Leanne Betasamosake Simpson tells us, ‘strong communities are born out of individuals being their best selves.’ Yet we’re forced to operate in a system which exerts control by compartmentalising, and a nonprofit industrial complex geared to respond to ‘neat boxes’ aligned to manufactured and pre-determined thematic issues and advocacy framing.

Alongside this, there’s an increased emphasis on the need to build movements, often by identifying movement leaders – ‘deemed’ easier to understand and support. This is misleading and potentially damaging. It ignores and downplays the role of, for example, feminist responses, mutual aid and people power played in sustaining the Arab Spring (Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain), #FeesMustFall (South Africa), ShutItAllDown (Namibia) and #EndSARS (Nigeria).

Movements are fuelled by people power and community activism – they are not and cannot be about one person. This is why it’s so important that a focus on movements doesn’t overshadow the role of community and collective care. Community activism is critical if we’re to access the resources including long-term funding, respect, space for care, social protections, grace for failing forward and trust for autonomous decision making. These are non-negotiable towards countering and challenging the anti-rights backlash. This  will not only help activists thrive, but help build a society where all can flourish.

For many years, I’ve taken refuge in writing. What started out in poetry, expanded to blogging and responding to phobic opinion pieces and columns lead by religious leaders in my country of citizenship, Botswana. Blogging became a sanctuary for protest and for challenging patriarchy – even though I didn’t articulate it as such as a 21-year-old graduate working in corporate auditing. This experience, alongside becoming an elected Chair of an unregistered organisation, and the founder of Success Capital, while attempting to navigate the world outside gender binaries has led me to understand community as a space. These spaces are a connection or gathering of belonging and becoming, which affirms humanity in all its authenticity, beauty, and flaws.

‘For those unable to access the capital derived from colonial  exploitation, community helps us to navigate life, pay for necessities, and nurture a form of solidarity.’

This is in stark contrast to the anti-rights and anti-gender ideology movements. These movements are sustained by institutionalised participation and [digital, ethnic, patriarchal] socialisation, and supported by a salient history of unrestricted funding. This funding comes from a complicity between power holders and is not required to meet a specific criterion or language. These anti-rights funders are emboldened by state-sponsored discrimination, and the tools of colonial violence. #

So, while the master’s house may no longer provide a complete shield from a changing world, the depth, breadth and legacy of his control and capital allows the perpetual extraction and exploitation of the majority world through capitalism, state debt, special drawing rights and by invoking and reframing history to subjugate and oppress. This is a system which sees dividends  in anti-LGBTQI+ laws, rescinding FGM prohibitions, reversing abortion rights, tax loopholes and cheap labour, to name a few. It is a system which thrives on creating chaos and grief – which it is shielded from – but which are weaponised to ‘other’ and spread division and discord.

These issues might seem structural, but they are deeply personal. They infringe on personhood – often denied to ‘othered’ people – those who are not white, cisgender, men, and/or heterosexual. The personal is always political. As I navigate who I am in grant solicitation processes, care work for those around me, and an increasingly unjust geopolitical landscape, I have to negotiate whether I am deserving or eligible, whilst those who oppose my existence, negotiate salaries, stock options and holiday homes. This is the crux of inequality, where material differences in opportunity can determine the trajectory of how one can lead a nurturing and restful life.

This is why we need community. For those unable to access the capital derived from colonial  exploitation, community helps us to navigate life, pay for necessities, and nurture a form of solidarity. This is especially so for trans and gender-diverse folk. We live in a world that continuously seeks to tell us that we do not belong, whether it’s in a global minority law enacting anti-trans legislature or health codes that cannot reconcile gender diversity and reproductive care. Our existence requires critical thinking and shifting from gender norms which narrow what is available to help society thrive.

In celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility, let’s recognise that we are a revolution, and as Saint, said in our commemorative dialogue that touches on colonialism, philanthropy and NGO-isation of our bodies and experiences, – activism is an art. Our very presence in a dominant world system which seeks to deny, degrade and dehumanise us is not only an ongoing act of defiance but also a beacon of hope.

As our community celebrates our beauty, labour and contributions, while ensuring we’re fed, healed and supported in this chaotic world – we can be seen – and beyond this, our broader community can see what resistance looks like. This allows us to look beyond the restrictions of oppression and the confines of enablement. It helps to extend solidarity and nurture further connections with those who understand the intricacies of our experiences and worries. This nourishes a community of co-creation, camaraderie and creativity. Not only will this help us withstand the threats of a chaotic world and its backlash, but it also embeds the realisation that when we’re our best selves, we’ll nurture and nourish a society where all people thrive and flourish.

Dumi Gatsha is the founder of Success Capital Organisation, a grassroots NGO working in the nexus of human rights and sustainable development with regional and global impact.

Transgender Day of Visibility is 31^st March 2024.