2nd Official Statement from Olivia Alaso, Director and Founder of No White Saviors (NWS)
June 3rd, 2022
“Without power white supremacy is an empty vessel.”
- Olivia Alaso
Thank you to our No White Saviors community and supporters!
On Sunday, May 29th, we regained full access to our @nowhitesaviors Instagram account. This is after NWS staff and I (Olivia Alaso, Founder and Director of NWS) were locked out on Wednesday, May 18th by a user with an iPhone labelled “De La Kels”. The NWS Instagram account was being held hostage for 9 days by “Kels”. With investigations from past email log-ins, it is evident that this hacker was Kelsey Beth Nielsen (resigned former co-Director of NWS) - please see our official statement from May 22nd, 2022. Communities from across the world have supported our campaign by reporting to Instagram/Meta, signing our petitions on change.org and MoveOn.org, filling out NWS transition team’s google forms to provide legal, media, and organisational support, and donating to our organisational transition through our NEW PayPal and updated Patreon account. We have much gratitude and appreciation for our collective efforts.
How did this happen?
On April 22nd, 2022, Kelsey sent a resignation email severing her ties with NWS and our affiliates which took immediate effect. In addition to the email promising a smooth transition from the NWS leadership team, Kelsey signed a legal document relinquishing her access to important social media log-ins and supporting the change of financial platforms. As a part of the transition process, on May 14th, 2022, funds from the US Citizen Bank account under Kusimama Africa were transferred to the NWS Ugandan bank account. On May 18th, 2022, with the transition moving forward, Kelsey retaliated by hacking into and holding hostage the NWS Instagram account.
Although we have regained access to our Instagram, Kelsey is still retaliating. Most recently, on May 28th, 2022, she contacted Patreon using a fake NWS email account stating that she has “lost” access to the platform due to a “hostile takeover” of the NWS organisation. Patreon contacted us with her claim - and we have provided all documentation related to her voluntary resignation and new financial accounts not affiliated with Kelsey. On May 31st, 2022, Kelsey attempted to hack into the No White Saviors gmail account again, as we received notice of an attempted log-in from an iPhone located in a town in Pennsylvania, USA.
No White Saviors, Kusimama Africa, and The Sankara Pan African Library are fully operational and excited to continue the work of centering Pan Africanism and Black liberation, while demanding accountability from the white savior industrial complex. We are still facing retaliation from Kelsey, and we are working diligently to combat this violence. On Friday, June 3rd at 10pm EAT/ 3pm EST, we are joining Lovette Jallow for a twitter discussion of our experience and its impact. In addition to our appreciation, we would like to clarify questions raised by the NWS community about the disruption caused by Kelsey as we transition from this violent and traumatic situation.
We call on Kelsey Beth Nielsen’s community to keep her accountable and cease and desist from further actions of attempting to destabilise No White Saviors, Kusimama Africa, and The Sankara Pan African Library.
Questions from our No White Saviors community:
Is it safe to donate to No White Saviors? What platforms are safe to donate to? Are NWS funds fully recovered from accounts affiliated with Kelsey Beth Nielsen?
We have established a NEW PayPal account and a NEW US affiliated bank account. We have updated the NWS Patreon account by adding our new banking information. We have full and secure access to the NWS Twitter , Facebook , Medium , Instagram , the No White Saviors podcast and our new Substack newsletter. The NWS website domain is under the control of the organisation, and we are currently working on updating our organisational website.
In October 2018, No Whites Saviors/Kusimama Africa was registered as a company limited by guarantee in Uganda. We attained our nonprofit credentials in Uganda in January 2020. In November 2020, we gained our LLC and an EIN number in the United States. No Whites Saviors/Kusimama Africa received a 501(c)3 charter in the United States in February 2022. With the support from our NWS community, we opened the Sankara Pan-African Library & Café in February 2022. The library/café is a tool of empowerment and space for community gatherings, and it is important in keeping our organisation financially sustainable outside of donations.
Please do NOT donate to the NWS Venmo account (listed as @nowhitesaviors) OR the old NWS PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/nowhitesaviors/ [DO NOT USE]). This account was made through Kelsey’s US phone number and credentials (which is required by Venmo/PayPal to create an account). The NWS team NO LONGER has access to these accounts and funds donated there WILL NOT go to our organisation. We are coordinating a new Venmo account and will update our NWS community with details very soon.
Please donate through the NWS/Kusimama Africa PayPal account always. All updated NWS financial platform links are available on our social media platform via our linktree: https://linktr.ee/nowhitesaviors ( https://linktr.ee/nowhitesaviorstransition ) and our forthcoming updated NWS website.
A part of Kelsey's transition was to either close or transfer US-based financial platforms from her affiliation. In our demands for accountability and clarity, NWS needs full access to statements and records from the OLD Venmo and PayPal accounts from the time they were established. We also are pushing for the return of funds that may have been donated during this staffing transition.
Again, Kelsey promised a clear and peaceful transition from No White Saviors. She stated in her resignation letter “I GO IN PEACE AND IN THE SPIRIT OF LOVE FOR THIS WORK...” - but she has only brought violence and trauma.
How was a white American woman able to become part of the founding leadership team of this type of organisation? How can we regain the confidence of supporters and the Black/African diaspora who have come through in so many ways to help us with this transition?
The initial mission of No White Saviors was to call out the white saviour industrial complex, specifically in Christian missionary, NGO and foreign aid organisations in Uganda, Eastern Africa, and the continent as a whole. Kelsey’s initial role on the leadership team was based on her pitch that white saviours could “change”. And as a “former white saviour”, she wanted to repair the damage she caused as a willing conduit in the Ugandan-based white saviour industrial complex. She claimed her presence and leadership within NWS was logistical and a restorative measure to correct mistakes and damage that she was a part of perpetuating in the realm of white Christian missionary work.
Additionally, Kelsey claimed she would provide initial leverage through her access to white spaces as a white person. Her role was to give an insider understanding of these white saviour structures for legal measures against harms experienced by Black African victims and survivors. She pressed: 1) white people would be more receptive to white voices advocating against white supremacy; 2) she would take on the task of explaining systemic racism to white people, as it was not Black people’s responsibility; and 3) she would use her "expertise" to support the initial start of the organisation. Black African people have been advocating against the white saviour industrial complex as colonialism for centuries – this work is our work, and we have always led this work. Kelsey's role was to serve as a model “ally” to Black African people pushing against these systems.
The initial mission shifted to our goal as Ugandans to transform No White Saviors into an organisation that centres Pan Africanism and Black Liberation. Kelsey would have NEVER been on the NWS leadership team if we began as a Pan African and Black Liberation organisation. We started with giving practical and direct support to families in Uganda to find justice against harm. As the organisation grew, we added decolonization and advocating for Black African futures to our mission of combating white saviorism. We understood as a team that Kelsey’s role would be minimised significantly, if not eliminated, as the organisation grew and transformed. She pretended to understand this and openly discussed how she would move on from the organisation, especially in community conversations and NWS speaking engagements.
I am proud that we have transformed and expanded our mission over the last 4 years. However, this transformation led to conflict instigated by Kelsey’s open discomfort when the NWS team, along with consultants and collaborators, requested that she fulfil her promise of minimising her role within the organisation - especially as we prioritised Black Liberation, racial justice, anti-colonial discourses and community action. There were tough conversations with Kelsey that happened specifically with NWS consultants and collaborators that advised Kelsey of the need to remove herself from a leadership position within the organisation. Kelsey’s role on the team was also increasingly questioned by NWS supporters as they saw no legitimate reason for her continued presence in a Black Liberation space. While she always publicly talked of leaving the organisation as her relevance had diminished, her past and most recent actions - which includes attempting to remove me (Olivia Alaso) from the organisation - clearly show that she had never meant what she said and had no intentions of leaving.
Instead of minimising her role, Kelsey went on the offensive to solidify her position and hoard access to important systems in an attempt to demonstrate her usefulness and project that we needed her “leadership”. As stated before, this hoarding of access became important in her “knowledge” of American systems, particularly financial and legal. She was threatened by the knowledge and expertise of her Black African counterparts and proceeded to stifle the advancement and growth of other NWS team members. This led to the willful slow down of streamlining and institutionalising of our nonprofit.
She pushed back, and in hindsight, violently retaliated against the NWS team and our most trusted collaborators and consultants. Kelsey projected “access” and “knowledge” as a way to manipulate me and the NWS team. I stand regretful of these moments and feel manipulated by the friendship we developed, and her insistence that certain American centred processes could NOT be done without her. My demands to streamline and systemise American and Ugandan processes were frustrated at every turn - cancelled meetings, changed log-ins, and inconsistent communication.
Kelsey also would constantly deflect by saying she understood her role and would soon be leaving the organisation. Sometimes this was to guilt trip us to discuss her mental health needs, and other times it was to threaten the organisation's stability and longevity. On many occasions, she promised to listen to African women saying that she was “accountable” to Black people. Kelsey would then turn around and make derogatory assertions about Black women in leadership, as if the No White Saviors organisation would fail without her presence.
As we stay accountable to our community through transparency, Kelsey is accountable for the harm she has caused, as well as her ongoing and recent attempts to destabilise the No White Saviors organisation. She uses stereotypical tropes about Africa (“kidnapping”, “murder”, “robbery”, “exortion”, “bribery”, “corruption”) to make false and damaging claims about me and the NWS staff. Most notably accusing me of being “anti-Black” and a “sellout”. Since her resignation, Kelsey is no longer tied to NWS, and she is solely responsible for her actions.
I will always be regretful for the trust I had in Kelsey, and my belief in her narratives of allyship and redemption. She used our initial friendship to gain my confidence and manipulate me. I am apologetic particularly to my Black African people and the African diaspora that were subjected to her abuses. It is my hope to allow this situation to help heal me, the NWS staff, Ugandans and fellow Africans that were affected by her, and our global community. The NWS team and I are accountable to our community and will stay transparent and open to questions and ongoing concerns.
Are past campaigns calling out/in the white savior industrial complex and its actors still valid?
No White Saviors maintains its stance against white saviorism. Our campaigns against problematic people and institutions are valid and critical to dismantling the white saviour industrial complex.
No White Saviors has always been Black African led, directed and staffed. Kelsey was supposed to be a part of the NWS team - Kelsey was NEVER the leader! Our NWS team members and I (Olivia Alaso) were at the helm of these campaigns, and we stand behind our collective efforts for justice and accountability. The assumption that our past work is not valid is founded in anti-Blackness and racist beliefs made about Black leadership, intellect, and contributions.
What are the next steps and the NWS leadership team’s plan moving forward?
(Demands/How to Help/the Future)
We still need your support.
Much appreciation for the liberatory Black/brown/Indigenous led organisations supporting our efforts:
See the growing list of supporters HERE or on NWS transition team linktree: https://linktr.ee/nowhitesaviorstransition
We have Demands for Kelsey:
Accountability from Kelsey for the missing NWS funds from our conversation in October, 2021
A public apology from Kelsey for blatant white supremacy, trauma and harm caused to NWS team members, NWS collaborators, and other supporters of NWS’s work
Kelsey must remove herself as a signatory to the Kusimama Africa Citizen bank account in the United States and provide time and due process to allow us to close this account
Kelsey must give a full accounting of the Paypal and Venmo accounts and allow time for the NWS staff and transition team to fully transition financial materials and close these accounts
Kelsey must sign all relevant documents that attach her to No White Saviors and Kusimama Africa within the United States dissolving her affiliation.
Kelsey must stop retaliating against Olivia Alaso and the NWS team, and cease from openly sabotaging our efforts e.g.: attempting to hack into our email and contacting Patreon about our account.
How to help:
Donate to No White Saviors and Kusimama Africa to support our current efforts and organisational transition: paypal.me/kusimamaafrica
Sign-up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/
We are requesting leaders of Black/brown/Indigenous led organisations across the globe to come on as signers in support of No White Saviors transition - please fill out this form to add your organisation as a signer: https://forms.gle/rAcy1hewrJDzKqRD8
We are requesting additional legal aid and consultation to support our transition team: https://forms.gle/SBbFHm439xsTxipU8
We are requesting media support to help: https://forms.gle/i2UpkSLejfjRN2Cw5
Everyone Please Sign our updated Change.org petition (Global): https://chng.it/Kb4VD9CVW6
Sign-up for our substack newsletter for NWS transition team updates:
Use the hashtag #WeSupportNWS #NWSTransitionTeam
Thank you for your unrelenting support of the critical work of No White Saviors, Kusimama Africa, and The Sankara Pan African Library.
In solidarity and much appreciation,
Olivia Alaso (@olivia.rises on Instagram)
Director/Founder
No Whites Saviors, Kusimama Africa, and The Sankara Pan African Library
#WeSupportNWS #NWSTransitionTeam
NWS Leadership Team
ALASO OLIVIA PATIENCE DIRECTOR
NAMATOVU WENDY COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST
OKOT ROBERT TEAM ATTORNEY
RWOTHOMIO GABRIEL SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
SEBULIBA JONATHAN ACCOUNTANT
Hi Olivia do you know Olivia M? Lol
Can't make this stuff up, lol.