So much activism is happening around the world from Black Lives Matter to Saba Saba, and the  COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the inequalities that already existed. Feminist activists are at  the forefront finding solutions, taking care of community and doing the best they can under such  

tough circumstances. The big question is who is taking care of the feminists? This conversation  provided a space for feminist activists to converge and engage on community care for feminists  and how best to achieve tangible support from within the movement.  

Where are you with your feminism? 

This session was a rejuvenating session that provided relatable content and allowed feminists to  offload and vent. Some of the responses included:  

• Radicalism reflects in my work and my personal life.  
• Reclaiming my labor from spaces that constantly exploit the unpaid or cheap labor of  Black women.  
• Taking a step back and being intentional about the issues I choose to lend my voice to. • Discovering stage of my feminism.  
• Unlearning stage. 
• Putting in more effort to learn and discovering the importance of reading. • I am at a place where I do not need to be anyone to fulfill myself and genuinely feel  happy with myself. 
• Giving time for me. 

What frustrates you the most in feminist activism? 

Many times, we talk about the successes we achieve in activism; nobody ever gives feminists a  platform to talk about the things that frustrate them as they champion for equal rights. This was  such platform and it provided the feminists in attendance with an opportunity to talk about their  lived realities as organizers. Some of the frustrations mentioned in feminist activism included: 

• Online violence perpetrated by misogynists on digital platforms. 
• Lack of resources. 
• Infighting. 
• Non-formal, non-organizational movements on digital platforms by young feminists not  recognized as work.  
• Lack of feminist practice by feminists.  
• Lack of ally ship to Queer feminists. 
• Feminist labor is the most sought after but the least appreciated.  
• Division within the movement.  
• Tokenism to young feminists. 
• There is a cause you are fighting for and there are people who are fighting you.  • Gender stereotypes. 
• Backlash.
• Our politics do not address systemic issues; instead, most of us adopt neoliberal solutions  to gender justice. 
• Cis het feminists are fighting for a nicer patriarchy. 
• Elitism in feminist spaces.  
• Lack of inclusion and diversity.  

Solutions for us by us.  

This session acknowledged the frustrations raised and led to the community discussing and  generating solutions for achieving feminist solidarity.  

• Identify older feminists who are willing to mentor young feminists and work with them. • Think of each other as our own. 
• Humanize young feminist activists. Extend dignity to them and affirm the different and  new ways in which they take up organizing. 
• Recognize digital platforms as a valid place for organizing. 
• Practice intersectionality by recognizing the multiple ways in which oppression exists.  • Talk about inter-generational gap in the movement. 
• Constantly look inward and question ourselves and whether the decisions we make are  harmful to others. 
• Make rest a political act. We need to rest to survive.  
• Practice your feminism and be in touch with your feminist values. 
• Accountability should not hold a negative connotation. 
• Develop our knowledge in feminism. 
• Join social and political movements that are deliberate about freedom. • Dare to think outside of our fear, be unrespectable and be disruptive.  
• Be accommodating and hold each other`s hands. 
• Generate simplified and easy to understand feminist knowledge.  
• Rooting our feminism in love and using the right language, rooted in understanding and  care to solve conflicts.  

Self-Care  

What does self-care mean to feminist activists? How do they practice it? This session recognized  that much of our self-care content is from the west and it is dangerous to replicate practices that  do not align with our own experiences as feminists on the continent. It is important to recognize  that most of us are not well, because our material conditions are not good. If our material  conditions change, our mental health conditions will also radically change. There is a further  need to unpack what community care means for activists and collectively develop tangible  solutions for collective care.  

Practicing Self and Community Care.

• Therapy is expensive, block people who you need to.  • Self-care is political. I cannot give to my community if I am unwell. • A form of resistance.  
• Having empathy for myself. 
• Saying no and not feeling guilty about it. 
• Self-love. I cannot give what I do not have.  
• Read. 
• Not sharing traumatizing images.  
• Choosing when to be at the frontline and when to take a step back.  • Develop a psychosocial helpline for activists. 
• Legal redress for activists by feminist lawyers. 
• Feminist retreats. 
• Rallying with victims of online violence.  

• Standing in the gap and holding space for other feminists.