Things we wrote

“Often, despite being fundamentally against white supremacy and white nationalism,
some participants struggle with how, when, and if to say NO.
Their discomfort is palpable and sometimes contagious:

Isn’t saying NO censorship?
How can we change people’s minds if we don’t allow them in our space?
Isn’t saying NO acting like them?
Isn’t saying NO another form of intolerance that divides us?
Can’t we say YES without saying NO?
I want to be positive and saying NO feels negative.
Isn’t saying NO dehumanizing and invalidates their humanity?
Isn’t saying NO abandoning them?
Saying NO seems escalating—shouldn’t we just ignore them?
“YESes are our radical collective hopes, dreams, and visions of the kinds of relationships, communities, and worlds we actually want to build. YESes are our imaginations of how to thrive while we work to make the world a better place. The YESes are the ways we create the spaces we need to do this vital work together, and our NO’s makes that realizable.”
A radical principles in our organizing is that we center
developing and prioritizing relationships,
being creative, snarky, bold, imaginative,
and having FUN.