By Saira Afzal
Brand new LSESU society, The Black Women’s Project (BWP), launched this year, starting with their Meet and Greet on Wednesday 25 September during Welcome Week. The Beaver caught up with BWP’s president Dominion Oke to learn more about the society.
The Black Women’s Project is an intercollegiate project designed to provide support to black women in higher education, running events dedicated to wellbeing, skills development and future career preparation. The first BWP chapter was founded by Jessica Agboola in 2015 during her studies at University of Warwick. Since then, BWP has expanded with chapters at the University of Southampton, University of Leeds, University of York, and LSE.
The founding president of LSESU’s BWP chapter, Dominion Oke, is a third-year Mathematics with Economics student. When asked about her initial motivations for starting the chapter, Oke told The Beaver it was an idea she had dwelled on since the end of her first year. She stated she was the only black woman in her entire cohort and as a result, she wanted to create a “safe space” on campus to find and befriend black women. The BWP offers a relaxed and friendly environment for black women to socialise, take care of their wellbeing, develop their skills, and prepare for their careers after LSE.
BWP’s LSE chapter was brought to life by Dominion and her fellow committee members: Anthonia, Abi, Sian, Andrea and Dunnu. Dominion plans to lay down the foundations of the Black Women’s Project at LSE this year, “creating a name” for themselves so the project will still exist after she graduates.
The core motto of BWP, Dominion says, is “supporting the development of black women holistically”. In the year ahead, the BWP aims to host social events, wellbeing sessions led by licensed practitioners, and career-focused programmes. They also aim to attend conferences and collaborate with other societies and businesses. Notably, Oke hopes to partner with other women-focused societies on campus to create an even larger network of support for Black women at LSE.
