Colette Pichon Battle Leads with Love
As more women of color move into positions of power in organizations and movements, we’re hearing from many who are grappling with the challenges finding their own leadership styles (often more feminist, inclusive, heart-centered) while also meeting the demands of the moment.
Colette Pichon Battle of Taproot Earth, right, with Hive Fund Co-Director Erin Rogers. Photo by Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon.
During a conversation in New Orleans, Colette Pichon Battle of Taproot Earth (formerly Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy) shared some thoughts about how her leadership style and role is evolving, after decades of visionary organizing, legal work, and movement-building at the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy and now Taproot Earth.
The rage that motivated her to action after Hurricane Katrina is still palpable. “I still feel that rage, rooted in fear for my community,” she said. “But I've had to balance that and even reduce that rage and fill it up with something much more productive and sustainable. It turns out that that love is the glue to building community, to building solutions, and to getting us out of this reality that we're now facing with the climate crisis.”
Our conversation touched on the importance of community and solidarity for those on the frontlines of climate, racial, and gender injustice in finding their voice, strength, and collective power. “There are moments as a Black person where you physically bow your body, and if you have a Black mama, at some point they touch your chin and tell you to pull your chin up, like, "We are not walking around here with our heads down." And then there are these other moments where you get your hair done and some Black woman says, "You look like a queen." And all of a sudden you feel it, like, ‘I do, don't I? I do have queen blood in me.’ And it's this little thing, it goes so far. You didn't even do anything except you just did so much for so long. Affirming that for people--that's what our intention is for this work.”
Movement leaders in the US are challenged now more than ever to re-orient to a rapidly devolving political context. “With Roe v. Wade, on top of the war, on top of the COVID, on top of George Floyd--we're crumbling everywhere. If you are able to stand back up, you're looking to see which direction is out or up. Everyone's disoriented because the problems we’re facing have become so behemoth and seemingly insurmountable. There is a need for inspirational, affirming, and visionary leadership right now.”