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Heading to $20K—and matching funds up to $1000 today, April 17th!

Hi everyone -

I hope you all had a great week (I sure did)! Can you believe how far we've come in just one month? ;-)

We are heading to $20K and pushing on to our #journeyto30k. And today, April 17th, a generous donor has agreed to match funds up to $1000!

So tell your friends and family they can double their donations! I am super grateful for some really generous donors this past week, among them artists, activists, filmmakers, actors, friends, and colleagues I've been blessed to know over the years.

I especially want to shout out one of my late mom's dearest friends and fellow SUSU sister, Aunty Tej, for whom I'm so grateful for joining this campaign! 

Alongside Aunty Tej, my mother was one of the founding members of SUSU Women of the Capital District. Practiced widely across West Africa, Susu is a women's investment club.

The way it works: you bring your monthly dues and put it into the pot, meeting at a different woman's home each month. And every month, the woman-of-the-house gets to keep the nest egg for herself. When they rotate through the entire group, the cycle starts all over again, and in this way the women gain access to investment capital they might not otherwise be able to save up themselves.

I am blessed to have learned this African feminist practice of cooperative economics as a young person, and to use similar principles to promote history, culture, and African womxn artists today.

I inherited the will to take up this work from the fearless women who came before me, and I appreciate you answering the call to help fund this dream of preserving and promoting history and culture.

Becoming a part of the Elizabeth's Daughter community means you are helping build land, legacy, history and culture for generations to come. 

It's a first-of-its-kind memoir gallery and artist residency in Calabar, Nigeria—inspired by 100 years of Nigerian history as told through the unique lens of my mother's/family's history. I couldn't be more grateful for your support, especially at a time like this when the world desperately needs it. Now let's build!

Onwards and upwards,

Iquo B. Essien (aka Elizabeth's Daughter)