No Goodbyes, Only See Ya Laters

All,

Early in WildSeed Society’s origin story, Aaron and I were sitting and talking about the political moment, as we often do.  At some point I said that it's hard to organize Americans in America without dealing with American problems. This is something Aaron has repeated back to me again and again and feels so relevant now. It’s one way of saying organizing happens in the real world and has to grapple with real world problems. WildSeed Society is no exception to that. 

In the past three years we have experienced the same uncertainty, lack of resourcing and inflationary concerns that have plagued all liberation-oriented organizations. This has proven particularly true for Black-led organizations and resulted in WildSeed Society having to skip payroll, and in some cases, cut salaries in half. While WildSeed has always made a strong commitment to resourcing staff  with children– including having Sandra and Aaron work for months without pay to ensure Erika and I were paid–  it became clear that as a parent, this position was untenable for me. 

So it's with a great deal of sadness that I announce that I am leaving my post as the Winter Seat of the Sacred Warren, Ferryman to the Future. My last day with WildSeed will be July 22, 2024. This was not an easy decision to make. I love the work that I have done and I love the people in WildSeed. I will forever cherish what we have worked on together and the relationships I have built with all of you. 

But as amazing and sacred as this project is, there are still human beings inside of WildSeed and I am one of them; experiencing the financial precarity that comes with relying on a system that was not built for us. To be clear, WildSeed was promised money and that money didn’t arrive when we needed it. My decision-making is a consequence of those delays, which WildSeed may still be experiencing as you read this letter. WildSeed has always been open about the impact that the philanthropic industrial complex has had on us financially.  We are grateful to the funders and allies who want to make the change with us. But the change is going to come slowly, and not everyone can survive that slowness. 

WildSeed’s vision is imperiled by its lack of resourcing. In the United States, we have a system of philanthropy that is built on a small number of people with enormous wealth. The roots of that system are built on the logic of capital. This logic presents the idea that having money is a suitable reason to be a decision-maker and money is a determinant as to whether or not something (or someone) succeeds or fails. While many things have changed since the creation of the modern philanthropic system, most organizations remain dependent on philanthropic giving and the logic of capital. 

Even though WildSeed is an organization that is living and working in the future, it still exists in the context of a past and present that is governed by these realities. Without consistent and substantial support from community members like you, WildSeed’s liberatory work is destined to be subject to the whims of a class of people who cannot fathom liberation, let alone resource it in value aligned ways. I know that working people are in a tough spot these days. I know as a father it can be hard to justify spending a dollar that isn’t going to the economic, emotional or spiritual survival of my child. Yet even as I leave this futuristic, necessary experiment, I ask that you join me in being a sustaining donor to the WildSeed Society. 

Anyone who has been following WildSeed, and my journey in particular, knows what a significant decision this is for me. I have no doubt that without WildSeed, I literally would not be alive right now. The team has repeatedly shown up for me in ways that I didn’t even know were possible. And I know that I am not the only one for whom that is true. So while I am making the decision as a father to make my exit from this experiment, I can’t stress enough how vital and necessary WildSeed’s work is. 

WildSeed’s focus as of late has been on creating a new vision for how we can resource movement building in hopes that we can create a new reality and a new world. My hope is that plans like the WildSeed Ecology Studio - an exciting new way to look at how we can organize resources for our movements - will catch fire. If we don’t burn down the system of old, there won’t be any room for anything new to build in its place. I continue to love and support WildSeed in all the ways it exists and I have no doubt that there are great things to come. 

Love to the home team. I’ll see you in the streets.

Reece