For a glimpse into the importance of Walela’s work, read through a number of testimonials detailing their impact:

“Walela’s work is important to me because they take the time to go into detail about topics floating around everyday. I’ve seen Walela in person turn out an incredible range of people and hold a deeply intentional, well prepared event that left people feel full with thought” - Sabaah Folayan, director of Whose Streets

“No one has stopped me in my tracks since Tupac but Walela. We will study their words for generations as a teacher, healer, and wordsmith” - Leila Steinberg, founder of AIM 4 The Heart, former manager to Tupac Shakur

“As a nurse and a researcher, I have learned so much from Walela about their experience with medical apartheid. Walela has inspired me to educate myself and other nurses about confronting our own implicit biases in health care...In a society where black femmes are dying because we aren’t listening to their pain, white health professionals like me have a LOT of work to do to dismantle racist oppressive structures in health care” - Jackie Nikpour, Nurse & Phd Student

“The vulnerability Walela has shown publicly to the world inspires me. Walela has an incredibly strong spirit that literally radiates everywhere they go. Walela reminds me to be more loving, reminds me to not dim my own light, and reminds me to live authentically. Also, Walela’s willingness to educate people about the injustices that Black and Brown folk face in this country and globally, introducing everyone to radical authors and theories, sharing knowledge about the history of white supremacy has made Walela one of my favorite people to look to. Walela has been incredibly important to my unlearning and relearning and my process of radicalization” - Melissa Montinola, college student

“Walela sharing their life has been helpful because their radical views have helped me deconstruct a lot of internal prejudices I hold and have led me to question my positions in society and in my relationships. Walela is unapologetic and honest and a breath of fresh air” - Emma R, E-Learning Designer

“I am an instructor at CSUSM and teaching about gender and [I] like to sprinkle in Spit Justice’s and Walela’s definitions and explanations for things to make sure I am centering the lives/experiences/identities of my students of color, undocumented students, LGBTQ+ students!” - Kathryn Kinberg, Women’s Studies Professor at CSU San Marcos

“Walela’s work has pushed me to educate myself further...I’m also learning a lot of effective techniques and methods to self care that I regularly apply to my personal life, especially when organizing gets overwhelming...I appreciate Walela and their work a lot” - Zainab, Organizer with ATL Homeless Relief

“Walela’s posts and readings help me show my students and colleagues about the daily and subtle ways we go through racism and classism. Walela’s words fire me up to love my own narrative and to resist people’s tampering of our own stories”- Bluejay, Lawyer & Fitness Promoter

“Walela has inspired me to do more work in my own community. I love the way Walela and the folx at Spit Justice co-create with not just open mics but with sharing dialogue thru workshops, reading groups, and healing circles in a way that treats everyone as assets. It has inspired me to help form a healing circle collective with folx I organize with in South Central/South East LA” - Mateo, Men’s Healing Circle Organizer with East Side Cafe

“Walela has been incredibly educational. They’ve inspired me to read more theory and to expose myself to more radical POC voices” - Ally, high school student

“Walela’s work has really made me reevaluate intersectionality. I’ve started holding myself and others to a higher standard and questioning the motives of Black celebrity leadership. I am thankful for Walela sharing their work and their life” - Gabriela Grimes, visual artist

“I have learned to be vocal about my life and my disability, which has given me the courage to fight. I’ve learned more about my identity, I’ve learned how to love and embrace myself, and I don’t even know how to thank Walela. They have been a wonderful blessing” - Yadira, Community Organizer

“As someone with severe attention and memory problems, it’s really hard to do my own research and find accessible articles, but how Walela presents information makes me able to understand and process without much difficulty. That is really important because it allows me to keep learning in a way my brain is able” - Alexis, college student