STATEMENT: Land and Enslaved Peoples Acknowledgement

OCTOBER 10, 2022 – Community Voices Heard and Community Voices Heard Power acknowledge the sacred land on which we work is the unceded and ancestral territories of the Lenape, Canarsie, Lekawe, Wappinger, Mohican, Munsee Lenape and Schaghticoke peoples.

We pay our respects to the past, present and future generations of the First Nations. We also acknowledge that this city was erected and sustained by the sale of enslaved people of African descent and recognize all those who have been displaced and enslaved through colonization. We recognize Indigenous sovereignty is linked to our collective liberation, and it is paramount we continue to reflect on ways we can mobilize and take action in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and communities.

In our commitment to the work of dismantling the harmful effects of colonization and white supremacy, CVH and CVHPower understand this Land acknowledgment is only the first step toward honoring Native and all other disenfranchised communities, reconciliation, decolonization, correcting the narrative of the founding of these United States and addressing Health Inequities, Systemic Injustice, and Genocide faced by multi-racial communities. We pledge to do the work necessary to support Indigenous communities, create more inclusive and welcoming spaces, invite learning, allyship, resource building and care towards strengthening our communities.

To learn more about the land you are on, visit: https://native-land.ca/

Read: The Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunabr Ortiz