2021 Spring Member Meeting

If you were able to attend the Spring Member Meeting this year, you were part of a spiritual, hopeful, and inspiring talk given by Tai Simpson. Tai is a Social Change Associate with the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. Tai is a storyteller and was generous enough to share her talents and knowledge around storytelling in the anti-sexual violence movement with us. Our goal was to create a story of what does anti- sexual violence work look like in NC and where do we go from here. 

Here are some highlights from this time we spent in community:

• Storytelling can be a powerful communication tool. Stories are a way to share with others our experiences, our values, the ways in which we understand and move through this world 
• Storytelling creates authentic human connection. Our stories can help us connect with others who share similar stories or relate to our stories in other ways. Stories help us build community, trust, and support. 
• “You can’t understand the world without telling a story” -Gerald Vizenor (Anishinabe) 
• A quote that Tai shared that was passed down to her through her community was “Be the water, not the rock”. Tai shared the importance of water for her and her ancestors. And that water represents fluidity and flow and that water is always moving, and yet sometimes is still. 
• Storytelling can be a powerful tool used by RCCs during many phases of advocacy. We can create opportunities for storytelling during intake instead of standard forms, we can make offerings for storytelling in our support group spaces. Stories nurture imagination and help us practice deep listening. This will allow us to be more present and creative advocates. 

As part of this time, Tai also gave three prompts for attendees to engage with. The prompts were: 

1. How do you love yourself well?
2. In a world without violence, I imagine ______
3. Collective thriving is ______

The chat box overflowed with thoughtful and hopeful responses. Things like “I love myself well by connecting with my ancestors” , “by recognizing that rest is revolutionary”. In a world without violence I imagine “peace”, “all the fractured parts to be united”, “freedom”, “joy” and collective thriving is “choosing to love”, “connection”, “heaven on Earth”. 

We invite those who were unable to attend to share your responses to these prompts either through the use of this  jamboard or by emailing us directly. Your responses can be in the form of words, art, graphics. You can send your emails to [email protected] With your responses to these prompts, you’re helping NCCASA envision the future of the anti- sexual violence movement in NC and what we can do to support you in achieving your goals.

During the member meeting, we were also joined by a wonderful artist, Alexandria Clay, who provided us with a graphic rendering of our time together. You can view that image here