Grantee Partner Spotlight with Brave Space Alliance

This month, Woods Fund Chicago sat down with LaSaia Wade, the Founder and Executive Director of Brave Space Alliance. LaSaia talks about the services provided by the Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ organization, what it means to have a "brave space," and what the pathway towards liberation looks like.

Starting with the history of Brave Space Alliance, what makes a "brave space," and how does that foundation inform the organization's work?

A brave space is a space that allows a person to be authentically themselves. That authenticity bridges the gaps between differences and will enable us to serve the people fully in all the intersections. 

October 11 was Indigenous Peoples' Day. As someone who identifies as an Afro-Puerto Rican indigenous trans woman, how do you ensure that the work of BSA is aligned with indigenous-led campaigns and movements in the city of Chicago?

Liberation looks like BIPOC people standing in alignment with other BIPOC people. That is the only way we can move forward to build toward liberation.

Can you speak to the interconnection between colonialism and other struggles? 

Colonization is at the root of many struggles throughout this world. In BSA's training titled “Decolonization from a Pan-Africanist, Trans Liberatory Perspective,” we invite participants to explore the role of colonization in creating systems of racial and gender oppression which still impact us today. Understanding the layers of social, economic, and political contexts that inform how racism, sexism, classism, and transphobia have impacted our lives over time is essential to building paths to liberation or gender and racial equity.

What would you like to see centered in intersectional movement-building?

Intersectionality is a way of thinking holistically about how different forms of oppression interact in people's lives. To speak on who or what should be centered means someone will be left behind in building the movement work. Knowing this, when someone raises their hand and says, "What about me?" we must be okay with stopping what we are doing, building on their struggle, and moving forward with them. This is what LIBERATION looks like: Being able to stop, reflect, and grow. No one should ever be the center of any movement, we must attack the issues at hand to stop oppression, patriarchy, and white supremacy as the main problems.

How has COVID uniquely impacted the communities BSA works with, and how does BSA balance the needs that have arisen due to COVID with programs that existed before the pandemic?

Brave Space Alliance (BSA) is an LGBTQ+ center that serves the entire LGBTQ+ community. Still, we prioritize BIPOC transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) individuals because they are the most marginalized and vulnerable LGBTQ+ in society. We serve a community that thrives from in-person interpersonal connection, so switching to a virtual platform proved to be a considerable barrier, not only for BSA but for many of the community members we serve. To combat that, we increased our social media presence and posted more engaging content so that community members could directly interface with BSA staff and programming. That included frequent Instagram and Facebook lives interviewing staff members, as well as lives dedicated to questions around all BSA programming and services, posts with images of and fun facts about BSA staff, as well as a virtual tour of our newly renovated space. 

We also provided tutorials on utilizing various virtual platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc. Since then, our social media presence has grown significantly. We rely heavily on our social media platforms today due to the amount of exposure we received at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The communities we serve are also plagued with technological barriers that impact their ability to access virtual resources. To combat those barriers, we shifted to a partial in-person programming structure where we ask for community members who would like to attend in-person programs to present proof of vaccination and wear a mask at all times. Virtual programming components will be a permanent addition to our programs and services for accessibility purposes. 

During the most recent rebellion against white supremacist state violence this past summer, BSA provided jail and court support for protesters and delivered food to low-income predominately BIPOC communities that were left neglected due to the temporary halt in CPS meal distribution. Brave Space Alliance is founded on the idea that #BlackLivesMatter, and that #BlackTransLivesMatter. We will always live and work those values, and we unequivocally stand with our community during this rebellion and all future rebellions. Due to those efforts, we were able to secure funding for future programs/initiatives. BSA's Community Pantry and Trans Relief Fund started because of the unique impact COVID-19 has had on our community. These programs — like our organization's framework — focus on providing affirming services and resources to our community. At BSA, we know systems and institutions can't and won't sustain us, but we can when given access to the tools and resources needed to do so. Most programs, services, and resources geared towards BIPOC TGNC individuals provide temporary solutions that do not address the root of their problems. As BIPOC individuals of trans experience, we believe that we are the experts on our lived experiences and can better identify our needs, which is why all programming, services, and resources provided by BSA give community members an active hand in development and implementation.