Meet Shannon Morton of Black Women Lead in West Hollywood/South LA /Mid City/Crenshaw

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Morton.

Shannon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After the deaths of George Floyd and more specifically Breonna Taylor, I found myself in a place of deep sadness. Breonna, like myself, was a Gemini. She looked like she could have been one of my cousins.Her death and their lack of justice and lack attention that was being given to her at the time infuriated me.

I got on the phone with my girlfriend Rashida and I was like let’s throw a birthday for Breonna. On June 6th, 2020 in the middle of a global pandemic 2k people gathered together at Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles to celebrate Breonna Taylor’s Birthday.

The community listened to Black Women pour their hearts out on a small stage. It was our first event so we only had a bull horn. We had action steps for what the community could do to help us seek justice for Breonna Taylor along with personal stories to tell. Later that day we hit the streets in protest. We lead the largest protest in the city that day.

From there on out, it’s been our mission to amplify brown and Black female voices within our community. Black Women Lead is dedicated to leading the way into this next chapter of freedom fighting and justice seeking.

Has it been a smooth road?
I think every nonprofit goes through a bit of a struggle on any given day on the phone crying to my lawyer or a teammate. I’m like “Why does the government make it so hard. We just want to help people!” The 501(c)3 process and paperwork has been daunting.

When it comes to rallies and protest days, I personally get a lot of pushback from my Laurel Canyon neighborhood. White people get mad scared when you’re in their neighborhood. I’m often accused of not living in Laurel Canyon. They call the cops on me. Or they say things like, “Shannon we support you BUT can you not do the violin vigil for Elijah McClain in our neighborhood?”

We are scared of looting” and of course my response is, “No, I’m doing rallies in this specific neighborhood because white people are the people who need this most. They have a lot to learn and unlearn about this movement. The fear they have about the looting… imagine the fear Black folks have to live with everyday.

We have to fear walking home from the convenience store. We have to fear playing in our front yards with a toy gun. We have to fear driving home from work. We have that same fear the only difference for us is that it’s non stop. It’s perpetual. It’s life or death. It’s not property. I can’t re-build myself or my brother or my sister or my dad.”

So when my neighbors give me a hard time, I ask them to think about what really matters. And I tell them you should attend a Black Women Lead rally because we are the most peaceful and loving group of people. The BWL community are the best.

Please tell us about Black Women Lead.
It is our mission to be a conduit for and to amplify Black women’s voices. We support and advocate for Black female leadership while giving back to the Black community based on the diverse needs of Black women.

We specialize in a few different programs and we are just getting started! Our goal is to provide as many services to as many organizations as possible while continuing to form our own programs with a focus on Black women, Black trans women and Black youth.

We aspire to amplify Black women’s voices in every aspect of our work. From our events to our live online town halls, to our social media presence and content creation, we lead with an agenda for providing a space for Black women to express themselves and take action.

BWL holds about 4 events a month. Those events have included:

– A birthday celebration for Breonna Taylor at Pan Pacific Park that consisted of live music, speeches and a march that gathered over 2,000 people.
– In direct partnership with Justice for Elijah McClain, BWL shut down Sunset Blvd. twice to hold candlelight vigils in conjunction with his family’s vigil in Colorado. Black violinists gave a concert in his honor. 100% of the proceeds from the vigil went directly to his family’s organization.
– Giving 5k thousands of hot meals out at the Crenshaw YMCA.
– BWL holds rallies in Los Angeles, regularly shuts down Sunset Blvd. and hosts live online town halls. These events have included politicians currently holding or running for office (Sen. Holly Mitchell, Nithya Raman), speakers, activists and organizers (Amber Riley, Angela Spicer), stand-up comedians (Tiffany Hadish, Sinbad, Lil Rel Howery), and musicians (Lindsay Stirling, Sudan Archives) of all genres.
– We have will be partnering with Know Your Rights Camp (Colin Kappernick’s Org) for an Impossible Burger giveaway. We have partnered with Crenshaw YMCA, The Midnight Mission, Covenant House and more.

Black Women Lead is currently running five of its own programs. BWL Politics (with a focus on voter enrollment and support of Black female candidates), BWL Communities (our outreach program, drives and hot meals), BWL Households (supporting Black mother’s through donations), BWL Reproductive Justice (to provide reproductive resources to Black women), BWL Media (educational content created to elevate and celebrate Black women).

All in all, I’m most proud of our programs like the Tablet Drive or our After School Meals programs because giving back to underserved communities is what Black women are all about. Black women are selfless so wherever we can give back and make a difference that is what makes me the most proud. And of course the BWL community that we are building. We cant do this work with out our community support and our community has consistently showed up for us. We couldn’t ask for a better support system. Community work is hard but it’s the most fulfilling for sure.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel like LA is the perfect place for us to be. Black Women Lead has so many plans to make Los Angeles a better place.

If you’re just starting out in the grassroots community work, my advice is simple, pour your heart into it and everything else falls right into place. This is hard work but fulfilling work. Make sure you have a supportive team of people you trust and that always have your back.

I know for me, I couldn’t do this work without Rashida, Emily and Nika. Find a support system and dedicate your life to helping others. At Black Women Lead when taking on a new project, we always ask ourselves “where is the need?” “How can we give. How can we be of help or service to others?” And that’s why I think we’ve been successful. None of this is about us, it’s about what we can do for others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blackwomenlead.black
• Phone: 818-697-0109
• Email: blackwomenlead2020@gmail.com
• Instagram: @black_womenlead
• Facebook: Black Women Lead
• Twitter: @Blackwomenlead2

Image Credit:
Images are by Franklin East @Franklin.east

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