Community Care
Resisting Burnout with Justice-doing
Vikki Reynolds has a deep commitment to social justice and her work is based on an anti-oppression and decolonizing framework. Vikki’s work bridges the worlds of social justice activism and community work, bringing teachings from communities of struggle with histories of solidarity and ‘shouldering each other up’ in dark times.
You can watch the entire workshop here.
Artists!
At DWS we get a lot of strength from artists who are creating incredible vulnerable and honest work including:
Hannah Daisy who created #BoringSelfCare badges
Who’s your fave creator making art about community care?
What is community Care?
Community care is basically any care provided by a single individual to benefit other people in their life. This can take the form of protests, for which community care is best known, but also simple, interpersonal acts of compassion.
"Self-care does not address the systemic issue that people who face compounded discrimination have to deal with," Valerio says. "I might be getting a pedicure but it's not going to stop someone from coming up to me and asking me why I'm wearing a hijab. I'm Muslim. We [Muslim women] can't just leave our identity at home when we go and get our pedicures."
Valerio is careful to note that community care also isn't enough to solve structural oppression on its own and that not all forms of self-care are vacuous. Self-care can’t do much to lessen systemic inequality ("Somebody's bills aren't going to be paid because they swept the floor," Valerio says) but it can help improve mood. Community care isn't exactly going to create a socialist utopia overnight either.
Stalking is pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress.