Earthly Wilds BIPOC Community Sanctuary

A Working Draft of Our Vision and Commitments

Posted By the Racial Equity Team (RET) on 8/21/2025


During yesterday's community meeting about Racial Equity, RET asked Twin Oaks to donate some land, enough for the creation of a new FEC community that would be led by and centered around Black, Indigenous, and people of color. A community which we have decided to name “Earthly Wilds”. This wouldn’t just be another housing option or a side project. It’s a space where POC can live and organize without the barriers and challenges many of us have faced at Twin Oaks Community. A place where safety, culture, and autonomy come first. A place where white allies with a proven track record of support and accountability would also be welcomed to become members alongside POC, helping to build a stronger, more inclusive community. All Twin Oakers would still retain access to hike the land, explore the trails and enjoy the forest, even as non-members of this new community. Earthly Wilds Community would also have different policies designed to remove barriers that POC face here at Twin Oaks, things like strict “property codes”, “vehicle codes”, barriers to families joining, an inflexible labor system, money system, or communication styles that are based on white cultural norms, etc, all of which can make it hard for people to feel fully included or comfortable here.


What follows is not a final blueprint, or a top-down plan. It’s a living document, shaped by the values and labor of those who will actually inhabit this vision. We expect this to be debated, revised, expanded, and collectively transformed by the people who are building Earthly Wilds Community, not just dreaming it.


Our Core Values

Earthly Wilds Community stands for collective survival, freedom, equity and liberation.
We oppose:

  • Racism
  • Fascism
  • Sexism
  • Ableism
  • Capitalism
  • The State
  • Genocide
  • Hierarchical power structures

We affirm:

  • BIPOC empowerment, autonomy and self-determination
  • Queer liberation
  • Intersectionality
  • Environmental sustainability and deep ecology
  • Self-sufficiency through off-grid and land-based living
  • Afro-Indigenous land stewardship and permaculture
  • Disaster preparedness and long-term resilience
  • Skill-sharing and member empowerment
  • Egalitarian power dynamics
  • Income sharing through community businesses
  • Spiritual freedom (no imposed spiritual beliefs or dogma)

These are not just aspirational slogans. They are the filters through which decisions will be made and priorities set.

The Land We Intend to Build On

We are actively seeking a land donation from Twin Oaks Community to serve as the foundation for this project. The exact parcel of land has not yet been determined, as we want this choice to reflect both the input of Twin Oaks and the guidance of experts. Our plan is to hold an open consultation process, while also bringing in, if possible, a permaculture design consultant who can help us evaluate the land’s natural features, such as soil quality, water access, and ecological resilience, so that the site selected will support long-term sustainability and wise stewardship of resources.

Desired features include:

  • 40+ acres
  • The ability to source on-site potable water
  • Road access
  • Some degree of privacy from road visibility and neighbors

step1


Governance and Decision-Making

We reject hierarchical power structures, not just as an idea, but in practice. Power will be exercised horizontally and with consent. Being anti-hierarchical is about dismantling rigid, imposed power structures. Prioritizing marginalized voices is about repairing inequity and ensuring true equality of participation. Rather than contradiction, they reinforce each other. Anti-hierarchy creates the space, and centering marginalized voices ensures the space is actually just. Anti-hierarchical systems recognize that oppression doesn’t vanish just because you flatten formal structures. People bring in societal baggage. Actively uplifting marginalized perspectives helps prevent old hierarchies (like racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism) from creeping back in informally.


Decisions will primarily be made by those most directly affected by them. All decisions must align with our core values unless those values are formally amended by full consent.


Starting as a small group, we'll begin with a consent-based decision making model like what RET currently uses: any member can make a proposal, proposals pass if no one objects within a defined time frame; objections must come with friendly amendment to the proposal, in order to have a healthy balance of “oppose” and “propose”.


As we grow, we may use direct democracy to elect “temporary delegates”, not to command, but to facilitate, manage, or honcho specialized time-bound tasks. Delegates would:

  • Be elected directly and narrowly mandated
  • Be immediately recallable
  • Dissolve back into the collective after their task is done

Since power is rooted at the base, and ultimately returns back to it, this type of democracy should not be confused with “representative” democracy, which is a hierarchical power structure.


Money and Economy

We begin with donations of land, materials, and money, to get started. But long-term, we will fund ourselves through community-owned, anti-capitalist worker-co-op businesses, such as:

  • Hosting tours, skill shares, and educational retreats
  • Selling produce, art, or crafts online or at markets
  • Portable Tiny house construction, for sale or as vacation rentals
  • Empowering members to use their pre-existing skillsets to start other worker-owned ventures

The financial goals are:

  • Pay for operating expenses and infrastructure
  • Provide a universal basic income / allowance for all members

Members would be allowed to have outside incomes, but they would be expected to donate a portion back to the community, depending on their income level.


Labor Systems, Accountability and Accessibility

We will not impose a rigid labor system from above. Instead, laborers will decide for themselves how to organize their work.

Open questions include:

  • Should there be a labor quota? If so, how much?
  • Should we mandate some amount of income-earning labor?
  • Should we mandate some amount of cleaning labor?
  • As an incentive for labor that is especially undesirable (but still necessary) can multiple labor credits be provided for one hour of that undesirable labor?
  • How do we handle members who don’t or can’t meet expectations?
  • How can we focus on “labor accessibility” rather than just “labor accountability”?
  • How do we build accessibility for disabled or neurodivergent members?
  • How do we create training programs to “Skill-up” and empower members to try new types of labor?

These questions are intentionally not being answered here. What we do know is this: those who labor should lead. Labor systems will be shaped by the laborers themselves. This is about trust, not control. That is why these questions will not be answered in this document. These questions will be answered by the people who would be most directly affected by them.


FAQ

  1. What does the name "Earthly Wilds” mean?
    • The word “Earthly” affirms practices like permaculture, companion planting, ethical animal husbandry, agroforestry, these methods which align with Indigenous and African diasporic traditions, while supporting soil health and biodiversity. “Earthly” also keeps the vision grounded in the reality of this planet, and our cultural histories on earth. It is about healing generational trauma, rebuilding culture, and creating just, sustainable futures right here, not somewhere abstract or idealized. It signals that this is not just some “happy little bubble utopia” where people can just stick their heads in the sand ignoring all the suffering happening in the “mainstream” world, but rather a community rooted in the struggles and beauty of the real world. The word “Earthly” also roots the vision in the material, living systems of the planet, the soil, the sun, the water, and the ecosystems that sustain life. It implies a worldview where Humans are not separate from nature, but participants in its cycles. Where the land is not a resource to be extracted, but a relative to be honored. Where “sustainability” isn’t a greenwashed marketing trend, it’s ancestral knowledge, lived practice, and a necessity for our future survival on this planet.
    • Historically, the “Wilds” were seen by colonial and imperial powers as dangerous, uncivilized, untamed places to be feared, conquered, “civilized,” or erased. But for Black, Indigenous, and other oppressed peoples, “The Wilds” have often been a refuge, a site of freedom. Maroons and fugitives fled into forests, swamps, and mountains to escape slavery and live freely in community. Indigenous peoples have preserved language, ceremony, and culture by retreating from colonized zones into ancestral “wild” lands. The wild is where people escaped surveillance, domination, and forced assimilation. The word "Wild" speaks to freedom from control and domination, especially from white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, and colonial systems. It implies reclaiming freedom, space, and land outside of imposed systems. "Wild" also speaks to liberation of the self, a shedding of imposed identities, binaries, expectations, and restrictions. It is a space to live in our bodies freely, especially for queer, trans, and gender-expansive POC reclaiming space outside of normative oppressive structures. In this context, “wild” isn’t chaotic, it’s sovereign and indomitable.

  2. Isn't it a contradiction to claim to be “opposed to hierarchy” while also being “BIPOC lead”?
    • Hierarchy = rigid, formalized, top-down authority (e.g. one group commands and another must obey)
    • Centering marginalized voices = a corrective structure, not a command structure. It’s about redressing historic imbalance, not creating a permanent caste system.
    • So, being BIPOC-led doesn’t mean BIPOC people have coercive authority over others; it means the community recognizes that liberation requires centering those historically silenced.
    • When it comes to matters of race or colonialism, BIPOC voices are given epistemic authority, similar to how you’d defer to a mechanic about fixing a car. It’s not hierarchy, it’s respect for knowledge rooted in experience.

  3. Are you giving up on racial equity within Twin Oaks?
    • Supporting Earthly Wilds Community is not the same as abandoning Twin Oaks racial equity. Twin Oaks can and should continue its own work of culture change, accountability, and policy reform. Earthly Wilds addresses a different but related need, creating a BIPOC-led space on this land where safety, autonomy, and self-determination are possible. These efforts work on different scales but complement each other.
    • Not every BIPOC person will want to focus on reforming a majority-white community from the inside. Some will, and some will need a sanctuary of their own. Supporting Earthly Wilds alongside Twin Oaks’ internal work is not abandonment, it is taking racial equity seriously by allowing multiple approaches to exist and reinforce each other.

  4. Will this community accept BIPOC families with children?
    • Yes. In contrast to Twin Oaks, Earthly Wilds will explicitly be open to BIPOC families with children to join. We believe that those BIPOC children should also have access to Twin Oaks schools (PDU, Unicorns, Forest school, etc) for education and social opportunities. This would also benefit Twin Oaks white children too. In order for them to not grow up to become racist, Twin Oaks children need to actually be exposed to kids of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds to be friends with. This would be a mutually beneficial relationship for both communities.

  5. “Why make it BIPOC-centered? Isn’t that reverse racism?”
    • No. It’s not exclusion, it’s healing. BIPOC have spent lifetimes navigating white-dominant spaces. We deserve one space where we don’t have to explain ourselves before being believed, or shrink ourselves to fit.

  6. “Won’t this divide Twin Oaks?”
    • It might reveal division that’s already here, but that’s not the same as causing it. Earthly Wilds offers a new option, not an ultimatum. And if your values align, then nothing stops us from being in mutual solidarity.

  7. “Does this mean you’re leaving Twin Oaks?”
    • Some might, some won’t. Our goal is not to poach Twin Oaks of its members. Dual membership is an option. But even if we live next door, we’re not disappearing. We’re growing something new. If that feels like abandonment, ask yourself why it feels like betrayal to no longer be the center.

  8. “How is this not just a power grab?”
    • We’re not seeking to control Twin Oaks. We’re creating our own decision-making structures on our own land that serve those who have been marginalized.

  9. “Aren’t you just doing what Twin Oaks already does?”
    • No. This is not a copy. Earthly Wilds is explicitly BIPOC-centered and rooted in cultural reclamation. It doesn’t shy away from politics; it organizes around them.

  10. “You’ll be draining Twin Oaks’ resources.”
    • We’re not taking, we’re creating. We’re bringing new people, new skills, and new energy. Any support Twin Oaks offers will be returned in the form of resilience, reputation, and alliance.

  11. “What if it fails?”
    • Then we’ll learn, adapt, and try again. Failure is part of building anything worthwhile. But the real failure would be doing nothing while BIPOC members keep cycling in and out of Twin Oaks, exhausted, unseen, and disillusioned by the very idea of “communes”. If this whole project does completely dissolve, and a successor group is not found to replace Earthly Wilds, then Twin Oaks can simply reabsorb the land again.

Thank you for reading all of this. Earthly Wilds is an invitation to grow something alongside you: a BIPOC-centered sanctuary rooted in survival, liberation, and care for the land. We hope you’ll see this as a seed worth tending together, in mutual support and solidarity.



-RET