Saying see you later is hard. So is ending something that is, has been, and remains near and dear to one’s heart. Luckily, our friends at #SisterPhD gave us a roadmap for how to do this. In their see you later post, the #SisterPhD team wrote, “Seasons come and go, but what remains are the lessons learned and bonds made.” And how true that is.
When we started Cite A Sista, we had multiple visions.
If you know either of us (Brittany & Joan) in real life, you know that there’s a quirky blend of go with the flow meets let’s be structured. Then there’s a mesh of let’s build community because there’s space for everyone meets I’m territorial and sensitive about my ish. Underneath our differences in style is a shared agreement and understanding that there are many ways to center and celebrate Black womxn.
And viola, magic.
Over the last almost five years, we’ve laughed, cried, agreed, butted heads, and most of all, grown deeper in our commitment to raising attention to how Black womxn are silenced by having words and work stolen or diminished and the literal importance of citing us, as citations are currency. Yes, citations are currency. So, Cite a Sista—seriously.
Cite a Sista originated as a project for a course assignment, but the first Twitter chat in summer 2016 moved us to the realization that while we were among the first to put together an attempt at a digital movement relating to citational practices, organizing around crediting Black women has been a continuous and ongoing experience. We knew #CiteASista was doing something great and we committed ourselves to the work. We recognize that we are not the first— but we were certainly innovators.
What began as a duo became a squad, which became a movement, which became a way of life, ethic, and praxis.
-Brit & Joan
Since we started this hashtag nearly five years ago, we’ve been busy. We both obtained our doctoral degrees, started jobs, changed jobs, job searched, and did it all while managing real-life issues such as family, partnerships, grief/ losses, and more. And now, things are busier than ever which led us to make good on a decision we’ve been weighing on since later 2018: to freeze the #CiteASista website in time.
Although this is the end of the Cite A Sista website as we know it (at least for now), this is not the end of us. We’re not entirely sure of the full future of Cite A Sista. We do know that Brittany will continue to keep up with the Twitter whilst Joan continues managing the Instagram. We also know that we’ll be busy being #TeamTypingFast to chronicle the journey we shared creating this platform in book chapters and essays.
As we move away from this page of our journey, we do so with all of you and this platform in mind. Accordingly, we encourage you to continue to wear shirts/ gear (they fund our ability to maintain an active website) and to also use the tag on social media. We are committed to retweeting, reposting, and continuing to like the things that you do related to our goals, aims, and mission. Furthermore, you will continue to have the following at your disposal:
- You can contact us (allow 5-10 business days) via email: Contact@CiteASista[dot]com.
- Continue to use the hashtag on all of your preferred platforms
- Buy and wear our gear so we can keep this site running #ForHerstory
- Check out our curated collection of past blog posts & leave comments
- Review the list of resources we’ve developed and send us updates of resources you’d like for us to include
- Join us for in-person conference events & meetups
Most of all, we hope that all of you will continue to use this website as you see fit. Whether you simply want to look at positive images of Black womxn, have space to process, or something else— there’s probably a post somewhere in our collection that can resonate with what you’re going through or relates to your becoming process. Feel free to use them. We mean it.
To the amazing team of Black womxn who’ve supported us by writing, retweeting, amplifying, and more, we say thank you. We want to specifically thank Raven, Bridgette, and Sophia, for without whom we’d have much less content, chat flyers/imagery, and tweets to draw upon.
To our allies and supporters, thank you. As much as a we are a space by and movement for Black womxn, we also know how strategic partnerships and alliances can help or hinder a Black womxn created and centered space. We are thankful to have experienced more help than pain.
Lastly, we leave you with this benediction of sorts. May choosing to cite a sista be a purposeful and empowering practice that challenges us all to know more deeply, to know more complexly, and to know more intimately in all that we know. May choosing to cite a sista bring to consciousness the wealth and richness of Black womxn’s individual and collective knowledge. May Black womxn continue to (re)member our voices, who we are, and where and whom we come from. May Black womxn be centered and included in more ways that properly credit our work. May we all deepen our commitment to Black womxn’s citational, physical, mental, financial, and spiritual wealth.
Your Sistas in Service,
Brittany M. Williams, Ph.D. & Joan N. Collier, Ph.D.
#CiteASista: Today & Everyday 