#UjimaWednesdays | Participatory Action Research: Our Stories, Our Power | 09.10.25

Month Description:

This September, we’re learning from the power-building work of women and nonbinary people of color leading movements for liberation with SISTA Fire. We’ll explore how they approach political education, organizing strategy, and community connection, to understand how  gender justice becomes a force for systemic change when rooted in collective action.

Event Description:

Too often, advocacy groups speak on behalf of directly impacted groups without directly engaging them. SISTA Fire is clear that women and nonbinary people of color can speak for ourselves. Through community-based participatory action research (CBPAR), SISTA Fire puts women & nonbinary people of color in the driver seat of their own storytelling and data collection. SISTA Fire used this strategy to take on Black maternal health disparities at RI’s primary birthing hospital. In this session, SISTA Fire will share how they utilize community-based participatory action research to craft policy and culture change to transform conditions for women & nonbinary people of color. 

Facilitator Bio:

Ditra Edwards is the Co-founder and Director of SISTA Fire, a powerful grassroots organization building the collective power of women and non-binary people of color in Rhode Island. A proud Black woman born and raised in Providence, Ditra brings over 25 years of experience in racial and economic justice work. Her Rhode Island roots—accent and all—are woven into her leadership, blending the lessons she’s gathered from Boston to Washington, DC, and beyond. Her life’s work centers on connecting people to their values, vision, and power to create meaningful, structural change. Ditra believes deeply in a people-centered approach to transforming systems and building community power. In 2015, her heart called her home to Rhode Island to be closer to family. In 2017, she was awarded the Rhode Island Foundation Innovation Fellowship to launch SISTA Fire, turning her vision of a stronger, united community into reality. Before founding SISTA Fire, Ditra served as the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Program Director at The Praxis Project in Washington, DC, where she helped communities harness media and policy advocacy to advance health justice. She led strategic development, fundraising, and the design and execution of key initiatives. Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to justice, connection, and collective liberation.

Justice Gaines (xe/xem) serves as the Political Education Coordinator & Trainer at SISTA Fire, building with women & nonbinary people of color towards social, political, and economic transformation. Raised in Somerset, NJ and rooted in Providence, Rhode Island, Justice is grounded in grassroots organizing, trans-inclusive gender justice, and Black liberation. Xe utilizes population education models, emphasizing the power of personal story, humor, and collective imagination to foster critical consciousness. Xe currently serves on the board of Freedom To Thrive advocating for the abolition of police, prisons, and the crimmigration systems. Xe has previously organized with RI Jobs With Justice, Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), Direct Action for Rights & Equality (DARE), and Daily Kos through the Kairos Fellowship in 2019. Justice is also a poet and spoken word artist. Xyr art dissects and subverts mythologies that uphold the imperial U.S. Xyr work can be found in Split This Rock’s The Quarry database, POETRY magazine, The Shade Journal, The Nation, and various other publications.