Principles of Our Work

We are a Black-led organization. While most of our membership is white/adjacent, we are accountable first and foremost to the Black organizers who lead and whose work informs movement in the space. We have developed and implemented an accountability praxis for white/adjacent members. We believe in an accountability that is transparent and transformational.

We do NOT hold funding and resources. All money raised is immediately distributed to the BIPOC MaGes (Black, Indigenous, People of Color of marginalized genders) directly.

To the greatest extent possible, we avoid participating in the nonprofit industrial complex. Black leadership teaches us that reparations are not and should not be tax-deductible for those who owe reparations. That means that all funds raised are done on the grassroots level. We do not gatekeep funding or resources from the folks we assist. All funding decisions are made by the Black organizers who lead the space.

We center the needs and joy of Black MaGes, always, while also holding space for white/adjacent folks to unpack harmful and racist patterns that come up while doing this work, so that we may cause the least amount of harm possible and transform ourselves in this work, to the benefit of the folks we assist.

We believe white/adjacent folks are responsible for paying for education from Black teachers. We regularly encourage white/adjacent members to subscribe to organizers’ Patreons, and we require payment when Black teachers from outside the space are invited in to facilitate trainings or educational sessions.

We try to mitigate harm by focusing on the needs of those most marginalized and impacted by systemic oppression. We recognize that many Black folks, particularly women, trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming folks, hold and navigate intersecting layers of oppression.

We believe that learning and fostering a culture of community care can radically disrupt our current culture of white supremacy and support Black-led liberation efforts.