Our Activist Manifesto
The Reclaiming tradition comes from a rich history of solidarity with social movements and radical inclusion. Since our inception, collectives of Reclaiming witches have pushed for an end to racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism through collective ritual and actions in solidarity with the larger community. The Reclaiming Pittsburgh Collective seeks to empower our community by engaging in political action in the Pittsburgh community and beyond.
Our mission for activism is twofold: to create radical community within our collective, and to show solidarity by supporting larger movements in Pittsburgh and beyond. Therefore, we assert the following intentions and proposed actions:
We strive to create radical community within our collective:
We are an anarchist tradition and reject traditional hierarchies that use positions of power as a weapon of oppression. We believe in collective consensus where all members are leaders and responsible for the culture of the community.
We commit to unlearning racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and all forms of oppression within ourselves and in community. We believe in intersectionality and the complexities that oppression places on our lives.
We honor the genders, gender histories, and gender journeys of our community. We use the names and pronouns that people wish to be called by.
We hold each other and ourselves accountable for unlearning oppressive behaviors and seek to bring all people back into community when they have done wrong.
We show solidarity and support with larger movements in the Pittsburgh community and beyond:
We assert that Black Lives Matter and show solidarity with the movement for Black lives in Pittsburgh and throughout the United States.
We commit to calling out injustice when it confronts us and to hold our community and other Reclaiming communities accountable to ending oppression.
We commit to working with Pittsburgh’s thriving activist community by volunteering our time and resources within our abilities to the movements and activists in our city and beyond.
We commit to demonstrating in three annual events as a collective (Annual Summit Against Racism, People’s Pride, and Columbus Day), responding to unanticipated events with action, and to supporting activists traveling to sister-Reclaiming groups engaged in social justice work.
We commit to planning a minimum of three events focused on community activism such as group screenings and discussions of educational films, skill-shares for responsible activism, and fundraising activities. We believe that public demonstration is only one way to show solidarity and recognize the importance of making our activism intersectional and accessible for all.