Mission
The Womanist Working Collective is a radical grassroots social action and support collective for Black folks of marginalized gender experience, specifically women (trans* and cis), femmes, and other gender expansive folx. While this language will never be enough to encapsulate all of the Black folx we center, we want to be clear that we affirm the full breadth of Black gender expansiveness and explicitly reject cissexism. Our Community of Practice unapologetically centers our Quality of Life and livelihoods through Community Organizing, Mutual Aid and Holistic Wellness.
Vision
To exist as a supportive and empowering community network to shift Black womyn & femmes in moving past merely surviving, but thriving; Prioritizing physical, emotional, moral and social safety (or using trauma-informed care practices/Healing Justice Frameworks); Centering the overall health and wellness of our members and extended community.
To transition ourselves and our communities into an Ecologically Just* society. This umbrella concept encompasses bringing balance to the environment(s)/ecosystems we live in, ending social inequality (racial justice, economic justice, gender justice, reproductive justice, environmental justice, etc.) and dismantling oppressive governing structures guided by Imperialist White Supremacist Capitalist CisHeteroPatriarchy.
*[Ecologically Just] (JUSTICE BASED ON APPLIED KNOWLEDGE OF HOME) Ecological Justice is the state of balance between human communities and healthy ecosystems based on thriving, mutually beneficial relationships and participatory self-governance. We see Ecological Justice as the key frame to capture our holistic vision of a better way forward.
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Black Liberation which improves our overall society at large.
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ORIGIN STORY
Established in October 2015 as an affinity group on Meetup, we began gathering as a group of likeminded Black women & femmes. Responding to our almost immediate growth and increased membership, we held our first strategic planning retreat in January 2016 and collective-wide data collection to gather vital feedback from our membership. From this survey and on-going evaluations, we began to shape and expand what was quickly evolving into an intentional Community of Practice centering livelihood and Quality of Life for Black womyn, transwomen, femmes and gender variant folks. Today, we continue building around the needs and feedback from our members to achieve our ultimate goal: Black Liberation!