 2007 Outstanding Book Award.