At Calling Up Justice, our practice is a prefiguration of the world we want to live in. We embody adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy philosophy: “small is all and the large is a reflection of the small.” We share power intentionally to realign global power structures. Our organizational model is built on peer education and collective leadership rather than hierarchical structures. Instead of a traditional leadership team, we operate as an organizing circle of core members, centering those most impacted in our work.

Leadership & Centering Impacted Communities

Our leadership is Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and femme. While we previously had Asian femme leaders who have since cycled out, this was never a recruiting rule—rather, it reflects who our practice attracts and who we center.

Intersectionality as a Core Principle

The logics of intersectionality shape every aspect of Calling Up Justice’s programming and infrastructure. We embrace the wisdom of Lila Watson, an Aboriginal activist, whose words guide our approach:

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

We have literally displayed a definition of intersectionality on our office wall since 2019.

Programs in Action

• Justice Producers Collaborative (JPC) – Our peer-exchange power-building program is rooted in the belief that lived experience provides the best expertise in designing justice-based solutions. This aligns with the “for us, by us” (FUBU) model of community-centered programming.
• Abolitionist Practices – We are all abolitionists, and this is reflected in projects like:
  • The Every 28 Hours Plays – A national theater project featuring 80 one-minute plays inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the statistic that a Black person is killed by police, security guards, or vigilantes every 28 hours in the U.S.
  • We have collaborated with Anti Police-Terror Project MLK Radical Vision programming. 

Anti-Capitalist & LeaderFULL Design

• Pricing for Justice – We embody anti-capitalist values by offering a “no money” option for all our events, programs, video games, digital spaces, and apps.
• Digital Encampment & Open Space Design – Our leaderFULL principles empower all trusted participants to build spaces and create programming. This has resulted in spaces like:
  • Liberation Classroom
  • Milokin Veve Theater – Featuring an Afrofuturist play about Haitian women
  • North Star Theater
  • George Floyd Square
  • Octavia Butler Book Club

Calling Up Justice remains committed to building a future grounded in intersectional feminism, abolitionist values, and collective liberation. Our work is by the people, for the people, with the people—because our liberation is bound together.