“Let’s make 2021 a year for rest and rejuvenation. Let’s normalise taking time to heal and rebuild from all the storms we weathered in 2020. It’s going to take time to recover from the grief and loss experienced, and these traumas shouldn’t be ignored. Heal at your own pace, and feel secure in seeking whatever assistance you need to process your feelings.”

“As we approach 2021, we are the mainstream looks back at some of the significant moments for people of colour in 2020.”

“Exclusive spaces encourage authenticity and integrity in people whose identities have, for so long, been forced and fractured. Exclusive spaces help us to unlearn the narratives that have permitted our subjugation – to patriarchy or whiteness or heteronormativity – and to learn how to live in the space we have a right, by virtue of our humanity, to take up.”

“It is difficult for me to point to one significant moment in the day because the entire event seems significant to me.”

“This is something the #EachForEqual campaign failed to encompass for Indigenous women and WOC across the globe, with little acknowledgement of the complex roles race, sexuality, queerness, socio-economics and more play in peoples’ experiences of womanhood.”

“I’m Roni from Roni & Poly and I make polymer clay and resin jewellery. Since being a stall-holder at we are the mainstream’s inaugural event, I have been welcomed into a new fold, of which until recently, I have been on the fringes of. I have been welcomed into a community of strong women doing their bit to decolonise their communities and the spaces they find themselves in.”

Trigger Warning: Mentions of transphobic and sexist violence

“Every trans person today stands on the shoulders of those who came before. We honour all of our ancestors and fallen siblings and commit to continuing their work and to being good ancestors to the generations of trans folks who will come after us. Together with our allies, we will strive to make the world a safer place for transgender and gender-diverse peoples everywhere by being defiantly ourselves and building communities of care.”

“Creating Women of Colour-only spaces might seem counter-productive, or even divisive, to some, but while we seek unity, Women of Colour need to be able to talk about the racism they experience and they need safe spaces to do so without the fear of hurting the feelings of others.“

“I thought that I was alone, I felt alone, in my fight to create spaces for myself at tables. I always came at it from the perspective of the “poor” outsider who demands her space. Like I was supposed to be grateful when basic respect and dignity were afforded to me. That is how I had been navigating this country.”

“What does it matter who wins, if what actually happens to people does not alter?”