We have the creativity within us to envision the world we deserve. The power has always been with the people, and so have the solutions to change the conditions in which colonization and oppressive systems have placed us in.
Often, we see dominant narratives pit Black and Indigenous organizers against each other, claiming that reparations and LANDBACK are at odds with one another. However, at CSS, we share visions that they are aligned and are only strengthened with cross-movement collaboration. To this end, we are offering a Sandbox session this May where participants will unpack and co-build the narratives on LANDBACK and reparations. This session is for organizers, preferably in the California region, working in either the reparations or LANDBACK movements. Participants will work together to craft narrative interventions that underline the common cause of collective liberation.
What are reparations?
“Reparations are the act or process of making amends for a wrong.” -M4BL
“A process of repairing, healing, and restoring a people injured because of their group identity and in violation of their fundamental human rights by governments, corporations, institutions, and families.” -National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America
“We demand reparations for past and continuing harms. The government, responsible corporations and other institutions that have profited off of the harm they have inflicted on Black people — from colonialism to slavery through food and housing redlining, mass incarceration, and surveillance — must repair the harm done.” -M4BL
What is LANDBACK?
“LANDBACK is a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands. Currently, there are LANDBACK battles being fought all across Turtle Island, to the north and the South.” -NDN Collective
“LANDBACK is more than just a campaign. It is a political framework that allows us to deepen our relationships across the field of organizing movements working towards true collective liberation. It allows us to envision a world where Black, Indigenous & POC liberation co-exists. It is our political, organizing and narrative framework from which we do the work.” -NDN Collective
What’s a Sandbox?
A Sandbox is a space where we build our movements' capacity to radically imagine, create, play, and share exciting ideas that have the potential to #changethestory on issues that matter to us. Sandboxes also bring participants together to learn concrete creative skills and prototype narrative interventions in a low-risk, high-support, and collaborative environment. Apply for the Poetic Uprising Sandbox. Apply for the Reparations and LANDBACK Sandbox.
Our methodology: Story-based Strategy
Story-based Strategy is a set of tools that helps us observe dominant narratives around us, discover and imagine our own stories, and share stories, messaging, and frameworks that resonate with the people and communities in which we build with. Our framework for the sandbox is expanding our movement for a just transition. A just transition is a framework for shifting to a regenerative economy that prioritizes deep governance, justice, and social and environmental wellbeing.