In early March of 2024, the In Cultured Company Team held an in-person retreat in Mystic, CT. Believe it or not, the ICC team is entirely remote and spread across THREE (yes THREE!) different cities. We have been working together for more than a year, but have never met in person.
This was finally our change to literally make it out the group chat!
During the retreat, we were able to identify the strategies of Narrative Change and Grassroots Capacity Building as the key strategies to further our organization’s mission and vision.
What these strategies mean in practical terms is that we will continue fostering a Dominican and Haitian political consciousness rooted in anti-racist, anti-imperial and anti-oppressive solidarity and also strengthen our diaspora communities’ capacities to directly support Black liberation struggles in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Below are a few photos of our team in action mode, developing our strategy for the next couple of years:
Our Full Team at our team dinner
Once we left the retreat, we were able to jump right into action mode holding healing circles to offer a space for the Haitian community to share their stories, their feelings of grief and the grappling with the events unfolding on the ground. Jean, Evan and Niara facilitated beautifully, and we received some incredibly positive feedback that is encouraging us to hold these spaces more regularly.
We are so energized to strengthen our organization and keep our work going in a season of a lot of challenges for Haitians in Haiti, Haitians and working class Black Dominicans in the DR and the diaspora. We have immense faith that our small, all-volunteer team can make great things happen! But we need your help to make it possible!
If you value what we do and want to see more of it, please consider becoming a subscriber to our substack, or donating on our website. Your donations help ensure that we can run our in-person programs, like our beloved Decolonizing Hispaniola workshops. If you would like to volunteer your time, we have a form on our website you can use to let us know of your interest: https://www.inculturedco.org/intern
Thank you so much!
Dr. Saudi Garcia
In Cultured Co Executive Director