More related experiences to this issue within the ND Movement

In the spaces that I steward, I am serious & uncompromising about issues of safety, justice, consent, healthy relations and revolutionary principles. Since my childhood, I have often been a first responder to concerns of safety or justice in my groups. My focus is to keep the affected at the center, and listen to their needs first. In moments when no one else was capable or willing to do so, I have confronted perpetrators, and inquired directly with alleged perpetrators. I did this even if the perpetrators or alleged perpetrators were friends I was close to, even if they were relatives, and even if it meant ending our relationship, or causing contention. I have numerous times put my body on the line to defend people against perpetrators, abusers, or to de-escalate violence. I have unfortunately responded to many incidents throughout my life, from my childhood, to my teens, to as recent as 2025.

Conversely, during portions of my time in ND organizing, some individuals in our local leadership have demonstrated problematic interpersonal behaviors and avoided accountability for them. During my time in the ND Movement, I have needed to be assertive about the leadership’s need to be more responsible for the safety of our members, as well as being more responsive to our members’ needs and concerns. Ironically, our leaders who wrote the allegations against me are the ones who regularly act and talk unhinged ways. Yet they have the audacity to weaponize my personal information and defame my character.

These leading kasamas know that I have previously experienced stalking and harassment from one of our previous members throughout 2019-2021. I tried to delicately and gently address these behaviors directly with that member throughout those years.

In 2020, I repeatedly asked them for help on my increased anxiety, lack of sleep and overall concern for my health during the quarantine. Both items I mentioned were verbally acknowledged but essentially neglected. Instead, they brought me grave harm by defaming me in our organizing community.

In 2019-2021 alone, I had to confront three friends in three separate and unrelated occasions about allegations that they each assaulted or harmed femmes in our community. Additionally, I consulted the femmes who were allegedly affected. I was able to gain conclusive evidence on two of the alleged perpetrators. There wasn’t conclusive evidence on the third alleged perpetrator. Nevertheless, I continued to center the experiences of the femmes who were allegedly affected, and offered them support at every turn. Through my direct inquiry with the alleged perpetrators and those who were allegedly affected, I was able to gain conclusive evidence on the allegations, rather than making judgements from assumptions.

In an integration trip I was part of to the Philippines in July 2014, I needed to fight for the justice of a kasama who experienced sexual assault towards the end of our trip. If I wasn’t insistent on addressing the matter, there wouldn’t have been a process for her. I confronted a local host and supposed kasama who evidently assaulted our other kasama. He lied through his teeth about the details of the assault, and I had to grill him for the truth. The situation even escalated into physical conflict. I needed to demand more accountability from our leadership because the assault could have been prevented with more responsible vetting of local hosts.

on Fonz:

the people who I stood up to for their patriarchal violence have tried to punish me by getting me excluded from our mutual circles.

I got excluded from groups that I started and worked very hard to steward & grow

you’re gatekeeping from me the contributions I worked hard for, only to leave in your hands