In Summer we shine, but Fall is our time: October at GRP
“All that you touch you change. All that you change, changes you. The only constant thing is change. God is Change.”
Suddenly summer; suddenly September; suddenly the last quarter of an unprecedented year of change.
Some of the time-tested markers still illumine that inevitable qualities of this time of year: Leaves changing, Milkweed maturing and monarchs flitting away; the shift in quality of light and lengthening of the nights.
Others are murky, muddled, painful: What is back to school when we’re never going back? Where do we house our grief as we forego another season of celebrations and rituals to protect each other? What is change when we are still marching 200 days later for Breonna Taylor?
A year ago, staff returned from a trip abroad for a conference, and reflected on the possibility of taking a break from programming to rest, and reassess how we serve our community. Little did we know a full year would pass before we could even consider in-person programming again.
In that moment, we were committed to making the time to embrace change and give ourselves the latitude to explore it. We could never have anticipated the causes and conditions that bring us back to October. Still, our commitment to stop, pause and consider, has been one of the most valuable lessons we’ve carried through 2020. As we prepare for this season and all the shifts it brings, we are leaning into the reality of change not as an influence, but the marrow of our work.
GRP was founded in the spirit of breaking down barriers that limit our potential, and reimagining spaces that reflect and reinforce the magic of our communities.
GRP’s continuation means constantly bumping into and renegotiating the boundaries of our work; adjusting, shifting, and adapting whenever it becomes clear that it’s time again to make space.
GRP’s work to amplify and empower one another means accepting the messiness of the unknown, accepting the risk of mistake making or failure toward our re-visions of safety, sovereignty, and accepting one another where we are; maybe not perfect, but more powerful together than alone.
Sometimes it feels like we’re reacting moment to moment to whatever’s in front of us right now. We would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge our history: we’ve been on this trajectory for a long time; though the space between moments feels imperceptible. We draw our power from the Liberatory roots we honor in October.
Indigenous Youth Organized Action: Recognize Indigenous People’s Rights DAPL action in DC.
We take space and make space to honor the legacies of the first Protectors, Organizers and Changemakers on Indigenous People’s Days of Rage and Resistance; the thousands of nations, of medicines, wisdoms and protectors that are still in relationship with these lands we occupy. We aspire to center their leadership as we lean into change.
We celebrate and Amplify the legacies of our Trancestors, with the 10th Anniversary of the Philly Trans March, honoring and recommitting to giving our Trans siblings their roses while they’re here, and continuing our own work to dismantle the systems and shared behavior that create unconscionable violence.
We commit to building a world where there are more altars to their magic than there are for mourning.
We welcome a new cohort of Youth Leadership at GRP, who’s work and vision will have our full attention as we learn, listen and dreamweave together for the future. With Phreedom Dreaming and Youth Sets the Stage: Youthocracy, our youth leaders are setting the tone for our work and our city’s work, too.
As an election looms and the dominant narrative reinforces, uncertainty, unrest, the unknown, we look deeper into what IS certain, what we know to be true. We will continue to practice creativity and collective care. We will continue to think critically, and dismantle systems of oppression within us and without. We will continue to hold space for our grief as well as our joy, allowing both to inform and orient us on our path forward. We will continue to choose and protect each other.
In this moment where we find ourselves without the ability to gather, commune and sing in the magic, we remember that GRP has been training us for these times. As we continue to love and support each other at a distance, we’re reminded that we’ve been given all the tools. Change is our superpower. For all the celebration we enjoy every summer, fall is our time.
Wishing you ease in the effort, starfishing 6-ft. Away,
sam rise & GRP