The Women of Color 
Network, Inc. Building Multi
-
Cultural Alliances
August 19, 2019


Presenters: Beckie Masaki & Rebecca Balog


Facilitator: Zoe Flowers



Welcome


Beckie Masaki, portrait
Zoe Flowers, portrait
Rebecca Balog, portrait
WOCN logo

Women of Color Network


Various Women of Color standing next to each other in unity and support. They are smiling.
Mission


The mission of the 
Women of Color Network, Inc. (WOCN, Inc.) 
is to 
eliminate violence against
ALL women and their communities by 
centralizing the voices, wellness and leadership of women of 
color
across the Sovereign Nations, the United States and U.S. 
Territories.



Women of Color Network: 
Purpose


Various Women of Color standing next to each other in unity and support. They are smiling.
The purpose of WOCN, Inc. is to work in and beyond the fields of domestic 
violence and sexual assault to address a broad range of violence affecting 
communities of color such as human trafficking, police brutality, and over
-
incarceration. We accomplish this by examining and responding to a global 
context of colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, 
transphobia, and other forms of oppression that intersect with violence against 
women of color and their communities.



…and we will sing and sing back into the 
mountains, 


if necessary even under the sea. 


We are the ones we have been waiting for
.
-
June Jordan


June Jordan; Jamaican American self-identified Bisexual+ poet, essayist, teacher, and activist

Guiding Principles


We 
are
the ones we have been waiting for.


•
Centering people and communities in the margins 
both broadens and deepens our work to end 
violence.
•
Interdependence and Interconnection
•
Respectful disagreements are opportunities to 
deepen, sharpen, and share learning, not shut down
•
People do not have barriers but programs and 
services do! 



Butterfly Effect


We never know how our small activities will affect others 
through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this 
exquisitely connected world, it’s never a question of 
“critical mass.” It is always about 
critical connections
. 


-
Grace Lee Boggs 


Grace Lee Boggs American author, social activist, philosopher and feminist.

Key Learnings


●
Collaboration creates opportunities to build trust, be 
open to learning, recognize our privileges, 
assumptions, bias.
●
There is strength in numbers and collaboration helps 
marginalized communities centralize their power by 
joining voices, sharing resources, cross learning, cross 
sharing and expertise.
●
Centering marginalized people and communities in 
deep 
collaboration
deepens and broadens the ways 
we achieve our vision and goals.



Critical Connections


What are they? How to do it. Where are they?


10 women of color smiling and standing together in unity and support. 

What is deep collaboration? 


Collaboration has always been important to 
movement building and strengthening 
communities. However, the negative rhetoric, 
misinformation and violence directed toward 
our historically marginalized communities makes 
building cross cultural/multi
-
disciplinary 
partnerships more critical than ever.



What is deep collaboration? (2)


•
Deep collaboration is when all voices are 
heard and members act in solidarity with 
passion and drive to dismantle all systems 
of oppression. 
•
Meaningful collaborative interactions 
build consensus and produce meaningful 
outcomes. 



Core Values of collaboration:


“There are so many silos and barriers that 
need to be taken down. Alone, we cannot 
fight the fight. Together, we are united to 
fight for our justice, voice, and liberty.”


two women of color holding signs that say, "unstoppable", "sisterhood", "fierce", and "feminist".

Core Values of collaboration 
(2):


•
Deep collaboration is when all voices are 
heard and members act in solidarity with 
passion and drive to dismantle all systems 
of oppression. 
•
Meaningful collaborative interactions 
build consensus and produce meaningful 
outcomes. 


What are some Core 
Cultural values? 



What are barriers to 
collaboration? 


•
Multi layered, intersecting oppressions and 
trauma throughout lifetimes and generations.
•
Scarcity/ competition gets in the way of shared 
abundance/ collaboration, especially in funding 
and restrictions.
•
Lack of space, time, and ways to know who we 
are as whole people, groups, and communities.
•
Having 'Power Over’ rather than ‘Power With’. 
•
Unclear roles and processes.


What else? 



Why is collaboration important, 
meaningful and necessary?


Collaboration has always been important to movement 
building and strengthening communities. However, the 
negative rhetoric, misinformation and violence directed 
toward our historically marginalized communities makes 
building cross 
cultural/multi
-
disciplinary partnerships 
more critical than ever.


multiple women of color standing in unity and support. they are smiling.

Fostering Collaboration


•
Recognize the link between the history of 
trauma, race, privilege, and oppression. 
•
Being able to put aside our bias, opinions, 
perspective, and viewpoint to really listen when 
coming together to have difficult conversations. 
•
Enable an environment of risk taking where 
people feel at liberty to speak their truth. We 
call environments such as these brave spaces. 


What else? 



How to Create a Brave Space 
for Multi
-
Cultural Alliances


•
A brave space is where we are willing to be 
“uncomfortable” as we unapologetically 
navigate, open communication and work 
across race, ethnicity, immigration status, age, 
gender, privilege, oppression and more. 
•
A brave space strives to acknowledge the 
equal value of our multiple identities without 
trying to privilege one over the over. 



What are the elements of a 
brave space?


•
Listen. Recognize. Investigate your own 
knowledge, privilege, experiences, etc. 
to be able to engage with others.
•
Accept each other’s opinions.
•
Know that you do have options to either 
be involved or not involved in 
conversations.



What are the elements of a 
brave space? (2)


•
Respect. Remember it is 
their/herstory/history and perspective.
•
Define how we move through 
disagreements
to understand, not shut 
down.


What are the elements in your community?



The Power of Love: Next 
Steps…


“We are living in a world of intersectional and 
systemic of oppression. Wearing the mask of 
‘bravery’ can be problematic because we feel we 
do not have the liberty to do so. It can be 
transformative to practice leaning into this 
discomfort with respect, being vulnerable, and 
recognize our privileges and ability, because it 
shapes our strengths and character to find our 
freedom.” 



The Power of Love: Next 
Steps… (2)


To give and to receive
…


Aspiring Allies are always growing, they will 
never “graduate”.


What are the best ways to educate, share, 
and provide Aspiring Allies the tools to 
support us?



Historical Impacts
-
ReWriting
Our Histories/Herstories Out 
Loud!


Butterfly landing on a flower 
“To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to 
begin to love yourself, value yourself. And 
that's political, in its most profound way.” 
-
June Jordan 



Contact Information:


Various Women of Color standing next to each other in unity and support. They are smiling.
•
Beckie Masaki: 
bmasaki@gmail.com
•
Rebecca Balog: 
rbalog@wocninc.org
•
Zoe Flowers: 
zflowers@wocninc.org