are you actively anti-racist?
Shannon Brags on Lisa:
Lisa and I connected over the experience of supporting the Social Justice Sewing Academy when portions of the quilting community revealed their white supremacist beliefs and thinking. It has been a pleasure getting to know her and her work over the past year. We were able to collaborate on a Stitching Truth to Power workshop this fall along with Sara Trail and Deborah Grayson and I was able to witness first-hand, her leadership, hustle, and humor.
I present to you…Lisa Woolfork.
About Lisa (formal edition):
Lisa Woolfork is a scholar, sewist, community organizer, and podcaster. She is the founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. This group protested against the white supremacist insurgency that had taken hold of the Virginia city. She organized in a variety of ways including nonviolent direct action, working with a bail fund for activists, sewing for a creative arts team, and participating in a media collective. On August 11, 2017, she was locked in church as white supremacists marched with fire on the University of Virginia campus attacking students and community members. The next day, as she marched with counter-protesters, a white supremacist attacked the crowd with his car, killing one person and injuring dozens. Her essay “‘This Class of Persons:’ When UVA’s White Supremacist Past Meets Its Future” was published in a collection of essays about the terror events in Charlottesville
Today’s Inspiration:
Do you want to live in an antiracist world? Can you imagine what our country would look like without its attachment to subtle, nuanced, and overt forms of white supremacy? Note that "white supremacy" isn't just KKK-ers. It is also telling someone "You're pretty for a Black girl."
What would it take to dismantle structural racism? What are YOU willing to give up in exchange for a country that no longer relies on antiblackness and racism? The "YOU" here is different for white and nonBlack people.
For Black people reading this prompt, I offer you compassion and empathy. Antiblackness is popular in the US, so prevalent that we find it everywhere, even sometimes in the mirror. This prompt invites Black makers to breathe, rest, reflect, refresh. You belong to yourself first. Find ways today to be kind to yourself.
For white and nonBlack people reading this prompt, I offer you compassion and opportunity to continue this great journey that Shannon has invited us all to join. Think about these questions: What would it take to dismantle structural racism? What are YOU willing to give up in exchange for a country that no longer relies on antiblackness and racism to pull the levers of power? Were you surprised by the capitol riots? If so, what knowledge or conditions allow you that reaction?
Connect with Lisa:
BlackWmnStitch on Twitter and Clubhouse
Folder with Black Women Stitch/Stitch Please info
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