Learning to See the Truth

We are not all free. We are not free unless all of us are free. Don’t convince yourself otherwise. This is what institutional racism and modern-day slavery look like. How do more of us move from caring in our hearts, to not settling down until transformative change has happened? In this article, the author Casey […]

How a City Chooses to Spend Its Money

How do you think your tax dollars should be spent? In response to the fact that Asheville Police Department gets $26,880,621 (with seemingly less than $7,000,000 going towards salaries), local organizers named some other areas that need financial attention: Fund mental health programs Fund cooperative economic initiatives Fund truth and reconciliation and transformative justice Pay […]

Police Brutality in Asheville

In case you’re not following this local incident of police brutality, abuse of power, and racial profiling by the Asheville Police Department, here’s an update from my perspective. And please follow this story, as this is the horrid underbelly that is alive and thriving in Asheville. You can find this information yourself in City of […]

People Are Murdered and Criminalized for Speaking out for Justice

Berta Didn’t Die, She Multiplied! 30 Minute cut from Sam Vinal- Mutual Aid Media on Vimeo. (Film in Spanish) Around the world, including in the US, North Carolina and even Asheville, activists are harmed, harassed, murdered, incarcerated, or wrongly convicted for standing up for the rights of the people and the land — they are criminalized […]

Reflections on Power: In the Role of a Facilitator & the Body of a White Woman

I recently facilitated a session where someone shared in the closing reflections that they felt dehumanized. For anyone to feel dehumanized by my actions is, for me, a fail. When I mess up, it’s imperative for me to own it, learn from the experience, act differently in the future, and make amends as best as I am able. […]

Solutions: Listen to the Stories. Invest.

Solutions: Listen to the stories of those who are most impacted by inequity. Invest in organizations that are informed by and lead by those who are most impacted. In Asheville: Word on the Street/La Voz de los Jovenes is one of those organizations. “I’ve been wanting a place where youth can just be themselves,” said […]

If Change is Why You March…

Some people marched yesterday. Marching at a Womens March illustrated numbers and allows people to feel the presence of other bodies standing up at this tim. It’s a chance to sing, chant and learn from each other, be in conversation about what is important. As my brother said, yesterday’s march was the “easy public place” […]