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Collective Action for Safe Spaces was a Black trans, queer, and non-binary-led organization that was founded in 2009. The organization started as an anti-street harassment online forum led by volunteers, and grew into a collective of staff members, board members, volunteers, consultants, and coalition members. The organization specialized in public education, cultural organizing, coalition-building, and advocacy to build anti-carceral community safety.
Collective Action for Safe Spaces sunset in March 2025, and leaves behind a legacy of cultivating the greater DC community’s capacity to respond directly to patriarchal and state violence through transformative justice and abolitionist frameworks.
This archive was developed by a group of former board and staff members to capture the essence of CASS’ journey over our 15 years of existence and evolution. We hope this serves as a record of our impact here in DC, to not just disappear into the ether in the face of intentional erasure and violence against our communities. While we are still grieving our closure, we can still leave the evidence of a 15-year long fight towards our collective safety and liberation.
Even though CASS has been laid to rest, our work will still live in the abolitionist movement against patriarchal violence. This archive is a vivid memory practice that provides a roadmap and inspiration for those who take up the charge of carrying on our work. Our vision for the future is that this work is held in the hands of community members, without state influence or intervention, just like it did when we were founded. May this archive be a teaching, a walk down memory lane, and an activation for those who believe in keeping each other safe in DC.