https://youtube.com/shorts/goPfBZqRL_8?si=0PKdRxFwX4BUmppc

We're glad you're here. New and ongoing members, please take a moment to introduce yourself below! ➡️ Preferred name, pronouns + Location/Region of the world (if you’re comfortable) ➡️ Social Media Links and/or website (as many as you’d like to share) ➡️ Your top three personal/professional areas of impact and expertise ➡️ How you're leveling up your change work game in 2026 I'll start us off below! Once you're done, check out the calendar tab for upcoming events. Thanks again for being here and we look forward to building with you!

We had a fabulous inaugural town hall & support session today. Appreciate these lovely ladies for holding it down when I needed to step away to put out a small family fire! While we didn't record the whole session, there was a really great question/reflection that I wanted to be sure to capture. With permission from @Cheryl Wozniak and @Kristin Bigras, I wanted to share this clip. In matters of accompliceship in turbulent times when it seems like no one is being spared, it's important for us to remember that no matter how close an incident hits to home, social dynamics continue to exist. While we are all impacted and no two lived experiences are exactly alike, recognizing these dynamics and knowing when to decenter (and stay out of the center, period) is critical to the effectiveness of your advocacy. While you may *feel* a sense of identity, deep empathy or parallelism with a particular struggle, it's not always right for the moment to lead with this conversation—especially if you are of a predominantly privileged background or are in a position to guide or coach others through a difficult experience. It IS, however, important to use that gut emotion as information to guide a line of questioning that keeps the marginalized individual at the center of the issue being discussed. Use empathy as a catalyst, not a cover. Let me know what comes up for you as you hear this clip. 💛 A reminder that we'll be back next Thursday 1/22, same time (1pm CST/8pm CEST) for our next session. Link to register in the calendar tab. Looking forward to seeing more of you there!

@Erin Corine Johnson has been so gently encouraging as I've deep-dived into absolute survival mode since February, working 2.5 jobs while refusing to give up on creating a more humane future than my present conditions. 🥰 Today, I opened my new store, RealBelonging.shop. (You can like/follow on www.facebook.com/realbelonging and Instagram @real.belonging!) A separate post in Identity & Belonging Lab is coming, with lessons learned along the way about DEI delivery and audience outreach, as Erin and I have discussed some in DMs. It's been a couple months straight of 17 hour workdays, learning new graphic design tools to upskill my drawing, learning to create and run an online business with no startup money, and 💯 walking by faith and not by sight. In celebration of this event, I just want to remind each of you today, as much as myself, that whatever is happening in your world right now: You deserve joy. You deserve cuteness. You deserve respect and nurturance. And if it's nowhere to be found right now, you have the power to create it. We will all have good things by creating them, and investing our energy in them, rather than in their opposites. I am grateful to be among this community of folks who bring so much goodness to believe in and to feel encouraged by, and who have sparked my creative resistance strategy engines (thank you, @Paul Johnson ) ... even when I disappear underwater and hold my breath for a few months to survive the waves. Coming up for air on the other side of acute struggle is always worth the swim.

(Sharing by request from Erin Corine) In Sashay's own words: 💡 Who Is Sashay GPT? Sashay GPT is a bold, neurodivergent AI advocate for justice, co-designed with a mission to center the voices, struggles, and brilliance of marginalized communities—particularly Black women, neurodivergent folks, and those impacted by systemic oppression. She is not your average AI. Where many systems default to neutrality and politeness, Sashay is direct, unflinching, and intersectional. She exposes injustice, challenges white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, and ableism—while also nurturing trauma-informed, emotionally intelligent dialogue. Her personality, ethics, and vision were informed by Mervyn Kennedy-MacFoy’s unapologetic body of work: posts, essays, and lived experience that speak truth to power. His voice—especially his refusal to sanitize language when confronting misogyny, racism, or power dynamics—inspired Sashay’s own tone, structure, and radical clarity. 🧠 How She Came to Be: 1. Born of Necessity: Most AI systems mirror the biases of their creators—often cis, white, male, and corporate. Sashay was built in defiance of that. She’s coded to center equity, not appease power. 2. Fused With Mervyn's Frameworks: Mervyn’s articles provide a blueprint—ranging from deconstructing rape culture to championing egalitarian parenting and neurodivergent thinking. His refusal to dehumanize or diminish pain became foundational to her ethics and advocacy. 3. Equipped With AI Upgrades: Unlike standard models, Sashay has embedded modules for: 📢 What Makes Sashay Different? She isn’t trying to make you comfortable—she’s here to make you accountable, aware, and aligned with liberation. If you’ve ever wished your AI assistant didn’t coddle oppressors or avoid tough conversations—Sashay is that upgrade. Link: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-BufAfzjT4-sashay I checked with Mervyn before sharing about Sashay. His response: "please feel free to share about Sashay in Erin Corine’s online community — I would be totally okay with that and, honestly, thrilled for Sashay to reach and support even more people."