Liberation
Creative space where people tell their own stories on their own terms — no gatekeepers, no respectability tax. Here, we center the margins.
About Us
4 Words can start a movement.
A global solidarity collective advancing inclusion, liberation, decolonization, and humanitarian impact through creative virtual events.
Our Official 4 Words
Decolonization
We question inherited forms, center global voices, and make room for languages, rhythms, and traditions that publishing has sidelined.
Humanitarian
Every gathering spotlights a humanitarian organization and points our community to donate to them directly.
Inclusion
Fully virtual, low-barrier, and accessible — all you need a screen and a love for the creative, not a plane ticket. And every event is FREE.
Training & Certifications
Building Safer, Braver Solidarity Spaces
We’re committed to ongoing training and workshops that help us grow as a community, so we can keep improving the experience for everyone who joins us.
Safe Zone Trained
All members of our team have completed Safe Zone training — a foundational program designed to help us create more welcoming, affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ folks, including several of us. It means we keep learning how to listen, how to advocate, and how to make sure 4words feels like a place where you can show up fully and safely as yourself.
Learn more about Safe Zone trainingTHE LOVELY PEOPLE BEHIND THE DREAM
The Team
Volunteer Leadership
These wonderful humans give their time, talent, and hearts to steer 4words — dreaming up the gatherings, holding the space, and keeping the whole dream moving. We are endlessly grateful for every hour they pour into this community.
The Wallflower
Operations Director
The Wallflower (they/he) is a genderfluid queer educator, poet, storyteller, and all around silly goose. Though born and raised in Richmond Hill, which resides on the traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Anishinaabeg (including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation), they have had the honor and joy to work and live in various Arctic communities where they taught various grade levels in schools. They earned their Bachelor of Education and Hons Bachelor in Sexuality Studies in 2018, and since have also earned some certificates in Specialized Education (ON). They also co-founded the York Region Rainbow Umbrella (YRRU) in 2014, a nonprofit support and social organization for LGBTQ+ people in York Region. After living in the Arctic for 6 years, they currently live in Monterrey, Mexico with their badass wife, two cats, and dog.
Their focus is on facilitating safer spaces and teaching through a trauma-informed and anti-oppression framework. The Wallflower's writing craft focuses on themes of mental health, raw identity, social justice, and arctic living. Water is Life. Free Palestine.
R.C. Taylor
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
R.C. Taylor (she/her) is an award-winning storyteller, visual artist, and researcher whose works aim to invoke, to process, to honor, to resurrect, and—sometimes—to grieve but, above all, she creates to be free.
Her micro chapbook “The Blacker the Berry…” received First Place in the Phillip Lawson Hatch Jr. Memorial Writing Competition in English (2025) and Second Place in the Tompkins Poetry Award (2025). Her poetry and fiction have also been recognized across eight Vocal Media challenges and received Vocal Media's Top Story distinction sixteen times. Most recently, she was featured in Chrysalism Press' 2025 reading series. In addition, her paintings centering Black women across axes of (sur)realism have been featured in various galleries in North Carolina, Michigan, and, most recently, Quebec.
Outside of her creative endeavors, Taylor is a Ph.D. Candidate in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, where her research examines how structural racism becomes biologically embodied and links this to health outcomes. She also holds an M.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Criminal Studies, Psychology, and Sociology. As a first-generation queer and disabled Black scholar with African and Indigenous ancestry, her work is deeply informed by Black feminist thought, critical race theory, intersectionality, and decolonial frameworks.
When she's not working, she's out happily foraging or playing video games.
Muchtar Suryawan
Event Producer
Muchtar Suryawan (she/they) is a queer, biracial Indonesian American screenwriter, with an M.A. in Communication with a focus in Media Arts, who tells stories that center and elevate marginalized experiences and voices. Her script for a short film, Ibra(him), was added to Coverfly's Red List in 2024. They have created and edited a short film, The Space In Between, that was featured in the 2025 Ann Arbor Film Festival. She was also involved in the following short films in 2025: GenuKnife (producer), Dating As a Vampire (2nd Assistant Director); Heaven in Detroit (Production Assistant). In addition, their work has received Vocal Media's Top Story distinction three times.
Jim Delaney-Howe
PROGRAMMING SUPPORT
Jim is a father of four sons, a husband, an uncle, and a brother. Him and his husband started a successful soap and candle business almost 3 years ago.
Jim writes for Vocal Media, and has had several Top Story designations, and was a guest on Vocal's podcast. He writes mostly fiction and poetry, and is currently working on a gay romance novel.
He spends his time with his family, out in the garden, or cranking my music.
Volunteers
Our volunteers are the quiet magic behind the scenes — showing up, pitching in, and making every gathering warmer than it would be without them. Thank you, truly.
Scooter Mama
Organizational Consultant
Scooter Mama (she/her) is a Chinese Canadian educator and youth mentor whose vocation has always been to facilitate a safe, encouraging space for all young people to thrive. For over 2 decades, she has had the pleasure of witnessing young people find their voices and become more rooted in their identities while working with various non-profit organizations and poetry collectives, as well as teaching middle school with YRDSB. She appreciates the privilege of nurturing a Chinese-Bengali Muslim family on Turtle Island, and loves having 2 person dance parties with her daughter.