It’s Always a Good Time to Take Some Action

Serena Ryan, Summits in Solidarity

This week has been a mentally tough one for many of us who saw the anticipated roll-back of Roe v. Wade become the new reality. We’re pissed off that this handful of people can make decisions that strip us of civil liberties. We can’t believe that the government can turn on us this way, that one group of people can be singled out and systematically denied agency and autonomy and the ability to make decisions and take actions that are in their own self-interest...

Oh, right, this is basically the way every Black person, Indigenous person, and other person of color feels. Every. damn. day.

And this is the way our country has worked, or should I say worked against them, for generations. 

Fighting for justice and equity is not an either-or exercise. The same systems that knee-capped reproductive rights this week are the ones responsible for the history of oppression our country was built on.

We can sit back and be silently depressed and hopeless about the direction our country seems to be going in. Or we can decide to take action.

I want to keep reminding myself about this action part, so today I’ve brought back Serena Ryan, owner of the Notch Hostel in New Hampshire, but more importantly for today’s discussion, one of the founders of Summits in Solidarity, which is a non-profit founded back in 2020 to foster justice and equity for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

This year, Summits in Solidarity has an aggressive goal to raise $30,000 by today, June 30, 2022 - but don’t worry if you’re tuning in and it’s July or next winter or whenever. The need for this work, and this organization’s amazing efforts, aren’t going away. And if you are so inclined, maybe take a pause and make a pledge before you dive in!:

Summits in Solidarity - Donate Now

Summits in Solidarity - Amazing Resources

Summits in Solidarity - Me and White Supremacy Challenge

And more good stuff!:

• Serena Ryan on GGW - Summits in Solidarity 2021 episode

• Serena Ryan on GGW - first episode

• Notch Hostel (NH)

• Mardi Fuller - @wherelocsflyfree

• Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki People

• IndigenousNH GIS Story Map

• unfilter the outdoors

• Tyler Lau

• Black Faces, White Spaces (Carolyn Finney)

• Me and White Supremacy (Layla F. Saad)

• Melanin Base Camp

• No Man's Land Film Festival

• Mardi and the Whites

• Mardi Fuller - Winter Hiking in the White Mountains (PBS)

• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

• Liberating the Mind-Body-Spirit from White Supremacy e-course (Christena Cleveland)