The wisdom of the foremothers
... can serve as an anchor, beacon, and unifying force today as we live through an apocalyptic, autocratic moment in our history.
Sadly, something profound has shifted in the relationship among women*, the culture-keepers and the movement-makers of the world.
In the aftermath of the 2024 election, race and class inter-relations have degraded, anger, fear, disgust, blaming, dismissal, and snap judgement have become normalized, and everyone is feeling, in a word, bad.
We have heard and seen many Black and Brown women express disappointment with and even straight-up separatism from “white women” en masse (yes, we know you did not all vote for him, but ‘guilt by association is an unfortunate part of the human response. We women of color* are familiar with being on the receiving end of this unfairness.)
Without a doubt, many white women who follow Brave Sis Project are full-throatedly opposed to being categorized as “one of those ladies,” and ardently interested in healing the breakage.
And many of the Black women and other women of color* I know, while we continue to claim our right to rest and distance, are starting to feel a little ready to explore what rebuilding can look like.
My offering through Brave Sis Project has always been this: let’s have an ongoing conversation about whose stories have been obscured and erased in our society. And as we discover, understand, and even adopt their wisdom and example into our lives, let’s celebrate and grow, with humility and gratitude!
Resilience and inspiration to help us power through
Over at least the next two years, I will publish a (mostly) bi-weekly edition of this newsletter in which we will revisit the women from my 2023 book Our Brave Foremothers.
But I will stretch and bend the narrative, positioning them in themed pairs or trios to take a deeper dive into the meaning of their lives for us today.
Each edition will point to a topic that can help us navigate this era with inspiration that will fuel our resilience. Expect provocative themes such as: “My People WILL Read,” “Makin’ Money Moves,” “Labor Relators,” “First and Fearless,” and 45 others, showcasing two or three women from my book.
And in each newsletter, there will be a shoutout to a Foremother or two who didn't make the 100-woman cut, but whom longtime followers of Brave Sis Project might recall from the journals and other materials.
There will be a brief recap of their lives (my book is in this sense our “textbook,” so get your copy if you don’t have one — available everywhere, from Mr. Sanchez’s store to RuPaul’s (the latter provides authors with an instant 50% payout —Thank you, Ru, for advocating for writers of color!).
Enticingly, each entry will have a specific set of prompts for Black women and other women of color so that we can both appreciate our own culture more deeply, as well as gain curiosity and openness to each others’ history and legacy, outside of the dominant white narrative. (Remember, all along, it’s been about de-centering that default narrative as the only one that matters.)
And white allies-in-formation, you will also have your own set of prompts, with actions you can consider taking to truly earn your designation of “ally” (as I’ve said again and again, allyship cannot be claimed, it must be earned!)
Sometimes there will be bonus content from my ongoing learning
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Or info about other things that I think embody the Brave Sis spirit.
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Choose your adventure. Is it a way to play, to engage in self-care, to stay a lifelong learner, to grow your activism, to acquire compelling conversation-starters for your friends, family, or community, or to deepen your self-development practice?
Yes.
I hope this mindset- and narrative-shifting will open us up to new approaches for the collective rebuilding that will await us when we reach that longed-for "tomorrow."
Reader, if you like what you see, I’ll have three recurring requests: 1) share this free resource with others (the Brave Sis Community can be a useful component of our collective liberation), 2) purchase some merch to rep your excitement and shout out the Foremothers, and/or 3) make a charitable donation to keep the project afloat.
I’ve got this all cooked up and ready to go, and while you explore this activity over the coming time, I’ll be working on my new book, which expands the Brave Sis Foremother celebration beyond the USA borders. Our future is global, and our future is Brave.
Thank you and stay tuned for the launch!