This document discusses the importance of self-care and collective care for those working in social justice and community engagement. It emphasizes that caring for oneself and one's community is an act of political resistance against oppression. The document outlines components of liberatory leadership, including practice, action, community, earth/spirit connection, and imagination. It provides examples of how systems of oppression like white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy negatively impact those doing social justice work. Throughout, it stresses that small, sustainable acts of self-care are important for long-term social change work.

1. Grounding Self & Collective Care in Social Justice
Building Self-Care into
Community Engaged Work

2. Framing Our Time Together
● Settling into this workshop
● Social justice lens
● Building practices of self & collective care
● Closing mindfully
● Quick 3 evaluation

3. Who am I?
● White Latinx
● First generation college student
● AmeriCorps VISTA alum
● MA in History, MA in Applied Social Justice, entering a
PhD program for Leadership & Change
● Bennington College – administration
● Carson-Newman University – adjunct instructor

4. Brave Space –
a poem by Micky ScottBey Jones, inspired by an unknown author’s poem
● Together we will create brave space
● Because there is no such thing as a “safe space”-
● We exist in the real world
● And we all carry scars and have all caused wounds.
● In this space
● We seek to turn down the volume of the outside world.
● We amplify the voices that have to fight to be heard elsewhere,
● We call each other to more truth and love and
● We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.
● We will not be perfect.
● This space will not be perfect.
● It will not always be what we wish it to be
● But It will be ours – together and,
● We will work on it side by side.

5. Self & Collective Care is Community Engagement
● Checking in with ourselves: Meditation
● Checking in with our community: Community
Connections + The West Wing hybrid

6. “Caring for myself is not self-
indulgence, it is self-preservation, and
that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde

7. Liberatory Leadership
● “Systems of oppression de-center liberatory
approaches in leadership, leading to high rates of
burnout, overwhelm, ineffective campaigns, a
revolving door for people of color, surface
relationships and high levels of physical, mental,
spiritual and emotional duress.”
● “When practice and action meet, we are able to show
up sustainably and consistently as leaders for long
haul social change.”

8. Practice - foundation for people to show up personally & together in
the work of transformative social change
Action - match values with actions, how we work matches with our
intended impacts
Community - hold us accountable & provide support
Earth/Spirit - connection to something greater than our human form
connects us to something greater than ourselves
Imagination - step into generative & powerful vision forward
Components
of Liberatory
Leadership

9. Internalized & Externalized
Examples of Systems Showing Up
Applying Liberatory
Leadership
● Practice - White folks encouraged to
“know who they are” through
connection to ancestry & culture
● Community - Incorporate storytelling
into meetings
● Earth/Spirit - Deeper connection &
relationship to natural rhythms of the
Earth
● Imagination - Build collective
leadership structures that value
leadership styles across difference
● Action - Cis/straight leaders take
responsibility for ensuring all-gender
resources included in gatherings &
approaches
Jardana’s Examples of Systems of Oppression
● White supremacy – martyrdom; de-valuing
& silencing leadership, experience, &
history of people of color
● Classism – imposter syndrome; meetings
in locations that assume disposable income
● Capitalism – overwhelmed & burned out
staff; attention only given to product or
action
● Patriarchy – charismatic leader;
marginalizes the experiences of folks based
on race, class, ability, sexuality, & gender
● Heterosexism, Homophobia, &
Transphobia - pressure to conform into
gender normative culture; binary gendered
bathrooms & organizing/training spaces

10. Yes No
So what are you saying?

11. But…I don’t have time!

12. Boundaries

13. A Process A Practice
● Flash storytelling
● Everyone has 2 minutes to
answer the following
prompt: Share an example,
story, or experience
illustrating how you’re
struggling with self and/or
collective care
● After each person shares,
everyone else says “We
welcome your story”
● After all the rounds, spend 2
minutes sharing words of
affirmation with each other
Storytelling:
Social Change & Personal Transformation

14. Meet yourself where you are! Work with your
colleagues by meeting them where they are – this
is revolutionary to many people.
Assess yourself
Create a plan
Fill your “cup”

15. Little Changes Add Up
● Reminder - decolonizing our systems & the ways we show up
takes time
● Small acts of self-care
● Creating/making time in collective spaces
● How you start & end meetings, open or close spaces matters
● Checking in with one another
● Boundaries
● Holding one another accountable to self-care plans
● Try new approaches until you find what works for you & your
organization
● Advocate for yourself, use your voice – don’t wait for change
from others or systems/institutions
● Share what you learn to model & encourage others
● Self-care station(s)

16. Resources – A Few of the Many
● Audre Lorde – Sister Outsider
● Bessel Van Der Kolk – The Body Keeps Score
● Brene Brown – Daring Greatly & Rising Strong
● Jardana Peacock – Work on Liberatory Leadership,
Practice Showing Up (book)
● Mental Health First Aid training
● Think outside your discipline, expertise, etc. – try to find
the resources you don’t know you don’t know

17. Resources – Podcasts, apps, & more
● Headspace (meditation app)
● Practical bullet journaling – only focus on what you need
● Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations (podcast)
● Self Care Sundays (podcast)
● On Being with Krista Tippett (podcast)
● Healing Justice (podcast)
● The Science of Happiness (podcast)
● CTZN (podcast)
● Stop, Breathe, Think (app)

18. Brave Space –
a poem by Micky ScottBey Jones, inspired by an unknown author’s poem
● Together we will create brave space
● Because there is no such thing as a “safe space”-
● We exist in the real world
● And we all carry scars and have all caused wounds.
● In this space
● We seek to turn down the volume of the outside world.
● We amplify the voices that have to fight to be heard elsewhere,
● We call each other to more truth and love and
● We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.
● We will not be perfect.
● This space will not be perfect.
● It will not always be what we wish it to be
● But It will be ours – together and,
● We will work on it side by side.