In 2020-2021, in the midst of uprisings, a global health and economic crisis, we at Resist set out to to host a three-part conversation with movement leaders, creatives, and elders to discuss what organizing for the new world looks like, the importance of healing justice and spiritual resistance, and the role creative resistance plays.
Below you can replay the timely conversations and if you’d like to continue learning more, join us for part two of the series here.
organizing for the new world
The first conversation in our #JusticeIsEssential series, Organizing for the New World, between Joshua Allen and Barbara Smith took place on 11/17 and spoke to what organizing amidst a pandemic, uprisings, and an election cycle looks like in this moment, the impact Black feminist theory and anti-capitalist frameworks have had on intergenerational and intersectional movements, and how world-making is not only possible but already in existence.
Healing ourselves free
“Movement work is spiritual work. Rest is resistance. Reparations go beyond resources.”
How is movement work connected to spiritual and healing work? What role do healers and spiritual practitioners, and seekers have in imagining our world anew?
Our 2nd #JusticeIsEssential conversation: “Healing Ourselves Free,” facilitated by Resist board member Allen Kwabena Frimpong, joined Tricia Hersey of the Nap Ministry and Emanuel Brown of the Acorn Center for Restoration and Freedom as they discussed the decolonization of rest, the role healers and creatives have in getting us free, and what reparations can look like beyond just money.
from survival to liberation: how creative practice shapes movements
The final installment of our #JusticeIsEssential series: “From Survival to Liberation: How Creative Practice Shapes Movements” featured adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon.
For generations, art and creativity have anchored our communities and shaped our movements. Amid multiple, intersecting global crises, marginalized communities have called on the spirit of the creative to support our survival and move us towards a more just and liberated world. In this conversation, adrienne and Toshi talk about how their own creative practices have aided in their survival and how they see artists and creative practitioners as a fundamental part of movements.
Series Background
History tells us that ordinary folks coming together, organizing themselves at the grassroots level, and standing up and fighting for systemic change is the only way to create a better world. Today we are living through a health and economic crisis. We are watching essential workers across the country put themselves and their health at risk to support us as we navigate this pandemic. We have also felt a collective sorrow as the pandemic disproportionately ravages through Black and brown communities.
We are also living through an uprising against white supremacy and police violence. We are witnessing people across this country, led by Black and brown communities, say not one more killing. People are putting an end to the police state we’ve lived in for too long. These community leaders, too, are essential.
Although we have long known that racist policies create inequitable health outcomes, COVID-19 and this mass uprising highlight the need to maintain justice as a central tenement of what is essential in this country. Resist grantees have always known this to be true and have been on the frontlines, responding to the communities forgotten by the national response to COVID-19 and brutalized by the police. This is why Resist in partnership with the Nellie Mae Education Foundation is hosting a #JusticeIsEssential series that will highlight the work of grantees, people, and organizations all across the country who are responding to this moment with rigor, creativity, and love.
Read more:
- A Note From Noam Chomsky, Resist Co-founder
- #JusticeIsEssential featuring Heartspark Press
- #JusticeIsEssential featuring Neighbors United for a Better East Boston (NUBE)
- An Invitation for #AccessibilityAugust: Building a Movement for Everyone
THE SPEAKER SERIES
At Resist, we know that frontline leaders and groups that work for justice and liberation have the heart, knowledge, and tools needed to reimagine and co-create a better world for us all. In the midst of pandemic and uprisings, how do we get closer to this new world, what changes need to take root, and what strategies must be employed?
Join this three-part conversation as movement leaders, creatives, and elders discuss what organizing for the new world looks like, the importance of healing justice and spiritual resistance, and the role creative resistance can play.
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Resist is a foundation that supports people’s movements for justice and liberation. We redistribute resources back to frontline communities at the forefront of change while amplifying their stories of building a better world.