Black Crip Liberation

Here at the Ase Community Foundation and throughout our programming, our focus is on black crip liberation and making way for black, disabled students and community members to be at the forefront of all conversations and movements which impact them, whether the impact be positive or negative.

Intentionality

At the Ase Community Foundation, we believe that being intentional means being purposeful and deliberate in everything we do. It involves setting clear goals, focusing on priorities, and making conscious decisions. At Asé through intentionality, we direct our energy towards the things that matter most. By being intentional, we can achieve our goals, make a positive impact, and find fulfillment in our community of Black Canadians.

Radical Black Feminist Disruption

At Asé, our work and research recognize the intersectionality of gender, disability, race, and class, alongside other social and political identities and its effect on black women, queer black women and AFAB (Assigned Female At Birth) non-binary and gender individuals.

Pervasive (Health)Care and Equity

The Asé Community Foundation understands that equitable access and the empowerment of black people with disabilities includes a concise yet expansive understanding of pervasive healthcare as researched. Pervasive healthcare can be defined as healthcare to anyone, anytime, and anywhere by removing locational, time and other restraints while increasing both its coverage and quality.

Accessibility

At the Asé Community Foundation, we believe that providing unique individual access to safe, inclusive and accessible workplaces ensures Black Canadians are able to fully participate in the workforce and within their respective communities.

Compassion

At Ase, sharing compassion is our commitment to considering, understanding, and caring for and about others. It is about sharing our burdens and struggles. It is “courage to love ourselves, eachother, and our world”. It embodies the justice mantra of “no one is free until we are all free”.

Compassion Fuels

At Ase, our relationships with self, community, and the land. We believe that rest is revolutionary and we are revolutionaries. We hold space for deeply caring for eachother and encourage each other to state our boundaries and needs. We meet people where they are at and do not judge our differences in thought, ability, capacity, and understanding.

Generosity

Throughout Ase, being generous involves giving to each other and ourselves from a place of abundance. This does not mean that we will always have enough spoons. What it does mean is that we reject the scarcity mindset inherited from capitalist, colonial, and individualistic worldviews, and embrace the mindset that there is a place for everyone, and thus give and hold space for each other accordingly.

We seek to foster a space safe for generosity. This includes generosity of time, emotional labor, and passion for change. We also foster a space that gives to our community as well as gives back to ourselves.

Sustainability

Sustainability to us at the Ase Community Foundation means taking care of the land for ourselves while thinking seven generations ahead. We believe in conservation. We tread gently on the land and prioritize healing the land and our communities for future generations. In terms of community, sustainability can also mean navigating burn out, self-care, and community care, so that we can sustain the work we are doing and our bodies for our current communities and future generations.

Cross-movement Solidarity

At the Ase Community Foundation and throughout every facet of our work, we understand the value and importance of cross movement solidarity and will be holding space for students and community members to speak about the injustices and community that are happening within their communities. We will support these individuals in their movements, just as they support us. If it's important to one of us it should be important to all of us and we will put forth this mentality through our actions to create positive change.

Intersectionality and Positionality

At Ase, looking at our work and the services that we provide to the community is of the utmost importance to us, here at Ase and will be highlighted throughout our work and teachings within the youth coalition and beyond. We also take the time to recognize our position as an organization and the hold for those who do not have the same privileges, and the same opportunity to use their voice as we do.

Hierarchical Abolition

Here at Ase and within our work, we make a conscious effort to abolish the hierarchy of disability by creating a safe environment for all black and disabled individuals, whether they are diagnosed or not. No one should have to prove themselves to receive the access support they require to not just survive, but thrive.

Inherent Deservingness

At the Ase Community Foundation, you do not need to be anything other than who you are. We believe that all humans are inherently valuable simply by virtue of existing. We connect with each other, our community, our society, and our planet as such. All people are inherently deserving and inherently whole as they are.