“Welcome to Beloved”
Beloved Community Royal Team (L to R): Ileana Ortiz, E. Badowski, Kevin Lewis, Sonali Chadha and Dra. Nicole Caridad-Ralston.
At Beloved Community, our values guide us in everything that we do. They are more than just words; we engage with these convictions as a call for actionable love.
Centering Justice & Joy reminds us that joy must be a part of the revolution. We insert levity where appropriate through art, song, and personal testimony - all while still maintaining our commitment to justice for those communities who experience the most harm. Read on as Associate Director of Adult Learning Erica Badowski reflects on a time where justice + joy co-existed for them.
During our Winter Royal Team Retreat, we spent each day grounding in one of our five Beloved Values. Departments were asked to open the day with a “warm welcome” to help strengthen our connection as a team through our understandings of each value. Warm welcomes are questions designed to provide teams with space to share, reflect and learn more about each other. Our warm welcomes are often light-hearted and fun, while other times, they can have more depth.
Our Thursday focus was Centering Justice & Joy. We were tasked with describing a time where justice + joy coexisted for us. I loved reflecting on this question and quickly recalled an experience from last year, when I was brand new to the Beloved team.
“As a new team member, I was feeling hesitant to name the conflicting event. At previous workplaces, I was not always supported in my gender identity, sexual orientation, or LGBTQ+ activism. I knew Beloved was unabashedly pro-queer, but I was allowing my previous work experiences to influence me.”
I joined the Beloved Community near the end of January, right before the organization closed up shop for our annual sabbatical in February. When we returned in March, I was still getting to know the team and learning about Beloved. Our New Orleans team members organized a happy hour meet-up that month and I was looking forward to connecting with my new coworkers. During this time, there was anti-LGBTQ+ legislation moving through the Louisiana legislature. A rally & march was organized to speak out against the anti-LGBTQ+ bills for the same date as the planned happy hour. I really wanted to join the happy hour but it was very important for me to participate in the march.
As a new team member, I was feeling hesitant to name the conflicting event. At previous workplaces, I was not always supported in my gender identity, sexual orientation, or LGBTQ+ activism. I knew Beloved was unabashedly pro-queer, but I was allowing my previous work experiences to influence me. Finally, I decided to name that I was attending the march and would look forward to our next happy hour.
The team quickly responded to my comment on Slack, thanking me for sharing the event and offering to rearrange the plans so that both were possible! I have never been part of a team that was so enthusiastic about supporting something so close to my heart. We attended the march as a group and enjoyed spending time together afterwards. To me, this is the perfect embodiment of justice & joy: we can participate in the march AND celebrate together.
