Braided B.L.I.S.S.

 
 

“Another world is not only possible,

she is on her way. 

On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

- Aundhati Roy

Dear sibling,

The Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, fiscally sponsored by Resist, Inc., is extending invitations to collaborate on advancing Black & Indigenous Solidarity and Sovereignty as an essential part of advancing land access for Black, Indigenous, and communities of color. We’re calling the “project” Braided B.L.I.S.S. (Black Liberation and Indigenous Sovereignty in Solidarity.) 

Rationale for the Proposed Project

The history of the colonization of Turtle Island is an intersecting story about control of land, humans, and non-human beings who have been reduced to “resources” through a violent blitz of theft, abduction, dehumanization, and extraction resulting in the deterioration of the environment, leading to our current state of social inequity and climate crisis. This history isn’t a natural phenomena- it is directly linked to extractive settler colonialism which continues to devour in the name of wealth and power. These processes are deeply interconnected: the removal of humans through violence, forced displacement, and enslavement; the collapse of lifeways; food apartheid; biological violence; erasure of language, history and culture on the land and in our minds and spirits; and mass extinction- all for economic gain, as well as geographic, and political power. 

Indigenous sovereignty and Black liberation are inextricably connected and interdependent. Our collective peoples have a long history of working together to heal from colonialism, a collectivity that threatens the dominant paradigm. Our solidarity is a direct threat to a country built on white supremacy because our solidarity is a direct challenge to power. The common tactic of "divide and conquer" by those in power is a stopgap measure to drive wedges between Black and Indigenous communities, compelling us to work against each other through the harmful game of "oppression Olympics." We can see this in the ways we have been socialized to believe in a narrative of scarcity- that our rights and our sovereignty are constantly under threat, compelling us to ask, “what about us?" when either one of our communities gains advances in civil and human rights. If there was ever a time that our global Indigenous covenants with the land and ancestors is needed, it’s now.

As Gangulu elder Lilla Watson once said, “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” We reject the idea that freedom and liberation are scarce resources. We embrace the covenant of working together to advance liberation for all. As Black, Indigenous and peoples of color committed to radical equity, our common core is committed to the dismantling of the systems designed to keep us divided and fighting against one another for power, sovereignty, and agency.

The resilience of our communities has continued to persist in the minds and hearts of our activists and liberators, demanding a seat at the table, and for the tables to turn by any means necessary. The Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust is but one answer to this call for liberation. Dedicated to positively impacting the health and wellness outcomes of BIPOC communities, lands, and non-human beings in the Northeast region of what is now known as the United States, NEFOC LT is advancing equitable land access that simultaneously prioritizes the complex interwoven work of honoring Indigenous sovereignty, advancing Reparations for the descendants of enslaved people, and making welcome those who have come to these lands out of a hope for a better life. 

While the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust’s work is a direct result of and answer to the systemic inequities that created this disparity in land access, negative health outcomes, food apartheid, the climate crisis, and police violence, one of the biggest barriers to increasing BIPOC land access in ways that don’t replicate settler-colonial violence is the relationship between BIPOC communities ourselves. We are claiming our collective sovereignty and calling for Rematriation of land and Reparations of resources in order to establish a solidarity network that can resituate global Indigenous ways of Being, Doing, and Knowing on the land, in and between our communities, for the good of all. 

We are calling in our communities to do this work in right relationship and deep partnership- working together to transcend the silos created by the nonprofit industrial complex that forces us to compete for funding and resources tied to white-driven agendas. 

Project Goals and Objectives

Our goal is to create a long-term space to gather our hearts, minds, and spirits in community with our collective ancestors to work together heal together, build a land-based Black-Indigenous Solidarity Network, and to ideate and embody solutions that honors Indigenous sovereignty and calls for Reparations while making space for permanent, secure land tenure for BIPOC land stewards. 

Project Strategy/Activities

We will Gather together in virtual working groups once a month and on the land 2 long weekends annually (if safe and possible during the pandemic) to build relationships, co-create a collective governance process in alignment with our original instructions, and project plan for future BIPOC land-based collaborations. Activities will include co-creating a theory of change that focuses on the honoring and weaving together of our mutual Indigenous ways of Being, Doing, and Knowing that recognizes the complex histories of land dispossession, enslavement, and systemic oppression as well as the brilliance, resilience, and wisdom of our ancestors and communities. 

Expected Results

We expect that a one-year planning process will result in strong relationships, a deep and meaningful governance process, and a theory of change and project workplan leading to a long-term, actionable process and tools for the continued advancement of land-based BIPOC solidarity resulting in equitable access to land, cross-cultural weaving and community-building, and health, wealth, and safety. The results of the full scope of the project will be determined by the project partners and communities we represent and serve.

Innovation: How different is it for other or earlier projects?

This project is 100% BIPOC co-created and driven and focuses on our relationships with each other and the land. We represent the communities we serve. There is no white savior middle man doling out funds dependent on deliverables that are meaningless to us. We are examining the concept of what land-based Black-Indigenous solidarity is, what it means to our communities and how we can put it into action on the land in ways that co-create communal wealth, equity, healing, and a new paradigm of solidarity that will impact our communities positively for generations to come.

Confirmed & Invited* Partners

We are keeping the partners for this project small and intentional, built on relationships and trust. As we expand, our convenings will expand and additional partners will onboard. 

Compensation for Labor

In 2022, each organization/participant will be compensated an honorarium of $500 per 2 hour zoom meeting and $1,500 (plus travel expenses) per in-person gathering.