MY Experience of SYSTEMIC racism*

A Call for Stories

MY Experience of SYSTEMIC racism*

A Call for Stories

We’re in a time of profound change and profound opportunity. Now more than ever, we’re being forced to step up, speak out, and shine—not just so we can be recognized for our unique brilliance and lived experiences, but so we can radiate the warmth of our light onto systemic racism and injustice. 

We at Wf1 have always believed in the power of our individual stories to change our lives and to transform the world. That’s why we want to hear from you. Through August 31, we are holding a special call for story submissions that will shed light on the wounds of racism, and the strength we are deriving from our personal experiences to move forward and create a more just and equitable world.

Together, as women, we hold up half the sky and have much to teach and learn from each other. At the same time, we must also recognize that the wounds of racism run deep in our sisterhood…sometimes even keeping us from the very bonds that we wish to create.

While we will be centering the voices of women of color, our call for stories is open to everyone in our community. Women of color: We welcome you to share your own experiences around racism, microaggressions, and encountering white supremacy in overt and more subtle and insidious ways. White women: We’d like to know how you are working to build anti-racism into your life, as well as what you have learned and are continuing to learn about white privilege and allyship. 

We will select ten stories to be published on the Wf1 website throughout 2020. The call for stories is open to everyone in our community and will give our selected Truthtellers the chance to be featured on the Wf1 website and promoted across our social media channels, free of charge. Not to mention, you have the opportunity to touch the hearts and minds of our global sisterhood—and to speak truth to power!

If you’re interested, read on for all the details.

Theme

All story submissions should be centered on My Experience of Systemic Racism. We want to know all about the challenges you’ve experienced navigating racism and injustice, as well as the opportunities for growth and resilience. Most of all, we are looking for stories that creatively explore how, as women, we can build unbreakable bonds that acknowledge the painful legacy of racism and how it is alive and well in our communities. This is a call for women to build life-affirming and supportive relationships with one another that create a foundation of solidarity for racial justice.

 

Perks

We will be selecting 10 Truthtellers, who will receive the following $500 value perks:

  • A homepage feature on the Wf1 website for a minimum of seven days
  • Exclusive promotion of your story to our 450K+ following on social media, as well as our 16K+ subscribers to our monthly newsletter
  • An in-depth professional edit of your story, as well as specific feedback that will make your message shine


All other submissions will receive:

  • A  50% discount on our $100 editorial fee so your story can be published on the Wf1 website, which receives over 40,000 unique hits per month

 

Fine print

Before submitting, be sure to read our Submission Guidelines in detail. Send your submission as an attached Word document to info@womenforone.com with the subject “My Experience of Systemic Racism Call for Stories.” 

Please make sure your submission is no longer than 1,000 words; if it exceeds this word limit, it will not be eligible for consideration. If you’d prefer to send us a video submission of you sharing your story, it should be a video that can easily be uploaded to YouTube and should not exceed 5 minutes total.

IMPORTANT deadlines

August 31, 2020, is the final day to submit your story, and we won’t be reviewing any submissions after this date. In September, we’ll announce our winners. Please keep in mind that we will not accept stories with abusive, inflammatory, or racist content (including claims of “reverse racism” or any other material that trivializes or derails the current conversation about systemic racism and anti-Blackness in our nation and world).

 

*Although we often think of racism as a personal attitude or shortcoming, our society is starting to pay close attention to systemic racism. This is racism that is embedded as normal practice within society and its institutions. For people of color, it can look like discrimination in criminal justice, employment, housing, and political power—but also extends to pervasive attitudes that unconsciously hold up white supremacy (including microaggressions and racial jokes). No individual ill intent is necessary, and this kind of inequality is often harder to address than personal instances of prejudice. The three components of systemic racism are: power, privilege, and prejudice.