Shame that a person feels internally for experiencing stigma or shame that humans project onto others because of their behavior. Stigmatizing others is an act of violence.
The effects of stigma are paralyzing and long-standing. As community builders, CA is committed to stigma awareness, reduction, and elimination. We intentionally create safe and brave spaces for individual stories and experiences. Our curated conversations allow people with intersectional identities to be a part of communities that welcome their whole selves. In creating spaces and opportunities of belonging, we practice stigma reduction and elimination.
Originally, we conceived and contracted to write the storytelling performance, Re-Storying Dignity: From Stigma to Compassion, celebrating the transformation of five black women who refused to let stigma have the last word.
It addressed HIV, disability, mental health, wrongful incarceration, and navigating LGBTQIA identity within the Black community
Then we expanded our commitment to stigma reduction beyond that initial concept.