Movement Maker Spotlight: Organizer, Educator, and Entrepreneur Simone Gamble
Meet Simone Gamble, Youth Worker, Organizer, Educator, and Entrepreneur. She makes an impact by creating safer spaces for Black and Brown folks to navigate their workspaces and supporting BIPOC communities in re-imagining a liberated world. Simone is based in New York City and has a background in activism, education, and consulting.
My Why: The reason I am where I am in life right now can mainly be attributed to the sacrifices of Black women. It started from the initial sacrifice of my birth mother choosing adoption in order for me to get the best care that, at the time, she could not provide.
It started from my foster mother (the only mother I have known) caring for me and my nine siblings and doing all she could to make sure I attended schools that provided the best education and resources for me in a world that deprioritized quality education for Black girls and femmes.
I am here because of the decision my mother made to send me to camps that gave me a look into whiteness that has shaped the lens through which I do the work now. I am here because of the sacrifice of my older sister who continued to care for me after my mother passed when I was 15 years old. She made sure that I was able to finish school and attend college without taking on extra responsibilities. In grad school, I found my voice through the guidance of one of my professors who encouraged me to consistently question and challenge power even when my voice shakes.
I am here because of the boundless brilliance of all of the Black women I have worked alongside to provide powerful and transformative programming to Black and Brown youth. I am here because of the Black women who have guided me along my entrepreneurial path and given me the tools to create my lane. I am here because of the fearless leadership of Black women organizers and activists who have shaped my liberation praxis and guide for what is just and whose voices should be centered in all the work that I do. I am here because of my ancestors who paved the way for me and are the reason I’m here today.
And lastly, I am here because of the choice to believe in myself, in my vision of a world free of oppression, and in the power of my voice and the impact it can have on the world and specifically those that look like me.
A-ha Moment: I knew I was meant for this path the moment I led my first workshop at a conference on creating safer spaces for Black campers. At this workshop, a group of almost 60 people showed up to learn about this topic, much to my surprise. I was scared beyond belief, riddled with self-doubt and imposter syndrome. But I pushed through it because I knew I was speaking from my experience and that was my truth.
After the workshop was when I had my aha moment. I remember people coming up to me thanking me for the discussion, but what impacted me most were the few Black people who came to the workshops and shared their gratitude around the conversations. One person shared how this was the first time they were able to have transparent conversations around race with their organization and speak clearly to the impact that silence had on them over the years.
At that moment, I knew that I wanted to continue to disrupt whiteness in all the rooms I was in with my given platform. That is the work I hope to continue to do and also provide this space for other changemakers to do the same in a way that is outside of organizations and set on their own terms. I am excited to turn that aha-moment into a movement.
How I’m Making a Difference Right Now: Outside of my daily work, I am part of an organization called the Justice Committee which is a grassroots organization dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. I support folks with learning how to cop watch safely to protect their communities and also building community safety teams that provide alternatives to policing.
With OAAARS, I am looking to harness the power and expertise of community organizers, activists, artists, and advocates to educate and guide workspaces to create safer spaces for intersectional BIPOC identities. Currently, many are navigating spaces that center whiteness, ask us to check our humanity at the door, and remain silent on sociopolitical issues that impact our bodies and mental health. Black and Brown folks, in particular, are asked to perform at the same capacity as their white peers while also battling microaggressions and a world that enacts daily harm while also expecting us to produce under the grueling expectations of capitalism. I want to create a new normal.
I want to redefine Professional Development as a space where we can center the self-care of marginalized identities, analyze power and privilege in our workspaces, and where we can create agents of change who push for social justice not only at their organization but in larger society and of course led by those directly impacted. We can make social justice part of the work we do at our organizations and I believe changemakers should be compensated for this work. Many times it goes unrecognized and unpaid.
As an organizer myself, the network of changemakers I know have been my moral compass and been the guide to creating a liberated world. With this knowledge, I see us as the best consultants any organization can have. They are the heart of why I started this work and the core of the impact I hope to impart on the world.
My Self-Care Recipe For Success: My self-care recipe for success is whenever I choose to treat myself as a sacred body and not a machine. I feel most well when I choose to separate from this idea of productivity that capitalism forces upon our bodies, especially Black bodies. Recently, despite all the work I had piling up, I chose to say no to work and just rest. I closed my laptop and just chose pleasure for once. I find joy in my work but I must also recognize the harm it enacts on my body. That particular weekend, I danced alone in my room, I got an angel card reading, I had my friend do reiki, I made a good meal, chatted with a good friend, and took a walk. It was the simple things that made me feel whole and at peace. I work so days like that can be commonplace and not an exception to the norm.
Advice for Movement Makers: The one piece of advice I would give is to trust your gut and your vision. This has honestly helped me throughout my journey. Whenever folks have tried to steer me back onto the path of the status quo, I trusted the deep feeling in my gut that told me this isn't for me. That I am more comfortable living on the margins and not inside the box. I have become comfortable tiptoeing this line because it has only created spaces of unlearning, of breaking binary thinking, and moving closer to a reimagined world with Black women leading our path to liberation.
Keep In Touch: Find me on social media @oaaars @oaaars_llc and visit my website: www.oaaars.com. I’m also on @pettyagainstpatriarchy.