Post Performance Discussion at Barnard College with Professor L’Heureux "Dumi" Lewis

On Monday, April 2, the Barnard Center for Research on Women presented The Window Sex Project in its entirety on campus in The Diana Event Oval. It was an honor to present my first evening length work on campus with the support of friends, colleagues and professors who are still mentors to me in this dancing-dance making-activist-learning life I've made for myself.

I've made it a point to make sure that there is a discussion after each showing of the 60 minute performance because (1) it was created to be a conversation starter, and (2) this is the point where I ask men to dialogue with us the performers, and other women about how we can all be free to exist safely and un-bothered in public spaces, and further, how we can communicate respectfully with one another.

As such, I invited Professor L'Heureux "Dumi" Lewis-McCoy to join us and offer his perspective as a male ally in the anti-street harassment movement. Dr. Lewis-McCoy is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Black Studies at the City College of New York – CUNY. His research concentrates on issues of educational inequality, the role of race in contemporary society, and gender equity. He recently contributed an article to Ebony Magazine with a request to men to Interrupt Street Harassment. 

Please see his commentary below on street harassment and The Window Sex Project, along with the thoughts and comments of the performers and audience members.