“Maps, though often seen as objects of wonder and adventure, have a good deal of healing to do. Some have used them to carve imagined borders, (re)form nations, and navigate territories that were not theirs. Finger flick ahead a few centuries: a map guides me to my next meeting, informs me I’m late, and warns me against traffic. I trust it. When I ask the same map to show me the route from Delhi to Lahore it says: “No Way Found.” Our maps continue to be torn.”
– Fearless Future: Atlas, page 3
In September 2016 Fearless Collective was joined by 1,700 intergenerational and interdisciplinary women from around the planet for a series of workshops and accompanying plenary session at the 13th AWID International Forum in Costa de Sauipe, Brazil. What emerged is a methodology and workshop we call “Fearless Futures”. Inspired by the Yoruba proverb “It takes a village” and the process of “suspension of disbelief” we worked together to develop a process that helps us move beyond our doubts and into a space of imagination. We know what we hate, but do we know what we love just as clearly?
In Fall 2017 we developed the Fearless Futures methodology into a hands on Atlas and Book of Directions to facilitate processes of imagination. Designed for both individual and collective use, “Fearless Futures: A Feminist Cartographer’s Toolkit” is a co-creation with AWID. It is entirely open source and we encourage you to download it and use it in your own organizing and activism. This resource encourages everyone and anyone to suspend beliefs that no longer serve us and our movements, release our fears, and re-imagine thriving communities and villages of love, justice and democracy.
Fearless Futures is in constant evolution. If you use the toolkit and have feedback, please let us know about your experience by signing our online Visitor’s Book. We’d love to hear from you.
Download the Fearless Futures: A Feminist Cartographer’s Toolkit: http://bit.ly/2BX98wX
(Available in Español and Française)