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Welcome to Mama We Lit
A paid, 9-Month leadership academy for Moms in the Detroit and River Rouge area.
We invest in powerful moms to uplift them into empowered community leaders through
Organizing
Energy Democracy
Black Feminist Framework
Environmental Justice is not a single source issue; it’s a multitude of issues. It comes from living in safe homes or unhealthy homes. It comes from whether you got a quality education or you got a messed up education. If you got health issues in your community but a lack of clinics to support those health issues. If you have air quality issues, water quality issues, land issues -- I call it, [like] an umbrella. Environmental Justice is the umbrella. The ‘spokes’ in that umbrella is the housing, education, health, jobs (good jobs, healthy jobs) emergency preparedness (emergency evacuation). All those things. And whatever spoke is broken, that umbrella is no good”
-Cheryl Johnson
ED of People for Community Recovery
Daughter of Hazel Johnson (Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement)
The Conception of Mama We Lit (MWL)
We are investing in our care takers and community role models
Mama We Lit is a bold and necessary intervention at the intersection of racial, gender, and environmental justice.
Black women have long held their communities together, through inherent power and political wisdom gained in grassroots organizing.
"We are reimagining what leadership development looks like through an immersive curriculum that bridges personal narrative, political analysis, and civic engagement."
-Ebony, Down River Lead Organizer and Organizing Manger
Our Approach
‘Mama We Lit’, gives participants hands on experiences alongside other resources so over 9 months in support of their growth and development. They range across the following categories.
Participant Lead Campaigns
Mamas will design their own campaigns based on their lived experiences.
Through this intensive program, we aim to equip every mom with tools to continue leading change long after the 9 months are over.
Engaging with Policymakers
Building real change starts locally.
Knowing your policymakers, building community with them, and learning how to navigate systems helps you create lasting impact—for your family, your neighborhood, and your future.
Community-based resilience strategies
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Learning how install solar panels
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Participating in rapid response efforts
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Executing public accountability actions.
Meet The Fellows
Mama We Lit is a space determined to co-create with community in order to ensure self-determined communities are equipped to shape their own futures.
Brooke
I designed this program to honor my mother, Angela, a widow raising 3 girls in a big energy inefficient home. Like many Black families, the pernicious consequences of corporate-owned energy left us cold and in the dark. In turn, Mama, we LIT! partners with Black mothers, like mine and like myself, to be active stakeholders in shaping the future of energy in metro Detroit. By honing in on our innate leadership and organizing abilities, we reclaim our power as wise stewards of the land.
Ebony
I’m Ebony. Born in River Rouge, but Detroit and Highland Park raised me. As a mom to Zyaire and owner of an eco-friendly daycare, I noticed our only riverfront playground was between DTE’s coal plant and U.S. Steel. Meeting Rhonda Anderson and Sierra Club lit me up. Our kids deserve clean air—breathing shouldn’t kill us! Now I fight for a just, regenerative future. When not organizing, I laugh, explore, hug trees, and love deeply.