A Collective-care Guide for Activists and Organizers
By: Dr. Sinam Ward, Ph.D
“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
― Audre Lorde
A Collective-care Guide for Activists and Organizers:
Organizing and engaging in protests and actions can be incredibly empowering, connecting and moving. And, It can also be exhausting, scary, isolating, and at times, even traumatizing. This is a guide for all the organizers and activists out there, engaging at any level of political work, and finding yourselves feeling unsure about how to balance self-care and community-care; oscillating between feeling overwhelmed/ disheartened and feeling inspired/hopeful; or dealing with your own mental health stuff while fighting for what you believe in. Take what serves you, and leave the rest.
Acknowledging your efforts
Firstly, I see you and all your hard-work and heart. I know how hard it is to keep showing up while also witnessing or experiencing genocide, police violence, attacks on BIPOC, women/femmes and LGBTQ folks, poverty/ financial instability etc. Any effort you have put in to align with your values, to protect yourself, and to protect your communities is worthy of acknowledgement and is something to be proud of.
Oftentimes activists are marginalized both for the identities they hold and their political engagement. In addition, political groups often don’t feel they have the time or capacity to acknowledge past efforts because of the ever-present threats their communities face. Living in a constant state of stress and urgency with little to no recognition for your efforts, can contribute to feelings of isolation, burnt-out and feeling unseen. Because of this, It is important to take time to acknowledge what you’ve already done, regardless of the outcome.
Self-acknowledgement is not about being “arrogant,” but actually a resiliency strategy that can help us to identify our strengths, build self-esteem, recognize the impact of our actions, and gather the strength to keep moving forward. When done collectively, it can also help the group identify ways to be more effective moving forward and to create a culture of mutual support/ connection, which can support sustainability. Some ways to reflect on what you’ve already accomplished are through journaling, therapy, dialogue with close community members, and community meetings that acknowledge members’ contributions.
Building collective-care
If you are organizing or attending protests, chances are you are a part of a group! Instead of dealing with feelings of isolation, hopelessness and burnout on your own, turning toward the communities you organize with can be a powerful way to address these issues collectively.
We have been socialized to think about our issues on an individual level; believing that the problems we face are a reflection of our own deficiencies as opposed to being rooted in systems of oppression. The same way that political organizing can help us see that our individual problems are actually collective in nature, our organizing can also help us to gain new capacities to build collective resiliency and community care that challenge individualism.
Some examples of ways to increase community care include organizing collective study or work sessions where members can support each other in accomplishing difficult life or organizational tasks, creating a buddy system or small group structure for regular check-ins, organizing “meal trains” or potlucks to provide food for community members who are struggling, and creating spaces for members to connect outside of organizing i.e. singing together, getting into nature etc. There are so many ways to get creative and show up for one another! This can also reduce feelings of shame related to the impact of engaging in activist work.
It’s important to note that collective community support is not a substitute for getting professional help from a therapist or other mental health professional if you are experiencing mental health challenges. Political organizations and community groups often do not have the capacity or expertise to be the main or sole source of support for individuals struggling with mental health challenges. I encourage you to seek professional support and consider building collective-care in your organization as an additional, and important, resiliency strategy.
Trauma-informed self-care
If you are engaged in activism, you may have experienced or witnessed violence and repression firsthand or as a direct result of your organizing. As a result, you may be experiencing trauma-related systems such as hypervigilance, constant anxiety, nightmares, intrusive memories of the traumatic events, dissociation, difficulty focusing and difficulty feeling embodied. If this is your truth, I am sad and angry for the injustices you have had to experience! And, I am here to remind you it is not your fault. I encourage you to seek mental health support as well as consider the following strategies to support your emotional regulation and healing journey.
Attend to your basic needs as much as possible: Trauma can wreak havoc on our nervous systems making it very difficult to stay in touch with our bodies and what we need. Additionally, when engaging in political work, sometimes our physical needs are pushed aside to prepare for an urgent deadline or action. Trying your best to eat 3x a times a day, get 8 hrs of sleep, and make sure you are hydrating can help to regulate your mood and create a greater sense of internal safety. It can also help you to better cope with stress each day and to be able to show up for your own healing journey and political work long-term.
Limiting or curating your news and social media intake: While staying connected to live updates about a political situation may feel important and necessary, for those that have experienced trauma, constant exposure to graphic images and firsthand accounts of violence can lead to shut-down and/or panic responses. If this is the case for you, you may want to consider limiting your exposure to this type of content until your symptoms reduce. Some ways you can do this are by muting specific accounts, reducing specific types of content you are receiving through settings in your social media apps, and limiting the amount of time you spend engaging with social media and news outlets.There are also apps you can download that can help you reduce your overall screen time.
Take time to engage with other parts of yourself: When possible, take time to engage in activities that help you to reground and engage with other parts of yourself i.e. movement, being in nature, art, reading, seeing friends. Engaging in activities that bring you joy, connection or a sense of peace, can help soothe the nervous system and promote a sense of internal safety necessary to heal from trauma.
Stay connected with your activist community: Feeling isolated can reinforce trauma-related symptoms. Staying connected to the community you organize with as a network of support can help to reduce feelings of alienation. Spending time with your fellow activists after a traumatic or difficult event can support each member in feeling validated and connected. * Important note: At times, engaging with those connected to the traumatic event may lead to feeling activated. Regularly feeling Increased anxiety or shut down when in these settings may be an indication that taking a break from the group space is necessary to soothe your nervous system.
Creative expression and sharing your experience: For some, processing their experience through story-telling, writing, art, music and other forms of expression can help them to process their feelings and maybe even regain some sense of control. Sharing their story in some form can also be a way to connect with others who have had similar experiences and may feel like an empowering way to speak out against the violence they experienced. However, for others this may feel triggering or re-traumatizing. There is no right way to process your trauma and it is important to listen to your internal compass around whether or not engaging in art or sharing your story may be a helpful part of your healing.
Be gentle with yourself: When experiencing trauma, sometimes our inner critic, that negative voice that lives in our head rent-free, can get unbearably loud. We can feel frustrated with ourselves for not being able to “just get over it” and feel angry/sad about our inability to do things that once felt easy. Healing takes time and is often not a linear process. Refocusing on the present and what you have the energy for and what may give you more energy, can help you feel more of a sense of agency. Trust that with self-compassion and support, things can improve over time. You may even find that the process of healing helps you to build new capacities for ongoing resiliency, individually and collectively.
I hope that this guide serves as additional support for you as you navigate heartbreaking realities while trying your best to show up for your communities. I hope, if anything, it helps you to feel less alone. Thanks for all you do and please take good care of you! I’m rooting for you, I’m rooting for us.
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
― Audre Lorde
Therapy and peer support resources:
https://www.andstillwerise.us/
https://www.therapyforalldirectory.com/
https://fireweedcollective.org/
Resources on organizing, self-care and community care:
Healing in Direct Action: https://irresistible.org/podcast/66p
https://www.madinamerica.com/2020/03/survivor-led-mutual-aid-projects/
About:
Dr. Sinam Ward, PhD (she/her) is a psychotherapist at And Still We Rise. She is under the supervision of Dr. Traice Webb-Bradley. Learn more about Sinam here.