Intercultural Solidarity

First Peoples Fund recognizes that Tribal Sovereignty and Black Liberation go hand-in-hand. 

As we observe and celebrate Juneteenth, also known as Jubilee Day or Black Independence Day, we stand in solidarity with Black lives, our extended kin. And we add our voices to the demands to end the violence inflicted upon Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, to dismantle the systems that hurt us and our intercultural families. We acknowledge that this violence is compounded for Black and Afro-Indigenous people.

First Peoples Fund has long been involved in intercultural movement work, hand-in-hand with partners like Alternate ROOTS, NALAC, PA’I Foundation and others. We practice Collective Spirit®, that which manifests a self-awareness and sense of responsibility to sustain the cultural fabric of a community. Collective Spirit® moves each of us to stand up and make a difference, to pass on ancestral knowledge and simply extend a hand of generosity.

We find strength in challenging the dominant cultural norms, modes of learning and social approaches that don’t match our commitment to cultural equity and change-making in our own communities. And with this in mind, we co-founded the Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) with our partners Alternate ROOTS, NALAC, PA’I Foundation and SIPP Culture.

ILI is a leadership experience for artists, culture bearers and arts practitioners. It emphasizes overlapping experiences and mutual accountability while honoring differences of histories, traditions, vocabulary, and more. ILI is our commitment to developing leaders that can share their journeys toward sovereignty and liberation. 

Every day we are reminded that when Black and Indigenous people join together in movement work, that’s when some of the most transformational change happens. We continue to be committed to this work. And we lift up the voices of our Black and Afro-Indigenous family and kin.