Hundreds of Black Washingtonians gather to discuss community solutions to manifest Black well-being statewide

SEATTLE — The Black Future Co-op Fund, Washington state’s first Black-led cooperative philanthropy, yesterday hosted Black Well-being: Moving Toward Solutions Together gathering, connecting hundreds of Black people statewide to discuss community solutions for generational wealth, health and well-being.

“We will rise up today having armed ourselves with information and connection,” said Andrea Caupain Sanderson, one of the four co-founders of the Black Future Co-op Fund, during the opening. “Together, we will create a rippling out of resilience that can change communities in positive ways.”

The Black Well-being statewide gathering and a soon-to-be-released report were designed to support collective organizing, direct resources to Black communities, and inform equitable policy change. More than 150 watch parties tuned in online, while 75 people met in person at the Central Area Senior Center in Seattle, the University of Puget Sound Black Student Union in Tacoma, and Excelsior Wellness in Spokane.

“Black well-being is only possible when we tap into our collective power,” said keynote speaker Venneikia Williams, campaign manager of Media 2070, a media reparations initiative. “By making space for one another, lightening one another’s load, and removing obstacles to someone else’s thriving, that is the way togetherness can be obtained and sustained. The only way a new world can come about.”

Throughout the Black-centered gathering, local changemakers across Washington discussed community-identified approaches to education, health, economic mobility, public safety, and civic engagement. For example, Kellen Hagans, president of the Black Student Union at University of Puget Sound and an education panelist, talked about redefining academic standards to cultivate Black brilliance. Sean Goode, executive director of Choose 180 and a public safety panelist, lifted up the importance of addressing root causes and focusing on people within systems to change the outcomes.

Recognizing and dismantling the racist systems and structures that have harmed Black people over generations was an underlying theme. “Black families and individuals of higher socioeconomic status are still experiencing poor health and well-being more than whites who are poor or have less education,” said Wendy Barrington, director of Center for Anti-racism and Community Health at the University of Washington and a health panelist. “It’s not a class or economics issue, racism is structuring opportunity, resources and generational wealth, and we need to be clear-eyed and focused to address it.”

New York Times best-selling author Resmaa Menakem emceed the gathering, providing a consistent message of healing, “The beauty of the Black Future Co-op Fund and this gathering is that we are creating space to begin to metabolize what’s gone before us so something new can emerge.” He continued, “We are building a future and resisting the ravages of white supremacy — not letting it take us under, but using it as a fuel for our freedom.”

Interwoven throughout the program were spoken word and song by Black artists, including Sharon Nyree Williams, Foluso Alamide Mimy, Arami Walker, Lydia K. Valentine, Aviona Creatrix Rodriguez Brown, Rell Be Free and a dynamic closing by the renowned Northwest Tap Connection. Each performance elevated an inspirational tone for the gathering.

To carry forward the momentum of the Black Well-being gathering, full panel conversations on each topic will be shown online in the coming weeks, with an opportunity to ask questions live of the panelists. See blackfuturewa.org/Black-Well-Being for dates and links to join.

“I leave here today thinking more about the story of self, story of us and the story of now, and even more prepared to lean into the power of the Black narrative that we must tell,” said T’wina Nobles, a co-founder of the Black Future Co-op Fund. “This was a beautiful, beautiful gathering. There is so much work to be done, and we want to continue to hear from you and partner with you.