Resisting Extraction: How to Protect Your Energy in Activism
Building sustainable cycles of giving and receiving in liberation work
🌬️ Before We Begin... Let’s Come Home to the Body
Find a still moment.
Place your hand on your chest or your solar plexus.
Close your eyes if it feels safe.
Breathe in slowly...
Exhale with a sigh.
Inhale: I am not a machine.
Exhale: I do not have to be exhausted to be effective.
Whisper this truth into your bones:
“My sacred work will not come at the cost of my sacred self.”
Now we begin.
The Myth of Limitless Labor
Activism, healing, justice work, it all asks something of us.
But for many of us — especially Black, Brown, neurodivergent, queer, and system-impacted folks— the asking often turns into expecting... and the expecting becomes extracting.
We’ve been conditioned to believe that:
We have to “show up” at every protest, every meeting, every call.
Our worth is tied to how available we are to others.
If we stop, the world will fall apart.
Burnout is just “part of the work.”
But sacred one… that is a lie of the empire.
That is supremacy culture dressed in radical language.
That is internalized capitalism repackaged as commitment.
That is extraction, plain and simple.
And for those of us who live at the intersection: Black, femme, mothers, caretakers, creators, and healers, the expectation and the extraction are relentless.
The system demands our genius without compensation.
Our labor without rest.
Our healing while still bleeding.
Our presence without support.
Our silence when we need to scream.
This is why the rest of the 92% is not just radical. it’s powerful.
Because when we, as Black women and femmes, say:
“We are not doing that this time.”
We’re not just setting a boundary; we’re reclaiming our humanity.
We are interrupting centuries of disposability.
We are pausing the machine and remembering we are not part of it.
We are sacred. We are soil. We are not here to be used up.
This refusal is not laziness. It is a liberated consciousness.
Because when the world is built to extract and dispose of you,
choosing to rest, to restore, to receive...
is a revolutionary act.
So let your no be a prayer.
Let your boundary be a balm.
Let your pause be a practice.
Let your softness be a strategy.
We are not tireless. We are tender.
We are not limitless. We are living.
And that is more than enough.
Extraction Has No Place in Liberation
When we talk about extraction, we’re not just talking about capitalism.
We’re talking about how even within movement spaces: mutual aid circles, healing collectives, DEI teams, grassroots orgs… we replicate the same systems we’re trying to dismantle.
We praise the people who “never stop.”
We normalize being underpaid and overextended.
We guilt people for needing time, space, or solitude.
We reward martyrdom and shame rest.
And the result?
Movements collapse.
Communities fracture.
Bodies burn out.
People disappear.
But what if we could organize in a way that nourishes the organizers?
Reflection Prompt: Where Am I Being Extracted... and Where Am I Extracting?
This is where the R.O.O.T.S. Method™ meets real life.
This week’s focus is Observe, and it asks us to look clearly, without shame:
Where am I constantly giving more than I receive?
Where do I feel guilt when I rest or say no?
Where do I equate slowing down with failure?
Where am I leaning on others without reciprocating?
This is not about blame; it’s about balance.
If you’re still with me… let’s go deeper.
What comes after the reflection is where the real work begins…
In your breath.
In your boundaries.
In your body.
In your community.
This next part is not just more content — it’s nourishment.
✨ It’s where we shift from theory into practice.
✨ Where we anchor the R.O.O.T.S. Method™ into your daily rhythms.
If you’re ready to build a life, a movement, and a body of work that doesn’t require your burnout...
If you're tired of being everyone's fire but never feeling warmed yourself...
Then come behind the veil.
The rest of this Liberation Lesson is waiting for you — complete with somatic rituals, self/home/work integration, reflection prompts, and tools for sustainable resistance.
✨ $8/month | $80/year | $120 equity partner
Scholarships are always available—just ask: Scholarships@DesireeBStephens.com
Because your liberation should not cost your aliveness.
Let’s protect what is sacred — starting with you.