Towards a new year of abundance, collectivity, and joy
In our office, we have been counting down the days until the sun begins its return on the winter solstice. As we reach towards brighter futures, in the midst of growing darkness, we also remember that even though the sun is moving further away right now, it is still - already - on its journey back to us.
2023 was full of moments of victory and ongoing grief. In welcoming the new year, we will continue to set ourselves on a path towards abundance, collectivity, and joy - no matter how far away they seem now. No matter that, right now, it can feel that we are moving further away from them. We trust our journey, and invite you to join us.
In 2024, we are committed to building more, and to ensuring the just, equitable, and sustainable implementation of the policies community passed last year: so our children have access to healthy educational spaces that celebrate and support them, and so that we can all show up and make our voices heard in powerful ways; in the halls of power, at the ballot box, and with each other.
Highlights from our work: Advancing people-centered policy making
Our current systems of government aren’t just hostile to organizers & advocates of color - they also set us up for the trap of scarcity; of time, of resources, of relationships, and of how much possibility we can imagine. We’re building a network of organizers and advocates who are equipped to support each other and to advocate for policy changes in a way that is sustainable, and that doesn’t leave anyone behind.
This fall, we gathered with community organizers and advocates to grow our relationships and collectively strengthen our frameworks for inclusive, people-centered policy making. We wrestled with and began to answer questions of how to hold our representatives accountable to their communities, and how to make the voices of those most impacted heard in the halls of power.
In 2024, we’re excited to support our community partners as they fight for policies that support our communities and advance more equitable approaches to governance at the Minnesota State Legislature. Stay tuned for opportunities to support community-led policy making, and to plug into the stories of their work.
Offerings for meaning making and action:
“In this revolutionary moment, then, what to do? Dismantle the existing criminal justice system, certainly, so that the new world being built is not arrested and imprisoned. And then, hands on the plow, we do the work necessary to build… what? With reciprocity, democracy, and collectivism as our new (and old) north star, what are the systems and institutions we want to revive and create?” from Murmurations: Moving from Punishment to Accountability, by Kung Li Sun.
“... the one thing that I and my main characters never do when contemplating the future is give up hope. In fact, the very act of trying to look ahead to discern possibilities and offer warnings is in itself an act of hope.” A Few Rules For Predicting The Future by Octavia E. Butler
Take action for Palestinians. Call, email, and fax your representatives to demand a lasting ceasefire, and find local solidarity actions.
“So when these female prisoners are released and they run towards their mothers or when they run towards their children, because many of them themselves are mothers, that kind of indescribable longing, that beautiful kind of coming together and belonging, I think it is beyond words, but I think in a lot of ways it is how I think about belonging and how I think about Palestine as a place, Palestinians as a people and Palestine as a cause.” Rana Barakat and Kelly Hayes on Movement Memos: Palestine Is About Living in Spite of Everything
Our contracted training curriculum is built out of somatic and relational frameworks. Explore offerings and resources on staying in and tending to our bodies in times of dysregulation and grief on our blog.