“As women, especially as transnational working class women, we were never meant to survive.”
AF3IRM is a “transnational feminist organization” you should know about doing important work. Loved receiving and absorbing their #IWD statement last night. This particularly resonated, as I’ve been thinking a lot about the wounds, the pain:
“But we also carry these truths – that scars are signs of healing wounds, that we are survivors and warriors, and that we as women are not alone in our struggle – and it is these truths that have held us up and changed us. We see the scars on each other and recognize the scars on our own bodies and souls.”
I personally struggle to find time in this fast developing digital age where we’re imagining new ways to live and be, to not get trapped in the “busy trap” and balance enough to connect with impactFULL activist work. Work that’s outside of the work being done in our own lives existing and surviving to create more space out here in our particular passion field we’ve chosen to work!
What we are witnessing right now though, is how these tools facilitate community building and the sharing of knowledge and resources. THESE ARE BIG PROBLEMS AND QUESTIONS TO TACKLE. While patience and gentleness with each other is required in this moment of recognition and awakening, I think we’re getting closer when organizations like AF3IRM form and continue to survive (like they say in their statement).
So, they need our attention and our support. And even MORE SO if you’re not a “transnational woman of color.” In fact, that’s PRECISELY WHY all sorts of folks should try to make an effort to expose themselves to these voices and struggles. It reminds me of my favorite talk by Nilofer Merchant about “Being Seen” where she talks about the importance of celebrating “onlyness” – that experience which only you could uniquely experience. If you could respect and empathize with another group’s circumstances and struggles, it could force you to think OUTSIDE OF THE STATUS QUO BOX and relate to the struggles of others and just how unbalanced it is.
One thing’s for sure: the globe is out of balance and the shit is not sustainable. WE can come together to find answers, to start SOMEWHERE. AF3IRM is fundamentally seeking a radical freedom. Both here where space and knowledge is being exchanged and developing so rapidly but most importantly, AWK (away from keyboard) where real-time systems continue to entrap humanity’s imagination.
Click below to learn more about AF3IRM:
