Contexts inTO which reforesters farm and laboratory emerges
We believe that understanding the various societal contexts into which our organization emerges is key to ensuring that our thesis and mission will drive us to have a lasting positive impact. With that in mind, we acknowledge that:
..Reforesters Farm in Bloomville rests on the traditional territory of Kanienʼkehá꞉ka people (Mohawk), which are one of five members of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois confederation) and that the Reforesters Laboratory in Brooklyn rests on the traditional territory of the Canarsee people. We also acknowledge that systemic policies of genocide, relocation, and assimilation continue to impact Indigenous/Native American families today.
..America was built upon slavery, that racism still exists and that the economic disenfranchisement and intergenerational trauma caused by slavery and racism still persist.
...the forces of colonialism that gave rise to the aforementioned humanitarian tragedies still plod forward in other parts of the world in large part driven by our tax dollars and consumption choices, enslaving, displacing and killing large swaths of our fellow humans, most notably in Palestine, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
..the work, opinions and lives of women have been systematically ignored, devalued and underappreciated and that sexism is still rife in workplaces, government and societies in general.
..our societies often marginalize those that think differently than the norm, failing make them feel a part of our communities and subverting the opportunity to learn from their unique perspectives - or neurodiversity - and to benefit from their unique sensitivities.
..our current society was built around the needs, first and foremost, of heterosexual, neurotypical, white males, when in fact we the people of this nation are of many genders, sexualities, races, ethnicities and ways of thinking.
..we live in the most peaceful and prosperous era in the history of the “modern” world.
..while there is much to learn from previous eras, there is no era that can be replicated today (eg. there is no going back).
Next, read about our operating thesis.