Reparations

It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we are learning, speaking and gathering on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican people, who are the indigenous peoples of this land. Despite tremendous hardship in being forced from here, today their community resides in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present as we commit to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.

Kpomthe’nã Mã’eekanik "We are walking on the Mohican Homeland"

What is now known as Williamstown, MA, sits on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican [Moh He Con Neew] people. After centuries of theft by white colonialists, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians live on today with roughly 1,500 members. The tribe is federally recognized and has land in Wisconsin. We dedicate at least 1% of our profit to community efforts of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians. (find out more about the Mohican people here: https://www.mohican.com/cultural-affairs/faq )

Recognizing the centuries of current and past harm and violence to Black people in this nation we will also donate at least 1% of our profit to Black farmers and community garden initiatives that center Black people in our region. 

The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.

We choose to reckon. Because of the privilege we have as white people this is a choice, and we choose to reckon with the moral debts of our ancestors daily. Doing so financially is just part of our reckoning. We surround ourselves with a circle of accountability partners who call us on our shit and to whom we check in with regularly. This is an act of mutual aid, not one of additional burden to others. Our circle of accountability focuses on race, gender, sexuality, religion, and socio-ecomnomic status. Together we hold each other accountable in love and revolution.