As systems continue to fail us, mutual aid is a compelling framework to explore. It asks us to move from the individualism of white supremacy to collective action based on interconnection. It offers a model of community care that is … Continue reading Mutual Aid
Like you, I am entangled in institutions that perpetuate oppression. While there may be a spectrum in terms of the amount of harm caused by different institutions, there is no less responsibility for reform. Since 2011 my writing has been … Continue reading Xpress, Redress
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is a chemical compound from the cannabis plant that is used to treat physical pain and other ailments. Looking at the history of cannabis since it was outlawed in the U.S., our hearts can understand why resources … Continue reading CBD (cannabis) for curing cash bail and other ills
Being one myself, I often wonder about white women* and how we operate in community. While we are each unique, many of us follow similar patterns of behavior. Patterns shaped by being socialized in a society built on patriarchy and … Continue reading White women and the schools
Our economy was built on the genocide of Indigenous people and the violent extraction of labor from enslaved Africans. This cruelty was justified by white people’s created illusion that those we killed, stole from, and enslaved were inferior and that … Continue reading Reckoning with cultural extraction
We have an education emergency in Asheville. Our dismal 2019 Youth Justice Project “Racial Equity Report Card” shows extreme academic and disciplinary disparities in our schools. It documents a clear lack of justice for Black students. These disparities are the … Continue reading Answers for Asheville’s Black children
Asheville has long been known as a cultural and creative hot spot, or “vortex,” as you will. This is certainly an aspect of our city I celebrate. I am currently half way through writing four articles for the Mountain Xpress … Continue reading Culture Cultivators
Discouragement and despair wash up on the shores of my psyche daily. The dissonant banging of construction outside my window shakes my concentration and my confidence in the possibility of positive change. Tuning into the news crumbles my courage. Optimism … Continue reading Fortify the Fortifying
Love. Let’s lead with love. I love you, in all of your tenderness and complexity and vulnerability, strength and pain. Feel that love. Words are inadequate. Yet words are what I have. Transformation feels slow. We move through cycles, change … Continue reading Breathe, Believe
“What does it take to rebuild community as a beautifully defiant act of resistance and a necessary tool in our collective survival?” Marisol Jiménez offered a beautiful, powerful, poetic testimony in response to that question at a recent CreativeMornings event. I … Continue reading “The foundation of activism…is love.”
