Honoring Our Feelings to Galvanize Our Strength
Today, we come together to feel deeply and honor what is real within each of us. We feel the sadness, unease, and profound frustration, alongside the weight of knowing that our girls and gender-expansive youth, especially those of color, may face futures that don’t yet reflect the justice and hope they deserve. Though today’s news is sad, it is no surprise. Our deepest humanity—at its best and its worst—has been laid bare.
There will be much to say and much to do, but right now is the time to grieve, rest, and reflect. We ask nothing more of our communities than this, for within this pause lies the path to healing and strength. Today, we unclench our fists and allow ourselves time to restore and replenish our spirits. We hold others with love and make space for compassion for those who act from fear. This is a moment to feel, to heal, and to galvanize our strength for the work ahead.
This moment is a chapter, not the whole story. To call on the words of the great James Baldwin:
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”
This moment calls upon us to lean into our collective and ancestral wisdom, a wisdom rooted in resilience and stronger than the collective fears of those who stand against us. We are not naive to the challenges we face. We knew this journey toward our sovereignty as girls, women, and gender-expansive people of color would be long and winding.
As an organization, we commit to continuing to co-creating communities by and for girls and gender-expansive youth. We will shape and change this world, and are unstoppable and unshaken in our dedication to create the future we envision. We are stronger than the fears that seek to divide us. Together, we will build something greater, with people on the side of justice standing firm, knowing that history and our communities will ultimately have the last word.
In solidarity,
Linda Lu & Chantal Hildebrand
Co-Executive Directors
Alliance For Girls
