Audio By Carbonatix
Oni, explains Naomi Parker, is “a Nigerian word that means “ruler woman.'” The term sure fits Parker herself: The organizer of the Oni 2000 Women’s Conference managed to browbeat a couple of sponsors into putting up the money she needed to make the day of discussion, workshops, and music available for free. (Park access still costs $1 per person.) That’s a step ahead of the sliding-scale fee usually charged at feminist events, and Parker’s even throwing in meals — for 300 people.
“My reward isn’t a financial one,” she says. “What I hope to get out of this is to make a difference for my daughters. As a mother of two girl children, I want other people around them to be strong role models. If something happens to me, the girls can outreach to other women they met at the conference.”
Parker, who works at Goodwill Industries and volunteers for numerous civic and nonprofit groups, provides another reason for adding the conference to her already full plate. “All the workshops are about ways to promote seeds of diversity, of hope, of tolerance,” she says. “We need to have an integration of women working together to be a stronger body of women.”
Whether it’s gaining an understanding of legal issues, learning about “Creating a Healthy Life — One Bite at a Time,” trying to “Free the Writer Within,” or rocking to a group of disabled women drummers, the conference offers something for every woman.
But the conference’s impact, Parker says, won’t be felt just by women. By extension it will affect girls and boys, “so we make better generations of humans,” she offers. Quite a lofty goal for a one-day conference, but Parker and her all-volunteer group of presenters and staff members believe their efforts will make a difference
