Land and Labor Acknowledgement

I live and work on Piscataway and Susquehannock land, also known as Baltimore, MD. I also acknowledge the Lumbee and Cherokee communities who have made this city home. I recognize their continuing connection to land, water, and community.

I specify colonization, the deep injustices that persist, and support the thriving work of Indigenous People as traditional custodians and stewards of this land and its rivers.

I honor Indigenous leadership in river protection and recognize that if we are to heal our relationship with rivers, confront the climate crisis, and address its on-going impacts, the leadership of Indigenous communities and Tribal Nations is essential.

I pay respect to the enslaved Afrodescendants who tilled and labored on this land. I honor those who were bought, sold, and self-emancipated on this land. I acknowledge today’s prosperity, including the culture, economic growth, and development of this land, was made possible by enslavement, human trafficking, and captive labor.

I recognize local leaders in the continuing struggle for collective liberation and environmental justice in the Baltimore region’s Black communities. 

I acknowledge connections between settler colonialism and enslavement as well as resistance and resilience.

Passive acknowledgement is not enough to restore stolen lands and stolen people. May this statement manifest acts of learning, reciprocity, solidarity, and restoration.

I pay respect to Ancestors and Elders.