Healing Organizers and Re-Imagining Democracy

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Last week we held latest in our brown series of funder briefing. T he briefing started off with a explanation of who the WildSeed Society is as well as the lessons we have learned from the uprisings that birthed us 

From Ferguson we saw how white supremacy and capitalism conspired to keep Black people in state of ontological slavery and how patriarchy divided us from within our communities and within ourselves.

We also learned that power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.  Most importantly we learned that harm reduction wasn't enough for us. We have to abolish that which we can no longer tolerate.

From Standing Rock we saw just how committed the state ways backing corporate extraction and eliminating alternative ways of being with the land and each other. More importantly, we learned how refusing to give up the "soft qualities" like care and hospitality could be powerful forms of resistance. We also learned that we were in a protracted struggle and if we were to continue to fight for the decades or centuries it will take to win, we need to grounded in something sacred, something that connects us to deeper traditions and all living things.

From the Breonna Taylor uprising we saw the face of rising neo-fascism removes its masks. We saw the seeds of our current moment being planted and watered. Specifically we saw the effective decentralization of state violence and fusion of local capital and local reactionary politics leading to locally based fascism.

From the frontlines in Louisville we saw how effective systems of care at scale could delegitimize carceral systems and show that a more caring response is possible. We also saw impossible it is to implement even the most brilliant strategy if we do not focus on care

We then go on to explore the work that the WildSeed Society is doing to heal movement leaders on the frontline of the fight against fascism and create a new vision for multiracial, economically just democracy from the ground up. This included a chance to hear about both challenges on the ground for local organizers and the profound impact of WildSeed's Revolutionary Aftercare and movement infrastructure building projects have had on their work.

WHY: With Trumpism in power in the House, Senate, Supreme Court and many local governments movements face threats they are not currently equipped to handle. Fortunately, we have learned some lessons from the last Trump administration that, with funder resources, we can turn into practical movement infrastructure that can resist the destruction of movements and erosion of our freedoms. By partnering with movements capable of holding down aspects of this strategy we hope to support funders in getting money to where it is needed quickly and strategically.

SPEAKERS:

Deborah Bae is the managing director of the Leadership for Better Health portfolio at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation where she focuses on strengthening leaders and leadership to advance racial equity and address structural racism to improve health and well-being.

Lisa Cohen [she/her], co-founder and interim ED of the Open Horizon, a family foundation that collaborates with nonprofit partners to advance racial and social justice. She is a coach and facilitator with 25+ years of experience in intercultural education and bridging difference. She led the global training area for AFS Intercultural Programs in New York and later for US Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington, DC. Born in Panama, she has also lived in Argentina, Portugal, and Denmark. Since April 2020, Lisa has been the co-host of a monthly conversation on race and belonging.

Reece Chenault is a program manager at the LIFT Fund where he is busy funding future work with radical love, care and aligned politics. Officially he is working on the Industrial Policy program, while unofficially supporting radical Black-led organizing in his native Appalachia through presence and youth mentoring. During the Breonna Taylor uprising, Reece was the first recipient of Revolutionary AfterCare who went on to formalize and expand the program as a co-founder of the Wildseed Society.

Cierra Freeman is Co-Organizer of Finance, Development & Resource Mobilization at the Womainist Working Collective. Cierra Freeman (she/her) is a Queer Black woman and mother of 2 AFAB children. Philadelphia born, raised and taught, Cierra is a Freedom Schools baby, and a Student of Life with an educational focus on Social Equity by way Collective Impact & Funding. Cierra has organized with WWC since 2017 and is also the Founding Director of a local community organization. Cierra was a recipient of Revolutionary Aftercare which supported her ability to continue being a dynamic and effective leader in her native city.

Aaron Goggans is the Dream Gardener at the WildSeed Society - where he builds movement infrastructure before people know they need it and helps them achieve things even he never imagined were possible. Aaron is writer, facilitator and organizer working within the Black Radical Tradition to support the Labor, anti-war and Black Liberation movements for almost 20 years.

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