Dear Supporter,
In October of this year, Hollaback! decided to step away from The People’s Supper -- a project we co-founded in 2016 alongside our partners at Faith Matters Network and The Dinner Party.
The People’s Supper was founded in the wake of the election with one mission in mind: to create spaces for folks who needed healing, and bridging spaces for folks who wanted to connect across various identities-- whether they be racial, religious, generational, or political. Following the election we found that folks across our communities had two things in common:
- Many woke up in a state of grief, punctuated by all the classic hallmarks of anger, denial, and despair.
- Others were hungry to understand, and to break out of the silos and echo chambers in which they found themselves living.
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As a result from January 20th- April 29th, 2016, we helped to power more than 100 suppers across the country, ultimately meeting the increased demand and over the next year convening more than 1,000 suppers nationwide. The People’s Supper was a huge success. Our executive director Emily May even got a shout-out from President Obama for our work with The People’s Supper -- and we got to host a dinner with Barack, Michelle and Prince Harry.
The People’s Supper taught us a few things:
- These are things we can do ourselves, for each other -- communities heal communities. You shouldn’t need a “trained facilitator” or “therapist” in the room to go deep and find connection.
- There is an overwhelming hunger for connection and belonging. It’s as core to our systems as the need for food and water, but it can be elusive. By creating the right container, we can find it inside each other.
- Resilience is required. Our communities and our beings are under attack. We will only survive because we establish systems of survival. Often, we find systems inside of each other, but we also must do the hard work of finding resilience inside of ourselves.
The People’s Supper will be carried forward through the 2020 election by our partners at The Dinner Party. If you want to host a supper, please reach out to them directly.
Over here at Hollaback! we're making space for what's next. As we gear up for the 2020 election season, we want to know -- how do you need us to show up for you?
With love,
Hollaback!
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