Learnest Solidarity Statement (ARCHIVED - Published 2020)

Learnest was established 18 months ago by a group of individuals who exist at the intersections of trans, queer, disabled and poc experience. We are a small organisation but our ambition is large: we aim to successfully reclaim space for our communities to learn, create and innovate and we believe it is through unlocking the strengths in our communities we unlock unknowable potential for change.

As an organisation we are taking our time to learn and understand the role we have to play in ensuring we do not strengthen institutions that are built on and continue to thrive off the oppression of black and brown people. Learnest board of directors has recently agreed that we will not work with the police, prison services, immigration or any carceral state structures and we will continue to scrutinise our work to ensure we are not facilitating pinkwashing and harm to our communities. 

Moving forward we are committed to the ongoing work involved in developing our work to be visibly and meaningfully, anti-racist. We are reviewing and developing our processes to ensure we are creating equitable opportunities for people of colour at every level of our organisation.

Oppression and discrimination does not exist in a vacuum; events such as the murder of George Floyd in the US, the murder of Mark Duggan in the UK, and attempts to roll back the rights of trans and non-binary people both in the UK and US are the products of the same corrupt systems that seek to oppress, surveil and brutalise the bodies of black, brown and trans people. 

The Learnest team are proud to stand with all those protesting against the realities of racism, transphobia and homophobia in 2020 and beyond. 

References:
Intersectionality - article on Vox with Kimberly Crenshaw - covering the backround and meaning of the term intersectionality.
Pinkwashing - video created by Shon Faye and Novaramedia outlining the meaning and definition of pinkwashing.