Samaa Abdurraqib’s resume of experience in the world of organizing is long. She has been a professor, abortion rights and reproductive justice organizer, she has organized for access to healthcare and so much more. In her current job she provides training, support, and project coordination for the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. What we talk the most about though is the organizing she is doing outside of her 40 hour a week job, which is doing resiliency work within communities of color. We discuss what it means to meet folks where they are at and the importance of finding work that fills your cup.
SHOW NOTES & LINKS
Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC)
Changing Maine – This is the event Samaa mentioned that she and ROSC are in the process of organizing for 2019. This link goes to the Changing Maine Directory, where you can find other progressive organizations and resources. To keep a pulse on when the next Changing Maine event will be, follow ROSC on facebook and keep tabs on the Changing Maine site as they often put updates there.
Outdoor Afro – This links to the national Outdoor Afro organizational page. Outdoor Afro is an organization working to make the outdoors more accessible to black and brown folks across the country. There are chapters all across the country, check out their site to learn more or to find a chapter near you.
Outdoor Afro of Maine – If you’re local to Maine, here is the link to our local chapter organized by Samaa. You can also send Samaa and the other organizers a message through this site if you happen to have gear, like snowshoes for example, that you might be looking to donate to help make the outdoors more accessible.
Meetup.com – Meetup is the platform that Samaa utilizes for outdoor Afro, and if you’re thinking of getting into resiliency work yourself, this could be a great place to start working to connect with your community. Meetup is a website that will list different opportunities for folks to be in activity together, whether it a reading group, photography club, sports association, you name it, it’s a great place to find other folks with similar interests. Before starting your own thing, search meetup.com and see if there is anyone already doing it, you may make some new friends!
