BASE Giving Circle for Black Feminist Care

Brown Asian Sisters Empowered (BASE) is an organizing group for Asian/American sisters to build loving community, political action, and radical education at Brown University, gathered on the land of the Wampanoag and Narragansett peoples (Providence, RI USA). 

Our members share deep grief and outrage for our Black siblings whose lives have been brutally taken by the racist police state, and for their loved ones who are going through immeasurable grief. We honor and celebrate Black communities’ radical tradition of fighting, loving, and organizing towards the abolition of police, prisons, ICE, and U.S. imperialism.

We are inspired by Audre Lorde’s famous words: “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Historically, such Black feminist ecosystems of care have nurtured collective power through Black youth organizing, art, mental health services, queer/trans cooperative housing, and food sovereignty initiatives. This ethic points toward the type of world we dream of: a counter-system where a culture of care and trust renders violence obsolete in all its forms (as theorized in the work and words of Angela Y. Davis and Ruthie Wilson Gilmore).

BASE aims to raise $10,000 that will be divided among 4 organizations that embody a Black feminist ethic of care. These organizations are Providence Student Union, The Oluwatoyin Salau Freedom Fighters’ Fund, Sista Afya, and For the Gworls Rent Gender-Affirming Surgery Fund. Providence Student Union  is a 10-year-strong youth-led movement that works to end the school-to-prison pipeline in Providence schools.  The Oluwatoyin Salau Freedom Fighters’ Fund  provides monetary relief for Black girl activists on the frontlines of organizing their communities. Sista Afya  is a community wellness collective based in Chicago that connects Black women to vital wellness resources and funds free therapy sessions. For the Gworls  fights to reduce homelessness and fund gender-affirming surgeries for Black trans people nationwide.

Your donation will be used to fund following causes in each organization.
1) stipends for student organizers in Providence Student Union
2) grants for young Black activist girls in the frontline of the BLM movement through the Oluwatoyin Salau Freedom Fighters' Fund
3) free therapy sessions for Black women in Chicago through Sista Afya
4) gender-affirming surgeries for Black trans people nationwide.

The fundraiser is set up under the name of Yanhoo Cho, co-coordinator of BASE. Once the transaction is completed, the fund (with deducted fees) will be divided into 4 and donated to each organizations immediately. The receipts will be posted on Updates.

Please join us in supporting these groups to continue their life-sustaining work. This type of wealth redistribution is one concrete means of practicing solidarity with marginalized communities. When deciding on an amount to donate, we encourage you to meaningfully reflect on your individual class status, income security, and the sustainability of your donations. What is a meaningful amount to you? Are you able to reliably earn income through work and regain the money you plan to donate? Will your donation stop at a single amount, or will you incorporate wealth redistribution into your life as a sustained practice of solidarity with Black movements for liberation?

We hope you’ll join us in this fundraiser and continue to practice solidarity with those working towards a world where resources are equitably shared and community care is inherently valued. Thank you for supporting these organizations, which are founded upon an ethic of care and affirmation of life that has immeasurably shaped the work that we do at BASE.

Love and Freedom,
BASE
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