THE RIDE: Suggested Agreements

Suggestions of Feminist/Womonist Agreements For Working Together

First and foremost: we are centering women and girls, females and our sex-based rights. All participants read, commit to, and sign 4 part pledge

We are a women-led, women-run, women-only Ride and action. 

We will designate teams to handle TRAs, police, infiltrators as well as press and spokeswomen

We will be videoing, recording, photographing this public action and will designate certain areas/times/places where women who do not want to be recorded can gather

Every woman and girl is responsible for herself, including asking for help/support if she needs or wants anything.

 

Philosophy:

We embrace womonist/feminist values of: deeply honoring wombn’s leadership, especially the leadership of Black and brown wombn; cooperation, compassion, anti-racism, problem-solving, critical thinking/listening, valuing diversity, compromising, kindness, and using our words.

 

We accept that every wombn or girl we’re working with has a good heart and is trying their best to work on these difficult obstacles we are facing, even if/when they are making ‘mistakes’. We acknowledge that conflict will arise and we are committed to resolving conflict and not allowing our conflicts to detract from our actions.

 

We acknowledge that we bring into the group the “isms” from the outside world as well as those that we’ve internalized within ourselves and will work to be as aware and as responsible for the isms we carry to our utmost abilities. We will be open to challenging, examining and changing isms as we recognize them or as they are pointed out to us.

 

We will be vigilant and aware of “divide and conquer” tactics from without and within.

 

We will be super flexible and know that things will not necessarily happen exactly as planned but know that everything is a learning experience (and we will evaluate & improve plans for the next time) and together we will be able to handle anything that arises.

 

We will all do everything in our power to help each other out and work together to provide for our needs. Never-the-less, every womon is responsible for herself (including her feelings): whatever it is that you want to take place, you are the one that makes sure it actually happens - and YOU make it happen the way you want it to, in cooperation with and help from other folks

 

We agree to be responsible for something only when we're 100% sure we are going to do it (or in case of emergency only, we find someone else to take our place) - we all have to count on each other

 

We are a team, we work as a team, with individuals or teams willing to bottom-line, coordinate, and be point people – and we rotate these jobs.

 

Actions are determined by the individuals/teams that decide to do them: if someone doesn’t want to do an action or disagrees, or if they missed the planning sessions, they can express, negotiate, persuade: then either roll up their sleeves and get busy, or get out of the way.

 

We are in this for the long haul: disagreements, disappointments, feelings hurt, anger, deflated egos NO MATTER WHAT!

 

We will not allow disruption from inside individuals or the outside world, to undermine our actions and/or community building. WE define who we are & what we want to do; we will not be co-opted by ‘bad’ press, language/purpose of trans domination agenda, etc.

 

We will be vigilant & aware of attempts to undermine & disparage our work, both from within & without – and we will not allow for the destruction of our cohesiveness, the distraction from our work & goals, the deterring of our focus from building a fierce, strong womon-loving, womon-centered movement

 

We will not speak poorly, negatively, or discredit any other member of our community, behind people’s backs, on line, to others outside our group. If we have ‘issues’, we will talk with that person directly. If that fails, we will request a conflict resolution team to address & help resolve the issue.

 

We understand some decisions have herstorically & presently already been made for us, not to exclude newer folks but because of how long some ofus have been working together as well as time constraints limiting input, and other decisions we will have to make as individuals or a group.

 

 

Physical day-to-day logistical agreements:

We value & prioritize wherever possible organic, vegetarian food; green practices as minimizing waste by bringing our own water bottle, plate, cup, utensils.

 

We are scent and chemical-free & use products kind to our bodies and environment. If we smoke tobacco, we do so at least 20 feet from another human.

 

We are drug (including marijuana) and alcohol free, and will never attend meetings, actions, etc., under the influence of any drug or alcohol.

 

We will rotate cooking, cleaning, and other shared responsibilities when necessary and applicable.

 

We will be mindful of time – especially during bathroom breaks, rest stops, or when engaging in conversations with those we meet

We will always be aware that we are on a mission to create and sustain community for wombn to protect the rights of wombn and girls; and act in accordance with that mission, not missing opportunities to grow together, to resolve problems, to create wombn-honoring space, and to encourage like-minded wombn to join us.