Tending the Flame: Care as Resistance in Social Justice

For the past decade, my professional compass has relentlessly pointed to one crucial question: As social justice advocates, how do we fuse the fire of activism along with the gentle balm of well-being? 

I have journeyed alongside incredible feminist organizations, witnessing their powerful efforts to connect the grand visions of transformative social change with the gritty, everyday strategies needed to strengthen our movements. 

Consistently, self and collective care emerged as an essential ingredient—the very lifeblood that sustains us, especially when so many within our movements, and those we fiercely champion, carry deep, inherited wounds into this work.

I have learned that even with our strong desire to challenge injustice and address the profound harm it causes, finding skillful ways to do so without inadvertently creating further pain within our own movements can be challenging. We know we need to disrupt the status quo, but how do we do that without accidentally drawing knives that hurt each other within our own movements? So many of us have been so bruised by our experiences that the very idea of healing seems like a distant, impossible dream. It is a bit like being asked to run a marathon when your feet are already raw from a lifetime of walking on broken glass.

That’s why working with the Lake Region Womxn’s Health and Rights (LARWHER) to author a feminist activist Well-Being Guide has been, for me, a truly profound journey—both personally and politically. Imagine a knowledge  piece much like a tapestry woven by community hands. A vibrant blueprint demonstrating to feminists and activists in the region some suggestions on how they can identify, reclaim, and deeply embed self-care and collective care—not as an afterthought, but as a holistic, pulsating core of their lives and social justice work.

The Guide is not just another document; it’s a living, breathing resource designed to help us think and act differently in our vital work. A powerful reminder that there can be no healing without justice, and absolutely no justice without healing. How can we truly liberate others if we are constantly drained and battling our own internal wars?

In my recent address at the launch, I shared a powerful truth: cultivating joy is not a soft indulgence; it is an audacious act of resistance. In a world that often feels like a relentless barrage of crises—from the creeping anxiety of climate change to the grinding gears of economic instability and the suffocating grip of patriarchal systems—choosing joy becomes an act of resistance.

It is not about putting on a cheerful facade. When we choose to sit with our difficult realities and also choose to laugh, celebrate, and build community, even in the face of tragedy, we are affirming life itself. We are seeing things not as we want them to be, but as they are, and in that clear acknowledgment, we find true liberation. This defiance—a spirit deeply rooted in African resistance against oppression—becomes a powerful tool for our collective healing. 

As activists, we need the conditions that enable us to thrive, not just survive. And so through consultative processes, we gathered insights that pointed out loud and clear that activists are hungry for ways to build resilience and heal from intergenerational trauma. 

This Guide, co-created and nourished by the wisdom of our communities, is a warm invitation to shift our gaze. It is a living toolbox, a steady companion on your lifelong journey of healing, and a powerful testament to the undeniable truth: healing and activism are intrinsically linked, breathing life into each other for truly transformative social justice and liberation.

So, how do we ignite this radical care and weave it, palpably, into the very being of our movements? The Guide is packed with concrete strategies and practices to address these challenges using a holistic approach. It dives into four key areas:

• Personal well-being: Taking care of your whole self—not just the activist part.

• Caring for others: Nurturing relationships and building supportive networks.

• Connecting with our global society: Fostering solidarity and collective action.

• Nurturing our environment: Reconnecting with our sacred land and the timeless wisdom of our ancestors.

As one of our survey respondents so powerfully stated, "It starts with me…" This means carving out time intentionally for reflection, mindfulness, movement, and true rest. You cannot pour from an empty cup. 

We need to shift organizational culture to be rooted in care and well-being such as flexible work schedules, mental health days, and ensuring that budgets support self and collective care.

This is also a direct, unwavering call to our funders and donors: it is absolutely critical that they too shift away from perpetuating unsustainable conditions for social justice work. Their support in centering self-care and collective wellness as a strategy for building and strengthening social justice work is paramount. It is about sustaining a resilient movement that can achieve lasting change.

Ready to deepen your practice of radical care as a form of resistance? 

Please see the link to the resource here to help you and your communities embark on a lifelong journey of cultivating a culture rooted in self and collective care—a balm in today's world and its many upheavals.