The Liberation Pledge
Black People have known joy and love as our roots, As the cornerstones of our culture, This is where we ground our declaration of freedom…
Our Liberation is NOW, so we proclaim our health and wellness, our freedom from medical oppression and mistreatment. We pledge to honor our health with life-giving foods and nourishment for our minds and bodies. We proclaim our economic freedom from deprivation and exploitation, at every level of our experience.
Our Liberation is NOW, so we proclaim that we are now living to thrive, rejecting notions that our identities are tied only to struggle and survival. We pledge to honor our lives and those of our communities, with stories and truths about our resilience, our brilliance, and our fulfillment in the many shades and colors of our being.
Our Liberation is NOW, so we pledge and commit:
To honor the movement of our ancestors across seas and lands and the journeys that they and we have taken towards our liberation
To tend to the children of our villages as those whom we both guide and are guided by, honoring the wisdom of their youth, and the zeal and courage that comes with it
To respect, protect, and love black womxn as our mothers, sisters, daughters, lovers and friends, but also as our culture bearers and warriors
To love the fullness and beauty of blackness in ALL of its form, giving honor and reverence to the bodies and lives of our trans, gender non-conforming and queer family
To honor the full humanity of black men, as thinking, feeling, dreaming beings and to accompany them as they walk into the full spectrum of black manhood, as active participants and protectors of our families and communities
To honor, revere, respect and acknowledge the lives, struggles, successes and stories of our elders, their connection to Spirit and the rituals of our ancestors past, and their undying, unconditional love that shapes and guides us
We Furthermore Pledge…
To live in service to our liberation
To heal in service to our liberation
To share & spend our resources in service to our liberation
Our Liberation is NOW, So I also pledge:
To be down for my family, familia yangu, mi familia, ma famille across the diaspora and to stand with my people whether we are 2 or 2 billion strong
To commit to the journey of liberation- not just my own and that of those I know or who are most like me, but to the thriving collective liberation of ALL black people. This includes, but is not limited to queer and trans black people, differently abled black people, large and small bodied black people, and black people who live in a country that I do not. As an extension, I honor the liberation of all melanated folk across the globe
To be increasingly intentional about my healing and to encourage healing amongst my people while also working to not pass on my trauma to others, including my family, communities, other species and the Earth that sustains us
To be fully committed to the liberation of Blackness, Black culture, Black representation and Black People
To engage in activities that strengthen and stretch me, expanding my sense of self and the exercise of my power
To support the spiritual, emotional, mental, financial, physical, and social wellness of individuals as a means of advancing the evolution of my communities
To understand that community healing is a birthright and that I am responsible for prioritizing the well-being of A.L.L. (ancestors and living legends) in service to our collective liberation