Advocacy Timeline

Overview

This page was created with the intention of being a transparency timeline for the BIPOC Community within the Gathering. 

2015

  • Empowerment Center created by Taylor Phinney & Allegra Lucas, a BIPOC practitioner. This was created as a space to process things coming up for attendees within the gathering.  
  • Social Justice classes introduced within the gathering.  Classes were selected to be shared at both sessions of the gathering by BIPOC women and allies, including “Step into the circle”, “Understanding Intersectionality”, “Grassroots organizing” and “Spiritual Activism”.  

2016

  1. Mea & Ayana Young organized and hosted “Sisters bonded in Action” – a free 6 part webinar series for the Spirit Weavers community held over a three month time span.  

Classes Included:

    1. Power, Oppression and Intersectionality with Barbara Jefferson 
    2. Decolonizing and reclaiming Indigeneity with Jade Begay & Lyla June 
    3. Dismantling Systemic White Supremacy with Mollie Crittenden
    4. Exerting and Expanding our Rights with Yasmin Christopher
    5. Direct Action from the Grass Roots with Malia Hulleman
    6. Keeping sane and active among mass Psychosis with Joanna Macy
    7. 2017
        1. Layla Saad released her essay “I need to talk to spiritual white women about white supremacy”.  This essay prompted a variety of resources that were available online which the SW Team dove into.   

      Classes Included: 

      1. Online workshops such as “Me and white supremacy workbook” with Layla Saad, and “Spiritual Activism” with Rachel Ricketts. 
      2. Reading books such as “White Fragility”, “Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race”, “So you want to talk about race”
      3. Diving into podcasts such as NPR’S Code Switch, Good Ancestor podcast and All My Relations podcast. 
  • Closed the land to the public to host Bibi McGill at Cedar Bloom for her “Women of Color in the Wilderness” weekend, which brought together 25 women of color for five days to camp and BE. 
  • At the 2017 Gathering, Mea sat in circle with approximately 50-60 BIPOC Women who shared their needs and desires for the Gathering moving forward.  These needs were noted and all were put into place for the 2018 Gathering that following year:

 

          1. Speak about the Anti- Racism work that Spirit Weavers is committed to at the Opening Ceremony of the gathering.

          2. A 20 foot yurt for BIPOC to gather, create and share (this became the seeds of the CUV). 

          3. Each bodywork practitioner chosen for the Healing Village is to donate a free session to a BIPOC woman.  We also have someone present to give                body work to BIPOC at sliding scale prices.

          4. The Wellness Den makes and donates tinctures for the Yurt for the nervous system etc.

          5. Increasing number of scholarship recipients, half scholarships allocated for BIPOC attendees.  Increasing the support these recipients receive on the land- hired a designated scholarship coordinator who’s tasks included supporting the recipients both at check in and on the grounds throughout the gathering. 

          6. Going over Anti-Racist debrief at the instructors meeting on the first Wednesday of the gathering.

          7. For the Instructor, Seva, Healing Village and Marketplace we added a question onto our application that asks if any Anti-Racism work is currently or has been done.  If not, it is required that they participate in Rachel’s online workbook with resources and tools for Anti-Racism work if chosen. 

          8. 200 Tickets reserved for BIPOC at a sliding scale “choose your own price” starting at the sister support price.

          9. Additional classes chosen on anti-racism and advocacy work at the gathering.  

2018

  1. Rachel Cargle called “Unpacking White Feminism” and “The Start: An AntiRacism Intensive workshop”.  Both trainings took place over several days in San Francisco, CA.  Mea flew to SF from Hawaii for the long weekends in both March 2018 & Sept 2018. 
  2. The Come-UNITY Village was created as a space for the BIPOC Community within the Gathering. The original CUV team was Ashni Sumner, Aki Jewel Barata, Luna Love,  Kailea Frederick, :Jaime Olivia and Portia Richardson. 
  3. Mea’s main focus and intention for the 2018 year was the development of the CUV and creation of the Allyship booklet, with many meetings and check-ins throughout the year.  
  4. Mea and the CUV created and distributed the Allyship booklet, both in print and via PDF.  All proceeds from sales of the booklet go to BIPOC Scholarships at the gathering.  The Allyship Guide can be found here: https://spiritweaversgathering.com/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2020/06/antiracism2020-2-vl4scb.pdf
  5. The Allyship guide PDF implemented as a mandatory reading guide for all SWG Instructors, Staff and Seva.  Every person holding space at the Gathering is required to tick a box indicating this guide has been read before attending the Gathering.  The guide is also made available to all attendees of SWG. 

2019

  1. The “Empowered Facilitation Guide” was created in collaboration with the Empowerment Center and members of the CUV for all staff and instructors within the Gathering.  This guide is also implemented as mandatory reading for all SWG instructors in order to hold space at the Gathering. The Guide can be found HERE: https://spiritweaversgathering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Empowered-Facilitation.pdf
  2. The CUV continues at the Gathering and more implementations are made such as the donations table along with all continued offerings shared above.

2020

  1. The Gathering did not take place due to Covid but we hosted our Online Gathering instead.  The Virtual Weave took place at the height of the largest Civil Rights Movement in our recent US history during the summer of 2020 following the tragic murder of George Floyd. While many of us in the SWG community were grieving, our BIPOC community was experiencing unimaginable pain. We turned over our social media platform to uplift the voices of our BIPOC sisters. In the depths of the tragedy and upheaval, we went forward with the Virtual Gathering with the intention to create space for our community to come together to grieve, connect and strategize.  We opened space for our bipoc sisters to ask for and receive support and as facilitators, listened deeply.  Funds from the Virtual Gathering were directed to individuals and community groups in need, including many BIPOC instructors who have offered their gifts to our community over the years. That year our Allyship book sold out within a day in our online marketplace. 

2021

  1. Full Gathering did not take place.

2022

  1. We were informed last minute that the CUV would not be attending due to prior obligations, commitments and travel.  Staci Ivory oversaw BIPOC communications over the two week period.  

2023

  1. Multiple meetings with CUV happened over the course of a few months.  The CUV was shifted into the new team including Camelia Patino, Emmalee Constance, Frankie Nicole, Tam’ra WichMA, Kumu Mahealani Linder, and Kay Ellis. The CUV returned back to the Gathering with an impactful presence. One of our most inspiring Gatherings to date!