After CLP x Emancipation Day (and Halloween), the “community advocacy is civic engagment” energy was real. This November ushered ASNEAA in with the value of gratitude- providing an abundance of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) heritage celebrations: Diwali, Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), All Souls Day, and Indigenous Heritage Month. In the spirit of the holiday season, a recurring theme of balance came through in my research of the various holidays. As a momtrepreneur- I was also balancing no school due to the addition of Diwali on the NYC Department of Education calendar and what exactly does the “business of social justice” look like for ASNEAA.
Community Legacy Project (CLP) was designed as a pivot project (from School Legacy Project) at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The magnitude of the daily loss of life at the time normalized creating safe spaces (literally and figuratively) to honor the ancestors (and humanity because we’re here!) In four years, CLP has scaled with three different implementation structures:
- traditional pop-up event partnership
- adapted CLP x Summer Rising programming partnership
- independent pop-up event hosting
The NYC Green Fund Grassroots Grant Program with Partnerships for Parks + City Parks Foundation was an opportunity for ASNEAA to host independent programming at NYC Parks! For the first independent CLP event, ASNEAA celebrated Abolition Day at Fort Greene Park (the inspiration for CLP programming at NYC Parks!) CLP x Emancipation Day @ Triumph of the Human Spirit monument in Thomas Paine Park was originally planned for August- but you can read more about that here. The second independent pop-up was CLP x Back to School at Brower Park– highlighting Shirley Chisholm Circle! Then finally CLP x Emancipation Day was implemented and a dream come true (literally and figuratively!) We follied in Foley Square, and at the end of the day as I sat and looked at the ASNEAA swag- the candy + candles for self-care (and Halloween) sparked the idea for CLP x Diwali (pun intended).
So now I’m researching Diwali history and thinking about all the NYC Parks where I dreamed of hosting CLP programming. Culyer Gore Park not only has beautiful fall foliage, it is named after a white ancestor and social justice advocate (because white is a color and ALL people are capable of doing “the work”). As I handed out flyers for the CLP x Diwali event, I was asked about religion and my spiritual practices. And because CLP is rooted in multicultural heritage centering BIPOC communities- I have no problem speaking my truth. But I did sit-in having my identity questioned for lifting a holiday that I don’t traditionally celebrate. I thought this is what being accused of cultural appropriation feels like (Halloween was halloweening- no black face). This is when the theme of balance becomes prevalent and momtrepreneur mode is activated!
The ancestors showed up and showed out with beautiful weather and affirmation that the business of social justice is a thing! For CLP x Diwali, ASNEAA invited participants to share their BIPOC heritage, make a legacy bracelet, and donate in commitment to human rights advocacy:
The intimacy of CLP x Diwali movitated this reflective event recap and is proof of concept that the business of social justice is real! Thank you to CLP x Diwali participants for the affirmation that respect, compassion, and trust can be manifested because this holiday season loyalty needed love.
With deep gratitude, SNJ
Thank you to CLP x Diwali sponsors and participants:
