Building A New Foundation
UNTIL WE ALL ARE FREE
This country was founded on freedom and built on the institution of slavery. We are living in a house founded on white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy and imperial christianity. What does living in this house cost each one of us? And how does it impact us collectively? Regardless of where you grew up or the experiences you were afforded or handed, we have all grown up within one oppressive structure or another and most likely its been at the intersection of several. When we talk about liberation, we aren’t just talking about it for some of us. We are working for all of us, because the impact of oppression isn’t always seen and living with certain privileges is not an inoculation.
We invite you to step into your power and liberation journey with us.
MCAN is working to build a new house.
Would you like to join us?
First, we need to understand the systems that need to be dismantled.
White Supremacy: A belief system that places whiteness at the top, Blackness at the bottom and often leaves Indigenous people off.
Capitalism: An economic and political system in which trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit - prioritizing profit over people. The more you have hoarded financially, the more important you are considered.
Patriarchy: A belief system that places men (cisgendered) at the top, women (cisgendered) at the bottom. The more “macho/manly” you are the higher up on the male scale you sit as a man. The more “feminine” you are, the higher up you sit on the female scale of women. If you are nonbinary, the more you can pass, the higher you will feel yourself on the scale.
Imperial Christianity: Christianity that provides moral cover to the other cornerstones by claiming its truth is “from God”. It intentionally suppresses and/or coops other spiritual and cultural expressions.
To learn about the world we are working to build instead, click here.
THE ROOF: Ideologies that protect the rest of the house
THE WALLS: Structures
& Systems
THE FOUNDATION:
White Supremacy, Capitalism, Patriarchy, Imperial Christianity
“We are in an imagination battle. Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown and Renisha McBride and so many others are dead because, in some white imagination, they were dangerous. And that imagination is so respected that those who kill, based on an imagined, radicalized fear of Black people, are rarely held accountable. Imagination has people thinking they can go from being poor to a millionaire as part of a shared American dream. Imagination turns Brown bombers into terrorists and white bombers into mentally ill victims. Imagination gives us borders, gives us superiority, gives us race as an indicator of ability. I often feel I am trapped inside someone else's capability. I often feel I am trapped inside someone' else's imagination, and I must engage my own imagination in order to break free.”
Adrienne Maree Brown
author and activist
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds