Day 25: What Does Safety Mean for Everyone?
Welcome to Day 25 of 100 Days of Community! We are officially a quarter of the way through this journey, and today’s discussion was one of the most necessary yet uncomfortable ones:
What does safety actually mean—and who gets to define it?
Too often, safety is framed as a universal experience, but safety is deeply contextual and intersectional. What feels safe for one group may feel harmful or even dangerous for another. And when harm happens? Many spaces prioritize comfort over accountability—a cycle that ultimately reinforces oppression rather than dismantling it.
Today, we broke down the weaponization of safety, the fear of open conflict, and what it means to build true safety that centers the most marginalized.
Lessons & Community Input
Today’s biggest takeaways included:
✅ Safety is not neutral. It is shaped by identity, privilege, and lived experience.
✅ Weaponized safety upholds oppression. “Keeping the peace” is often just silencing marginalized voices.
✅ Accountability IS safety. If harm isn’t addressed, the space is not safe—it’s just comfortable for those in power.
✅ Safety includes both protection AND empowerment. It’s not just shielding people—it’s giving them tools to advocate for themselves.
✅ Conflict is not inherently unsafe. Avoiding difficult conversations does not create safety—it maintains harm.
During the discussion, I shared real-life examples of how “safety” has been used to silence, exclude, and maintain power dynamics—and how we can shift our approach to ensure safety is an act of justice, not a tool of control.
Want to take this deeper?
Let’s be real—"safety" is often built for the privileged, not the marginalized.
🔥 Have you ever been in a space where “safety” meant protecting the status quo, not addressing harm?
🔥 Do you struggle with holding people accountable because it feels like “conflict”?
🔥 How can we create communities where safety is not just about comfort, but about truth-telling and transformation?
If you’re ready to move beyond performative safe spaces and into building true safety, it’s time to go deeper.
Paid subscribers get access to:
✅ Exclusive discussions on safety, accountability, and power in liberation work.
✅ Tools to create justice-centered boundaries that uphold community safety without reinforcing oppression.
✅ A space where we name, address, and repair harm—together.
🚀 Upgrade to a paid subscription now and commit to creating spaces where safety is not just a privilege—it’s a right.
💡 If finances are a barrier, email Scholarships@DesireeBStephens.com to request support.
✨ Safety isn’t silence—it’s justice. Let’s build it. ✨
