Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Rios and Ileah Green. They and their team shared their story with us below:
The Lakeland Women’s Collective (LWC) was born out of a desire for feminist solidarity. In 2017, Ileah, a Lakeland native, returned home after living in major metropolitan areas for 15 years. She could not find a way to connect with other women that did not involve church. She saw an opportunity to meet a need with non-religious, women-focused educational and social events. She held some focus groups and gauged interest among the women she knew. The first LWC event took place in the fall of 2018 and drew a crowd of two dozen women that were looking for the same type of “secular solidarity”.
Ileah and Jessica met through an introduction from Sunny Balliette, a Lakeland artist and founder of the Volume Art Collective. Their combined vision and creative direction took LWC to an elevated level of success. Jessica built LWC into a Feminist Brand that resonated with people far beyond Lakeland. Sunny assisted us with the planning and execution of two all-female art shows that resulted in the attendance of hundreds of people. LWC was the first of its kind to bring a feminist message to Lakeland in a way that did not involve religion but highlighted feminist values and uplifted human rights.
LWC partnered with and brought a spotlight on women-owned businesses, hosted dozens of female-only events, even opened the first woman-only and family-friendly co-working space in the I4 Corridor.
One of LWC’s most successful events, Pink Moon: Exploring the Divine Feminine, was done in partnership with Volume Art Collective and its founder, Sunny Balliette. With Sunny’s partnership, LWC and Volume were able to host a woman-only art show that featured 50+ works of art, including many artists premiering their work for the first time, debuted spoken word works by women, included a concert from Ladymoonbeam, and ended with a full moon meditation. Within six months, LWC and Volume held a second show entitled Medusa Moon, which explored the darker side of the divine feminine; while not as well attended, it was arguably a favorite for many.
At the end of 2019, LWC realized that we had inadvertently created a space where white feminists were harming our members. In an effort to remain “bipartisan” we perpetuated a toxic environment. White women had invaded the space. We realized there were white feminists in LWC. Just as we were trying to figure out how to address these issues, the pandemic hit. The world then shutdown for the first half of 2020.
One day in June 2020, we were enjoying one of our favorite pastimes: drinking wine and eating cheese. We decided to write 12 haiku for fun. Fuckboy Haiku is poetry book about our dating experiences based on astrological signs. We were impressed with ourselves, so we decided to publish it. We drew doodles for each haiku and began the self-publishing process. This is when we realized that the self-publishing process is actually quite confusing, so we launched: The Mothership Imprint. The Mothership Imprint is a women-owned, independent feminist publishing House. TMI is a portal for Creative Outliers.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating a feminist activist group in Lakeland was never easy. Ileah met with everyone you could think of at the City of Lakeland to try and obtain funding for our goals. It turns out – no one is funding feminism. City leaders had zero interest in supporting or funding the Lakeland Women’s Collective or a co-working space for women only. Although it has not been easy, we carved our own path and did it our way, anyway!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
The Lakeland Women’s Collective has been bringing awareness to social justice issues in Lakeland for years. Prior to the pandemic, we held dozens of events aimed at helping women, entrepreneurs, creatives, and local leaders. We are anti-capitalist, anti-racist prison abolitionists who support creativity and artistry as a form of resistance. We aim to be a resource for women/queer/BIPOC.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Sunny Balliette really was involved with LWC from the beginning. She created the logo, helped craft the name and the mission. She introduced Ileah and Jessica and agreed to work with us on the first art show. (She is also a Local Gem) Sunny has been creating spaces for subversive artists in Lakeland for years. The art scene in Lakeland would not be where it is if it wasn’t for Sunny & the Volume Art Collective. It is at the Volume events where Jessica first got reconnected to art and found a community of artists.
Allison Guinn was a reporter with the local newspaper; she was a feminist and a supporter of what we were attempting in Lakeland. She covered our first events and our Art Show. Her coverage of our work was really helpful in getting the word out about LWC.
Robyn Wilson, entrepreneur and founder of The Poor Porker, hosted one of our first events at her place of business. She supported our mission and vision from the beginning.
Julie Burt was a supporter and friend of LWC. She helped with anything we needed, painting, plumbing, pressure cleaning, a Julie of all Trades!
Our moms were at every event, cheering us on. Michelle Rios, Jessica’s sister, was also always present at events and part of planning quite often. Ileah’s kids were at most events and planning sessions, even when they didn’t want to be. They loved LWC and were honorary members.
Contact Info:
- Website: lakelandwomenscollective.com themothershipimprint.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lakelandwomenscollective/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?fetchDeterministicClustersOnly=true&heroEntityKey=urn%3Ali%3Aorganization%3A79895007&keywords=lakeland%20women%27s%20collective&origin=RICH_QUERY_SUGGESTION&position=0&searchId=d490032d-31d7-4290-9bbb-3675260393cf&sid=l)
- Email: themothershipimprint@gmail.com
- Other: https://linktr.ee/themothershipimprint
Image Credits
Jessica
Ileah
Be The Light Photography
Amber Sallot