Queen Mothers dominate virtual luncheon. Photo courtesy of CSUDH.

By Gabriela Medina, Staff Reporter

On Friday, March 26, the Rose Black Resource Center held its third annual Fannie Lou Hamer Queen Mother Society luncheon for the first time online. It is a non-formal event of a very casual gathering between the Queen Mothers and the California State University, Dominguez Hills community, only this year the meet and greet joined the virtual world. This year, the theme was “Black women leading in the time of change.”

The FLH Queen Mothers Society was founded in 1996. The organization consists of women who represent and honor Black icons for their wisdom, vision and innumerable sacrifices in the face of diversity. The society encourages young people to continue to tackle excellence and pledge to keep civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer’s legacy alive.

The Queen Mothers Society’s supports the Africana Studies Department, in developing intellectual, cultural and social programs to highlight public awareness. They serve as mentors to Africana Studies students and are public ambassadors for the university.

The RBRC created the Queen Mothers’ Luncheon program to specifically target Black female students. The program director Catherine Jermany said, “there is the Male Success Alliance that targets mostly student males of color and there is the Women’s Resource Center that mostly targets women, but a lot of the programs that came out targeted more Latinx programming. So there wasn’t anything really specifically for Black women.” 

Dr. Donna Nicol, Chair of the Africana Studies Department, was the event keynote speaker, she provided a slideshow with factual information on women’s empowerment. Under the circumstances of being in a virtual setting, Jermany allowed guests to be placed into one of three breakout rooms where they were able to interact with two Queens. 

Noticing that there was not a program for Black female students, the former director of the RBRC decided to reach out to the Queen Mothers’ to have the luncheon so that Black women can have their own space and have that “intergenerational dialogue.” It became an opportunity for students to build their network and have a chance to talk about what it means to be a Black woman on campus and in a professional setting.

To reach out any of the members in the Fannie Lou Hamer Queen Mother Society, email Catherine Jermany @cjermany1@csudh.edu.