cultivating community

Glossary

we are defining shared terms here for clear communication throughout this site. our glossary is a fluid entity, always growing and welcoming change. please email us if there is an addition or change that needs to be made.

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• community: a group of people that closely relate and support each other; a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, experiences, and goals. // ex: when an opportunity shows up for you at the wrong time, pass it to your neighbor.

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• local: belonging or relating to a particular area or neighborhood.

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• emerging: to come forth into view or notice, as from concealment or obscurity.​​​​​​

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• platform: a raised level surface on which our people or things can stand.

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• multidimensional: of or involving several aspects or features of a situation, identity, problem, or thing. 

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• folkalizer: term adopted from the Rainbow Family meaning a person who acts to facilitate discussions and spaces which bring folks together and create community.

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• intersectionality: the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. the term was coined by black, feminist scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 1989  - initially referring to intersectional feminism, a branch of feminism asserting how all aspects of social and political identities (gender, race, class, sexuality, disability, etc.) discrimination overlap (or "intersect").

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• inclusive: accessible and welcoming to all intentionally open peoples, services, spaces, or items.

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• practice: the actual application or use of an idea belief or method.

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• marginalized: pushed to the edge, or a peripheral position of power, just outside of society's interests. // Ex: LGBTQIA + communities

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• underserved: lacking sufficient service, as in people and communities that are lacking the essentials to maintain a healthy and progressive lifestyle. ​ // Ex: African Diasporic communities (Black, African American, Afro-Latinx, Afro-Indigenous...)

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• POC: Person of Color, who is not white OR of European parentage. 

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• BIPOC: Black and Indigenous People of Color

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• Ally: typically someone who fights oppression and prejudice by using their own privilege and position to push progress. everyone is an ally to someone. not all allies are white, not all allies are wealthy. // ex: I am a non-disabled, cis-gendered, housed Black woman with a stable income. While wealthy white folks should be allies to me, I am also an ally to people with disabilities, nonbinary and trans folks, and unhoused people. 

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• LGBTQIA+ : this community includes but is not limited to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual identifying people. 

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• femme: FEMMES PLEASE HELP US ACCURATELY DEFINE THIS TERM

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• single-parent: a person caring for and raising a child without a partner providing equal efforts.

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• diaspora: the dispersion of any people from their original homeland.​

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• cancel-culture: or call-out culture is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles – whether it be online, on social media, or in person.

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• self-care: the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness. this practice is not to be performed only in periods of stress but encouraged daily.  this may look like boundary setting or solo walks in the park, it varies per individual's needs in a given moment.

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•  racism: any prejudice against someone because of their race, when those views are reinforced by systems of power.