Charli Cooksey’s Reflections
Good evening everyone! I can’t believe it, but we are finally #OUTSIDE! And, I can’t think of a more beautiful place to be with such beautiful people. Thank you, each and every one of so much for being here and part of the WEPOWER community tonight.
I am Charli Alexa Cooksey, and I have the honor and more often than expected the challenge (LOL, JK kinda) of serving as the Founder and CEO of WEPOWER. No, seriously, I’m living out my life’s purpose.
Has anyone ever been chased by a snake? If so, raise your hand HIGH so I know I’m not the only one who can attest to such a crazy experience...Okay, soooo, I am the only one.
I’m not afraid of much, just Freddie Kruger, Michael Myers, and snakes. So much so, until about a one or two ago, I didn’t even have the courage to say thee word snake...I’m still getting used to it.
It was April of 2021, so much had happened earlier that year as many of you know. One of WEPOWER’s founding team member’s transitioned off the team with a mission to attack the organization’s character. A week later, an immediate family member passed away, and the list goes on for the traumas that consumed the prior months. One thing was for certain at that point, I needed a break, a place to rest and heal so I headed to Mexico for a special retreat. Oceanside I stayed amidst the pandemic, the only guest at the resort. Here I am by myself in this beautiful place, but haunted night upon night by an unfathomable amount of snakes. There were too many to count that slithered around me. Some kind of retreat and healing I was experiencing. LOL.
I shared my experience with the resort host. Her beautiful brown skin as an indigenous healer, made me feel like I was among my people. She explained that my ancestors passed a message to her to pass on to me. The snakes are not my enemies, they are not to be feared. Instead, they were a sign of my insane amount of wisdom, wisdom passed on from them to me. Snakes were a sign to me of healing, rebirth, and transformation. She went on to explain that my ancestors communicated that I have to make the choice to transform, to heal, to regenerate, to not play small.
So much happened after that retreat. In hindsight, it was catalytic.
But, the months after, I still operated from a place of fear, playing small, feeling trapped inside of others dreams for me / what really felt like nightmares.
From witnessing my family dog abruptly passing away, to being arrested, bruised, and caged for driving while Black, to WEPOWER bearing the brunt of constant, unfounded attacks, and getting diagnosed with several mental health illnesses, among other things. Eventually though, as I transitioned into 2022, I chose to begin emerging as a new woman, who chose to own my dreams and potential and lean into the messy and complicated work of transformation and healing. This April, while I was feeling on top of the world, like I was healed and who had finished the messy, personal work, guess who came back!? That freaking snake, but in person, in real life this time. I guess the ancestors needed to humble me...Slow down, Charli, you got more transformation, shedding, and rebirth to do. On my usual walk, I was listening to some Beyonce, dancing down the block without a care in the world and boom – a black, what seemed like a 3 foot snake blocked my pathway. From that moment, it felt as though my life had begun to fall apart...once again. The week after, my anxiety was at an all time high, insommia became the friend I never wanted, and three nights of nightmares...Guess who visited in those nightmares...the freaking snakes! In my quest to make sense of it all. A few days later, I had a reading done to unpack my dreams and better understand what lied ahead for me...and guess what card fell out of the deck of the reader!? A card covered in snakes! I was being slapped in the face with the fierce urgency to lean in further towards the hard work of...transfomation. So, I did lean in. I did a 7 day fast where I purged a lot, prayed a lot, journaled alot, and even wore white as a part of the what felt like a rebirth for me. I felt better, clearer, more grounded, more Charli, each day into the fast. And, on the last day, I was coincidentally in Harlem, my favorite place in the world, grabbing brunch in my all white attire, on a patio on Lenox Avenue, the home of the Harlem Renaissance. As I ate my eggs and bacon, I watched the street flooded with Black women in their all white. It was first Sunday and they were headed to church. I was in a sea of angels, Black women, affirming my journey, and chills consumed my body, at the sight, the confirmation that I am protected as I progress on my journey. The next day I returned to St. Louis and went to see fireworks with my Godmother who had found a secret spot no one else knew of with the best view ever. A few minutes before the fireworks started, guess who showed up!? A young lady, with a GIANT, I mean HUGE multi-foot long snake wrapped around her neck. She happily, without my permission, sat right next to me, and even sat the snake on the ground. I looked up and laughed at and thanked God for the many signs he had sent via the snakes that kept following me from my dreams to Mexico, to St. Louis, to Harlem and back.
That story and series of experiences have revealed so many insights for me over the past couple of months. Insights and lessons that have even led to us being here at this garden party today!
When we play small, when we ignore the big dreams and wisdom inside of us, when we don’t act on our gifts, our dreams become our nightmares, haunting us until we choose to show up differently.
Playing small, letting the status quo prevail serves no one EVEN when it feels temporarily comfortable and like the safe bet.
When we DON’T define ourselves for ourselves we become caught in others narratives of us –– narratives that dehumanize us, strip us of our rights, our power, and our potential.
If we allow those narratives to sustain, they become more more than that, they become true and realities that do major harm to ourselves.
So, what does this crazy snake story mean for all of us here tonight?? Here’s what you should know:
WEPOWER is no longer playing small, running from our purpose out of fear of others who choose to be warriors for the status quo. Instead, we are leaning in core reason for existing – which is to unapologetically build political and economic power with and for Black and Latinx communities.
That means:
We are telling our story about who we are, why we exist, and what we are pursuing on our own terms. Our narrative– for us, by us.
We are setting bold declarations, we are maintaining an unwavering belief that they will come into fruition, anddoing the hard, messy, complicated work to achieve them.
We are back OUTSIDE in physical spaces together with each other building power, celebrating, healing, and dreaming of a better future.
We are growing our community of changemakers and entrepreneurs who identify as mamas, grandmas, aunts, uncles, daddies, educators, parents, and advocates. And, YOU are part of this growing community.
This is an unprecedented time to no longer run from whatever snakes we believe are chasing us, but to face them and lean into transformation:
We are on the brink of major political shifts across our region such as the ward reduction from 28 to 14. Political power is being redistributed and we need it to bend towards the best interests of oppressed people.
We are seeing economic development emerge in areas like North St. Louis City for the first time in our lives. And, we cannot that development happen to us without us and allow it to displace us.
We are experiencing what was already a system in crisis approach a collapse as childcare workers remain underpaid and overworked with the pandemic exacerbating matters. And, who bears the brunt, 90,000 babies across this region ages 0-5?
The fierce urgency of now is real! And, it serves none of us nor ourcommunities to shrink in this moment.
So, I want to close our with some declarations and some calls to action before we dance the night away. On behalf of WEPOWER, I’m declaring that through partnership and courage by December 31st, 2024:
We will win $100 million in local, dedicated, annual public funding for early childhood across St. Louis City and St. Louis County.
We will celebrate the passing of a Community Benefits Agreement ordinance both in East St. Louis and St. Louis City which will require multi-million dollar real estate developments support the wealth and wellbeing of everyday people.
We will have supported 100 Black and Latinx entrepreneurs who build wealth not only for themselves but also for their communities.
And, we will celebrate the activation and training of our first 500 changemakers as organizers, systems leaders, and future public leaders.
So, I need each of you to pull out your phones and make the pledge to be outside as members of the WEPOWER community: for our babies, our communities, and our futures.
You should have a text from us with a link or you can text POWER to 314-834-7834 to receive a link.
I need you to pledge to be outside for our babies by joining the Early Childhood Power & Policy Action Group co-led with our partners at the Alliance.
Or, I need you to pledge to be outside for our communities by joining the ESTL & STL Community Benefits Agreement Coalition to ensure more Black folks build wealth when big developers come into our neighborhoods.
And or, I need you to pledge to be outside for our futures by applying for one of our programs to grow your leadership as an organizer or future public leader. We need more amazing changemakers and entrepreneurs like Tiffany and Beloved part of this movement.
And, lastly, I NEED EVERYONE IN HERE to donate SOMETHING TONIGHT because freedom ain’t free. This work costs money and we need your investment in Black and Latinx futures where we are well and whole.
For those of you who make the pledge tonight, grab a #WEOUTSIDE t-shirt on your way home tonight. First come, first serve.
