Member Spotlight: dana e. fitchett
What is your industry or area of expertise?
I’m a transdisciplinary artist and I work primarily with language, movement, and music. My practice across disciplines is grounded in a practice of deep listening and translating.
Why do you believe in the mission of BlackFemaleProject?
The last phrase of our mission–self-defined success–is everything to me. Regardless of the political context or contemporary views, what matters most at the end of the day is self-determination, especially for Black women.
What brought you to BlackFemaleProject?
When a good friend passed me a BlackFemaleProject flier, around 2016, I was still relatively new to the Bay, and tapping into an intergenerational community of Black women seemed super appealing. One of the more challenging things about relocating was trying to connect with elders when I was finding myself surrounded mostly by folks around my age.
How has BlackFemaleProject impacted you personally?
Being the person who reads everything and listens to everything in our collection—often more than once—there’s a gravity and a depth of understanding that I’ve gained relative to both the diversity and the similarities among our experiences. I’ve felt the resonance in my own life when I listen to and hear stories reflected back to me that have elements of my own experiences as well. It’s been validating and nurturing. It’s done exactly what Precious always elevates as core to our work: it’s depersonalized for me the ways I’ve experienced and observed the wreckage of racism and sexism by illuminating the patterned and systemic nature of it all.
And the other way my work with BlackFemaleProject has impacted me is that it’s supported my ability—both financially and spiritually—to be able to jump outside of 9-to-5 life and create the reality that I want. The fact that I have been supported by Precious and BlackFemaleProject and PJS Consultants to not only work with a team that I love working with but also have work that is meaningful to me and impactful to the communities I care for most deeply—that is really invaluable.
What motivated you to become an advisor to BlackFemaleProject?
When I first heard about BlackFemaleProject, I found out early on that Precious was carrying much of the work on her own along with the help of volunteers. I offered to help out in whatever ways I could, including proofreading written content. Precious appreciated my contribution and offered some paid work in a consulting capacity. At the time, I was working full-time at a social justice- and education-focused nonprofit, doing my creative work, and in a full-time, self-directed MFA program. Precious and BlackFemaleProject are a big part of what allowed me to move closer to the life I envision for myself.
What’s kept me engaged in this work for eight years really is Precious’s leadership—it’s her ability to be generous, reflective, and truly responsive, and to put people where they shine. As a person who is pretty vocal and direct about my boundaries, I have a lot of examples of people responding negatively to that. Precious has given me space and some real healing around being able to be clear with people about what does and does not work for me without any backlash. The fact that I can grow and change and learn and be respected in this space has kept me here for all these years.
What BlackFemaleProject content or offering have you found most resonant?
What’s impacted me the most is the entirety and the power of what the collection communicates. The resonance and the threads that weave across our experiences are so timeless and powerful and affirming. That’s the thing that always sits with me. Across time, across place, across age, across industry, across identity—those threads are tightly woven among us, and that creates a beautiful sense of community for me.
Bio:
dana fitchett, founder and director of Movement for Liberation, is a transdisciplinary artist who teaches movement classes; choreographs; makes visual art, music, and plant-based foods; and freelances as a justice- and truth-focused writer, writing coach, and editor. dana seeks and finds endless lessons in study of the African diaspora, literature, human engagement, and the entire natural world, and splits time between Oakland, Brooklyn, and Boston. dana holds a bachelors degree in urban studies from Vassar College and a masters of fine art in interdisciplinary art from Goddard College. Her voice and perspectives are informed by her deep listening practice and life experiences, including over a decade of work in K-12 education and nonprofits. All of her pursuits are unified by an explicit concern for moving our individual and collective realities closer to liberation.
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