Women of Color Speak Out is a collective of four climate justice, racial justice, gender justice and intersectional movement activists that came together in 2015 in Seattle during the ShellNo campaign. We formed this group out of a desire to create a space for women of color in a climate movement which, especially in Seattle, is dominated by white, cis men. We have a no-compromise stance and challenge and disrupt the status quo of white supremacy and patriarchy wherever we encounter it.
Our always-evolving presentation, called Climate Change and the Systems of Oppression, draws the connection between capitalism, racism, colonialism, patriarchy and climate change. In 10 months, we’ve done about 10 presentations — the public ones attended by around 200 people, and some private ones at universities, a women’s prison, a trans-gender community, among others. Our audiences have always responded with feeling deeply affected and ‘radicalized’ by our talks.
In the last few years, the mainstream climate movement in the Pacific Northwest has developed capacity for direct action, but is lacking the deep analysis of racial justice and intersectionality. We are seeking to transform our regional communities by doing the deeper work of decolonizing and confronting systemic oppression. To really tackle the crisis facing our communities, our deep rooted oppressions must be dismantled, and we need our white allies to develop that deeper analysis.
Our vision for the next few months is to also shift the narrative of this movement to beyond fossil fuel. We want to target animal agriculture, the military industrial complex and other deeper systemic issues that confront us.
If you would like to support our work, please email is at hello@wocspeakout.com. We appreciate your support and solidarity.
