Mandy Carter: Scientist of Activism
ACTIVATE YOUNG PEOPLE
For Carter, Durham and the Research Triangle offer many opportunities to support, activate, and inspire young people to get involved in their communities. Since the 1980s, Carter has brought that inspiration to Duke, connecting the university to social justice musicians and artists and speaking at events about the effects of sexism, racism, and homophobia.
Take Back the Night is an annual international event, rally, and march that works to end sexual and relationship violence. In 1987, the Coalition for a Women’s Center at Duke brought together students at Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and North Carolina Central University, who joined each other in chants of “Women, united, will never be defeated.”
“It’s a shame we don’t live in a society where we have the freedom not only in the night but in the day to walk down the street safely,” said Carter, who was there on behalf of the War Resisters League.
This poem inspired the exhibit’s title. It was written by a Duke student, Lisa Smith, after hearing Carter speak on campus. The poem was featured in an issue of a student publication, Voices, published by the Duke University Women’s Center in 1999.
In 1993, Carter was one of several activists, artists, and changemakers featured in a Duke Women’s Center speaker series, “In the Spirit: A Celebration of the Challenges and Courage of Women of Color.”
Carter has invited musicians who speak out about social justice to Duke’s campus, including Sweet Honey in the Rock, an all-woman Black ensemble formed in 1973 by Bernice Johnson Reagon. In 1989, Carter worked with Duke’s Mary Lou Center for Black Culture to bring the acapella group to Page Auditorium for an AIDS benefit. Through her work at Ladyslipper Music, Carter also helped to bring Mexican-American folk singer/songwriter Joan Baez to Duke’s campus in 1989. Baez and Carter met while working with the American Friends Service Committee in San Francisco.
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