Support Black Womxn to Rest and Repair

My name is Reagan Jackson. I am an award winning multi-genre writer,

artist, facilitator, and educator. For the past decade I have been facilitating transformative retreats and affinity programs for teens and adults. I was also a co-creator of Blackout Healing which brought grief rituals, ancestral connection, meditation, and joy practices to Black community in Seattle during the summer and fall of 2020. The Blackout was a response to what we felt was missing and needed from our community. There were plenty of protests and places to put our rage, but nowhere to put our grief, to resource ourselves for the struggles to come or to intentionally cultivate joy.

As we step into the first 100 days of an administration that is committed to dismantling DEI, immigrant right, women's reproductive freedoms, ethnic studies, trans people's rights to bodily autonomy, and so much more I am feeling exhausted. It is demoralizing, discouraging and infuriating to live in a country where our right to exist is daily under attack. It is overwhelming to even know where to begin, but as I always tell the youth I serve...we start where we are and do what we can. So I am starting with black women, non-binary and trans folks.

“Black women are increasingly called upon to lead — social movements,

families, communities — many are simultaneously battling exhaustion,

burnout, and the physical and mental toll of overwork.”- Excerpt From Rest as Resistance: Why Black Women Are Reclaiming the Right to Rest by Kellye Whitney

We are not a limitless resource. We are human beings that require support and connections, but often prioritize the needs of everyone else. Simply put, it’s time for us to rest.

My goal is to co-create an ecosystem of healing and a space of intervention for 12 black women, trans or non-binary people who have given so much to their communities. This experience is a 7 month commitment including 6 sister circles and a 7 day retreat at the Whidbey Institute and I want to offer it to participants without them having to pay $1. Here is a link to the plan with all the details and levels of sponsorship.

Please give as you are able and share with others who can also contribute to this beautiful gift. Thank you.