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Dearest Soulforce,
Loneliness is something that happens to us but it’s also something that we can move ourselves out of by diving into community. We are meant to be eating together, laughing together, praying together. The key to building an indomitable spirit is giving yourself to community.
We reject ethics of individual responsibility which shift the responsibility of care onto individuals. Here at Soulforce we embrace a model of collective care. In this time of multiple genocides, an ongoing pandemic and just general burnout felt by all, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of being our siblings’ keeper.
There is a song by Jon Foreman that says, “I think I figured it out. We need to be together like the shore and the sea. We are not one thing. We're bound here together.”
We need each other, beloved.
Find your people and love them fiercely during these times.
With hearts ablaze and spirits unyielding,
Assata de la Cruz, Director of Community Outreach
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Teología Sin Vergüenza
During 2023, we premiered seasons 5, 6 and 7 of our podcast and launched our bilingual blog on Spiritual Violence "Spirits Unyielding Espíritus Inquebrantables"! We also visited our shameless community in Colombia and Ecuador to host Queer services celebrating our expansive gender, sexual and faith diversity. Perhaps the next queer service will be near you!
At the end of October 2024 we will have our First International Meeting of Teología Sin Vergüenza "Somos Muches" in Mexico City. We are looking for committed volunteers to make history together! Register here. Follow us on Instagram for the latest updates!
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The Religious Origins of white Supremacy
Our programming team (Assata, Nadia and Karina) traveled with our Executive Director (Alba) to Syracuse University to attend The Religious Origins of White Supremacy: Doctrine of Christian Discovery. This gave us the opportunity to study with others committed to this work and identify the connections between ideas, rhetoric, theologies, and institutions that harm our communities by moralizing violence against us.
We were honored to host a panel, Spirits Unyielding: Sabotaging the Ideologies of white Christian Supremacy from the US South and the Global South and received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the impact of our personal stories.
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SpiritualiTEA
Our new friend, Sarah Nahar, whom we met at Syracuse University was our special guest on the latest episode of SpiritualiTEA. She joined Assata to discuss the ways Black Feminism provides the blueprint to heal our Spirits from bondage as we fight for freedom from Turtle Island to Palestine. Watch here on Instagram!
We are also SO EXCITED to debut our new SpiritualiTEA logo! We are endlessly grateful for the dedication of our Designer & Illustrator, Bryony, for making this vision come to life!
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Staff Retreat
We often say that white Christian Supremacy wins by keeping us isolated. As a completely virtual team that spans across continents, we combat this isolation through intentional time together in retreat annually.
Our staff gathered together in Mexico to celebrate our successes of 2023 and strategize for 2024.
We mapped out future collaborations and programming in both the US and Latin America, reviewed systems to make our administrative tasks run smoothly and most importantly created a spiritual container for us to support each other through this hard but necessary work.
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Audit
Whooo hooo this is our SECOND year of a clean audit!
We are so grateful for our admin team, led by our Director of Ruckus & Operations, Meg, for all of your hard work on making this happen!
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Creating Change
Last week, we were reminded of the indomitable strength and courage within our community. Our team is super grateful for the time spent with our beloved Soulforce and Sinvergüenza family in New Orleans at Creating Change 2024!
Our resilience is unwavering, and despite attempts to break us, our spirits are steadfast, bound together in solidarity.
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Staff Spotlight
Andrea Cappa (right), our Queer Latina logistical maestro with an academic background in International Business, Marketing, and a Master’s in International Development. Simultaneously, she shares her passion for language as an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Teacher with a mission to turn language barriers into mere speed bumps on the global communication highway. Her ability to seamlessly blend logistics with education showcases her versatility and adaptability.
Beyond the workplace, Andrea finds joy in scuba diving, and exploring the depths of the ocean. Camping and gardening are her earthly delights, with a green thumb so impressive, even plants applaud. Andrea’s compassion extends to our furry friends, as a dog owner and sitter. In the grand tapestry of her life, Andrea’s passport is woven with vibrant threads of adventure, always ready for the next journey to unfold.
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Partner Spotlight
Born out of passion, protest, prayer, and praise, Pride in the Pews has earned national recognition for its work in empowering the Black LGBTQ+ community. It is dedicated to bridging the gap between the pew, the pulpit, and the public square, confronting the challenges faced by the Black LGBTQ+ community, which includes at least 1.2 million Black Americans.
This is accomplished through equipping institutions and individuals to understand religion as a social determinant of health for the Black LGBTQ+ community as well as Black faith leaders with the skillset, knowledge base, and network to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community within and outside the Black Church.
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Coming Up Next
We will be attending the State of the Black Church Symposium: Lighting the Torch in Atlanta, GA on February 2nd and 3rd! The Symposium, hosted by Pride in the Pews, aims to delve deeper into the intersections of faith, sexuality, gender identity, and race.
We have received 38 applications for our Latin America microgrants. We will be choosing 10 of those applicants for rewards of $500 each.
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