BLIS Collective

We are so proud of our work alongside Get Free, New York Civil Liberties Union, NAACP LDF, VOCAL-NY, ERASE Racism, and so many others through the New Yorkers for Reparations Coalition. Last year, we joined Get Free to drop a banner at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade calling for Gov. Hochul to sign the NY Reparations Commission bill into law, and just a few weeks later, she did. Now, we're building power through our coalition to ensure that the Commission's recommendations become reparations legislation for Black New Yorkers. We spoke with WNYC Radio about all we've done so far and all that is on the way!

Our friends and relatives at the NDN Collective are in Chicago at the DNC, letting it be known that the movements for Land Back and reparations are requirements for building a multiracial democracy. We couldn’t be prouder to stand shoulder to shoulder alongside them in this call, and were excited to spread this narrative across society with them and others in the coming months.

Corporate greed 🤝 land grabs. We *can* free the land and heal ourselves. https://lnkd.in/eTpgYSbg

Last month we joined forces with the Urban Institute and our good friend Marisol Bello from the Housing Narrative Lab to discuss the role of narrative strategies in advancing transformative housing and land policies. One of the greatest challenges we face — across movements and society — is the pervasive lack of hope that the bold policies we advocate for will ever come to fruition. This is precisely why we launched BLIS. We’re here to amplify movements, strengthen solidarity, and close that hope gap. P.S. Please remember, it’s BLIS, in all caps!

Our friends at Get Free are helping young people step up as powerful voices in the movement for Black reparations. This Gothamist piece highlights their work and our collective work through New Yorkers for Reparations. By next year, we'll start to see recommendations from the New York Reparations Commission, and it'll be up to all of us to ensure that those recommendations turn into legislation. Tap in! Join us! https://lnkd.in/eEwRUdt3

It's been a long A long time coming, but I know A change gon' come Oh yes, it will. https://lnkd.in/dKnjtqSi

Yesterday, President Biden announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will move forward with $2 billion in direct payments to farmers who were discriminated against in the past by the USDA. While a win, John Boyd, President of the National Black Farmers Association, stated, "It’s like putting a bandage on somebody that needs open-heart surgery,” Boyd said. “We want our land, and I want to be very, very clear about that.” Reminder: In 2009, the Bureau of Economic Analysis found that the 1.89 billion acres of US land were collectively worth $23 trillion dollars, which would be about $33 trillion dollars today. https://lnkd.in/eXkezSU6

Our Sunday listen is this episode from the Solidarity Is podcast from the Building Movement Project featuring Deepa Iyer and Adaku Utah. "In our work, we're not interested in the kind of solidarity that manifests as performative gestures or symbolic acts that lack substance or long-term impact, or the kind of solidarity that perpetuates, neglects, and isolates; we're not interested in that. We're also not interested in solidarity that co-opts our work or erodes trust amongst us. We are deeply invested in cultivating transformative solidarity inside our communities and our movement work." Adaku Utah What does transformative solidarity mean to you? https://lnkd.in/eJXrg8XA

"When you lose your traditional foods, you threaten your culture – and then you risk losing your values too. None of that is good for your health." This powerful statement from a Warm Springs tribal member captures the essence of a new Department of Interior report on federal dams in the Columbia River Basin. Here's what this means for the reparations advocacy and Land Back movement: 🔃 What happened: For over a century, tribes have paid the price for "progress." The report reveals that federal dams submerged ancestral villages silenced sacred fishing grounds, and devastated salmon populations. Today, naturally produced salmon returns are less than 10% of historical levels. Some tribes now harvest just 1.1 pounds of salmon per member annually, down from 700 pounds historically. 💡 Why it matters: This report represents a major acknowledgment of the U.S. government's failure to uphold treaty obligations and the disproportionate harm inflicted on tribal communities. It exposes how the economic benefits of dam construction flowed to others while tribes lost critical cultural and economic resources. The report calls for prioritizing tribal rights and salmon restoration in future decision-making. ⏭ What's next: Federal agencies must now incorporate these findings into their actions. This means centering tribal perspectives in environmental assessments, supporting co-management of resources, and taking concrete steps to restore salmon populations. For advocates, this report provides powerful evidence to push for policies that return stewardship of ancestral lands and waters to Indigenous peoples, aligning with broader landback goals. https://lnkd.in/e_Pkkm26

On August 13th at 10:30 PST/1:30 EST, our co-founder Trevor Smith will be moderating a panel featuring three brilliant organizers, Dre Chiriboga-Flor, Frida Ballard, and Ana Delia Espino, in Common Future's Accelerator program. The panel sits alongside three other panels on reparative justice, Black co-ops, and investing in Black visions! Sign up for each of the panels here: https://lnkd.in/ew2F3P2A